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Which of the following best describes 'Recombinant DNA technology' or 'Genetic engineering'?
Modern biotechnology using genetically modified organisms was made possible only when man learnt to alter the chemistry of DNA and construct recombinant DNA. This key process is called recombinant DNA technology or genetic engineering.
What did scientists learn in the 1950s that paved the way for tissue culture techniques?
It was learnt by scientists, during 1950s, that whole plants could be regenerated from explants, i.e., any part of a plant taken out and grown in a test tube, under sterile conditions in special nutrient media.
Transgenic animals are primarily used for which of the following purposes?
Transgenic animals are also used to understand how genes contribute to the development of a disease by serving as models for human diseases, such as cancer, cystic fibrosis, rheumatoid arthritis.
Biotechnological processes applied in a restricted sense today commonly use:
However, it is used in a restricted sense today, to refer to such of those processes which use genetically modified organisms to achieve the same on a larger scale.
The conversion of an explant into a whole plant in tissue culture requires a nutrient medium that must provide:
It is important to stress here that the nutrient medium must provide a carbon source such as sucrose and also inorganic salts, vitamins, amino acids and growth regulators like auxins, cytokinins etc.
What is the primary benefit of recombinant therapeutics, such as human insulin produced in bacteria, over similar products isolated from non-human sources?
Recombinant DNA technological processes have made immense impact in the area of healthcare by enabling mass production of safe and more effective therapeutics. Since the recombinant therapeutics are identical to human proteins, they do not induce unwanted immunological responses and are free from risk of infection as was observed in case of similar products isolated from non-human sources.
What was the primary disadvantage of using insulin extracted from slaughtered cattle and pigs for diabetic patients?
The NCERT states: 'Insulin from an animal source, though caused some patients to develop allergy or other types of reactions to the foreign protein.'
Human insulin is synthesized as a pro-hormone. What key modification is required for it to become a mature and functional hormone?
The NCERT states: 'In mammals, including humans, insulin is synthesised as a pro-hormone... which contains an extra stretch called the C peptide. This C peptide is not present in the mature insulin and is removed during maturation into insulin.'
What was the main challenge in producing mature human insulin using recombinant DNA techniques?
The NCERT mentions: 'The main challenge for production of insulin using rDNA techniques was getting insulin assembled into a mature form.' This implies the difficulty in combining the A and B chains with their disulfide bonds.
Which company successfully developed and marketed genetically engineered human insulin in 1983?
The NCERT states: 'In 1983, Eli Lilly an American company prepared two DNA sequences corresponding to A and B, chains of human insulin and introduced them in plasmids of E. coli to produce insulin chains.'
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