Agricultural biotechnology is changing lives

Few people know that agricultural biotechnology has produced countless new products that can change our lives.

When it comes to biotechnology, people often think of biomedical research, but besides, many other industries are also applying biotechnology to research, clone and change genes. In the field of agriculture, biotechnology has produced countless new products that potentially change people's lives.

Vaccines

Oral vaccines have been used as a viable solution for the spread of disease in underdeveloped countries, where the cost of vaccination is very limited. Thanks to agricultural biotechnology, genetically modified crops (usually fruits or vegetables) have been designed to carry antigenic proteins from infectious pathogens, the human body will activate the immune response when eating.

A good example is a patient-specific vaccine for cancer treatment. A vaccine against lymphoma has been made using tobacco plants carrying RNA (ribonucleic acid) from cloned malignant B cells. The resulting protein is then used to vaccinate patients to strengthen the immune system against cancer. Through many preliminary studies, manufactured vaccines for cancer treatment have shown great promise.

Antibiotic

Plants are used to produce antibiotics for both humans and animals. Some advantages of using plants to produce antibiotics for humans are to reduce costs because plants can provide a large amount of products, are easy to purify and reduce the risk of infection compared to using cells and culture on animals.

Flowers and plants

In addition to disease prevention and product quality improvement, biotechnology also works in aesthetic aspects. Specifically, genetic identification and transformation techniques have been applied to improve color, scent, size and some other properties of flowers.

In addition, biotechnology also helps plants enhance the cold resistance of a tropical plant to be able to grow these plants in the north.

Biofuels (biofuels)

Agriculture plays a major role in the biofuel industry, providing raw materials for biofuel fermentation and refining (including bio-oil, bio-diesel, and bio-ethanol).

Genetic engineering and enzyme optimization techniques are being used to develop better quality materials to enhance the quality and output of the resulting fuel products. High-yield crops, able to provide a lot of energy, help reduce the cost of harvesting and transporting, leading to higher value biofuel products.

Breeding plants and animals

Improving the characteristics of plants and animals through traditional methods such as cross-pollination, cross-breeding and cross-breeding is often time-consuming. Current agricultural biotechnology allows specific changes to be made quickly at the molecular level or to remove genes or transplant foreign genes.

Currently, scientists can use gene expression control mechanisms such as specific gene promoters and transcription factors in breeding animals and plants.

Insect-resistant plants

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) has been found to produce a protein that is toxic to insects, especially European corn borer, and is used to cover dust on crops.

In order to reduce the coverage of Bt bacteria on crops, scientists developed transgenic corn expressing Bt protein, followed by Bt potatoes and Bt cotton. Bt protein is not toxic to humans and genetically modified crops help farmers reduce dusting costs.

In 1999, there was much controversy about Bt corn because a study showed that pollen killed butterfly larvae after larvae ingested. Subsequent studies demonstrated a very low risk of death for larvae.

Insecticide-resistant crops

With pesticide-resistant crops, farmers can destroy weeds around without worrying that will affect trees.

The most famous example of this other pesticide crop is Roundup-Ready technology developed by Monsanto. First introduced in 1998 as GM soybeans, Roundup-Ready plants are not affected by glyphosate herbicides, people can apply herbicides in bulk to remove any plants. any other in the field.

The benefit of this is to save time and costs associated with conventional soil preparation to kill weeds or use a variety of herbicides to selectively remove specific weeds.

Add nutrients

Scientists are creating genetically modified foods that contain nutrients that help fight disease or malnutrition, in order to improve human health, especially in less developed countries.

An example of this is Golden Rice, which contains beta-carotene, a precursor to the production of Vitamin A in our bodies. People who eat this rice can produce a lot of Vitamin A in the body, an essential nutrient lacking in the diet of the poor in Asian countries.

Three types of genes from daffodils and bacteria capable of catalyzing four biochemical reactions have been cloned into rice to make rice grains "golden". This name comes from the color of the transgenic rice grain, which contains beta-carotene, which makes the orange of carrots.

Abiotic stress resistance

Farmland accounts for less than 20% of the Earth's area, so it is essential to help plants withstand harsh conditions such as salinity, cold and drought. The discovery of genes in plants responsible for sodium absorption (Na) has led to the development of plants that are able to grow in high salt environments.

Adjusting the increase or decrease of transcription is generally the method used to change drought tolerance in plants. California and Colorado are in the process of experimenting with corn and canola that can thrive in drought conditions, and predict that they will reach the market in the next 4-5 years.

Industrial durable materials

Spider silk is the strongest fiber known to man, stronger than Kevlar (used to make bulletproof vests) and has higher tensile strength than steel. In August 2000, Canada's Nexia company announced the development of genetically modified goats that produce spider silk proteins in their milk.

Although this helped solve the problem of mass production of proteins, the program was shelved when scientists could not figure out how to turn them into fibers like the way spiders do. So by 2005, these genetically modified goats were sold to anyone who wanted to take them.

Although it seems that the idea of ​​spider silk has been shelved, now, this is a technology that will surely reappear in the future, when people find a way to weave cloth from spider silk.