Essay: Biotechnology ethical issues (essay plan)

What is biotechnology and what are some of the ethical issues that arise from the biotechnological techniques?

Biotechnology – The implementation of technology to maximise the use of biological organisms for human use.

Benefits of Biotechnology:

Medical Biotechnology:

– Pharmaceuticals:

• Vaccines: Understanding and being able to strengthen the humans immune system
• Antibiotics: Synthetically designed drugs can specifically target proteins in bacteria, killing them.

– Stemcell treatments:Harnessing of impressionable cells to create replacement organs or treat diseases

– Diagnostics:

• Biosensors: Analytical devices that can identify highly sensitive molecules (helps diabetics)

Environmental Biotechnology

• Bio mediation: Increased knowledge in ecosystems and in micro-organisms increases the ability to clean up and restore ecosystems. (Sustainability)
• Agriculture: Genetically engineered crops increases the survival rate of the crop and the nutrition value of the crop.

Industrial Biotechnology

• Uses of enzymes as biological catalysts in order to increase reaction rate. (used in fermentation)
• Energy sources

Biofuels: Extracting fuel from biomass rather than petroleum and future potential in bacteria.

Photosynthesis: Exploiting energy from the sun to create sustainable energy.

DNA Sequencing

• The process of identifying the nucleic sequence, by isolating DNA. Used mainly to identify errors in DNA which could cause future issues.

Sanger Sequencing Method:

1. Isolate and clone multiple copies of the interest gene
2. Cut the DNA into graduating pieces so that there is a piece with each nucleotide as its last.
3. Put A DNA Polymerase enzyme, a primer, the nucleotides and the DNA template. As well as putting in dideoxy nucleotides (deoxy nucleotides that are missing the hydroxyl group).
4. Highlight the last nucleotide of each DNA chunk (A=green, T=Red, C=Blue and G=Yellow)
5. Put these DNA segments on gel, allowing them to separate based on their weights, creating bands.
6. By irridating the gel, it provides the fluorescent profile of each band. Clearly indicating the genetic sequence with the furthest band being the smallest.

Cut up pieces of gene – florescent profile

Oxford Nanopore method:

Nanopores are nano-holes, the oxford nanopore runs ionic currents through the nanopores and measures the change in current as biological molecules go through or past it. The change in current can then be used to identify the molecule.

1. A nanopore membrane is made, passing an ionic current through a number of small holes
2. As DNA passes through the hole the current is influenced by the nucleotide passing through
3. A profile in the changes is recorded and can give an accurate nucleotide sequence.

Large DNA segments – A graph of change in current over time.

Gene cloning:

• Step 1: Restrictor enzymes cut out the gene of interest and bacterial plasmids.
• Step 2:The interest gene is combined with the bacterial plasmid forming recombinant DNA
• Step 3: Using either heat shock or electroporation, the cell wall of bacteria is disrupted and allows the recombinant DNA to pass into the bacteria.
• Step 4: By allowing the bacteria with the gene to colonise and replicate it creates a gene library with millions of the desired gene

Whole organism cloning: The creation of a new molecular organism genetically identical to its parent organism

• S1: Skin cells are taken from an adult organism
• S2: The nucleus of an unfertilized egg from the female of the same species is removed. The genetic material of the egg is then removed (denucleated).
• S3: Electro pulse causes the cells to fuse, allowing cell fusion and division to begin.
• S4:Once the cluster is large enough the embryo is implanted into a surrogate mother. Eventually the surrogate Mother gives birth to the cloned off spring

The cloning is limited through its very high expense in money and in time. The clones produced will not be visually identical either, as the organisms will have a different mitochondrial genome and gene expression.

Ethical Issues:

• The appropriateness of creating living embryos with obvious intention of killing them.
• Acting above nature and playing god may lead to tragic events.

Recombinant DNA Technology:

• Transgenesis – Creation of organisms with multiple functions and transference of favourable traits.
• Gene Sequencing – Identification of genetic risks
• Gene therapy – Treatment of genetic diseases
• ELISA – forensic epidemiology
• CRISPR – Gene therapy/transgenics

Recombinant DNA: Methods of successfully joining together DNA from 2 species to produce new genetic combinations.

• Used to isolate one gene or genetic segment
• Can be used for gene therapy, synthesising proteins in humans and in cloning.
• Made by the process of gene cloning, as the combination of the plasmid and desired gene makes rDNA.

How to assess the reliability and validity of on-line articles, websites etc.

CRAP: testing to see if an source is… crap

• C: Currency. How recent is the info, is the info relevant. When was the source last updated
• R: Reliability. What information is provided. Does the author provide source material of the original.
• A: Authority. What credentials does the author have, what is the authors benefit from the article. Who is the publisher/sponsor. Is the website a reliable link (ie .gov .edu .org…)
• P: Purpose/point of view. Is the information biased. Is the information purely one sided. Is the information clearly stated

Bioethics:

Positive social and ethical uses

• The fundamental goal of biotech is to improve life and successfully meeting the needs of humans and attempting to eliminate the pressures on humans.
• Genetic Diversity: Increasing the combinations of genes and editing genetic material and the gene pool in order to best survive and thrive.
  • Including the development of gene therapy, medicines/cures and many more medical benefits.
• Sustainability goals: Ending poverty and hunger (Goal 1 and 2), improving wellbeing (Goal 3), Providing access to clean water and sanitation (Goal 6), Producing affordable and clean energy (Goal 7), Creating sustainable cities (Goal 11)

Concerns

• Ownership of information and protection of personal information is a target for large corporations. Being able to have access to genetic information would be easily exploitable and could pose many privacy infringements and pose high risks to the public
• Commercial implementations:
  • Monopolies – Big corps dominate the market and make it super expensive to get access to vital items.
  • Consumer rights/choices: The production of GMO’s that are borderline visually identical to normal foods means that not labelling clearly could infringe on the consumers right to eat based on their morality.

Effects on Biodiversity

• Introduction of new genes and alleles into ecosystems can cause competition among species and lower genetic variation.
• Or the introduction of new genes and alleles can be incorporated in order to increase variation.

CRISPR: Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (A gene editing system that regularly introduced pointmutations into the genome)

• DNA sequences found in prokaryotic organisms derived from bacteriophages.
• Made from 2 major parts:

A guide RNA, containing nucleotides sequences complementary to the gene you want to edit.

A Cas9 cutting enzyme (endonuclease)

Using CRISPR can be used for editing genomes and is used in bacteria to help remember genetic codes of viruses in order to prepare and prevent later attacks from the virus.

Benefits of using genetic technologies:

Agriculture: Through selective breeding, artificial pollination and transgenesis.

• Production of species that exhibit favourable traits.
• Increased food security as a solution to global hunger

Medicine: Through therapeutic cloning, gene cloning, gene sequencing, gene therapy and CRISPR.

• Personalised medicine
• Better treatment for genetic diseases, creating cures
• Cheaper, faster tools accessible in remote locations
• Important biological molecules used for treatment

Industry: Through gene cloning, transgenesis

• Higher efficiency in chemical reactions
• Organisms that can produce significantly valuable products, such as biomass/biofuels.

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