what is a transgenic organism, how does it help in farming and medicine?
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Transgenic plants are plants that possess a gene or genes that have been transfered from a different species. Such modification may be performed through ordinary hybridization through cross-pollination of plants, but the term today refers to plants produced in a laboratory using recombinant DNA technology in order to create plants with specific characteristics by artificial insertion of genes from other species, and sometimes entirely different kingdoms. See also Genetics, List of genetic engineering topics.\n\nPrior to the current era of molecular genetics starting around 1975, transgenic plants including cereal crops were (since the mid 1930s) part of conventional plant breeding.\n\nTransgenic varieties are frequently created by classical breeders who deliberately force hybridization between distinct plant species when carrying out interspecific or intergeneric wide crosses with the intention of developing disease resistant crop varieties. Classical plant breeder may use use of a number of in vitro techniques such as protoplast fusion, embryo rescue or mutagenisis to generate diversity and produce plants that would not exist in nature.\n\nSuch traditional techniques (used since about 1930 on) have never been controversial, or been given wide publicity except among professional biologists, and have allowed crop breeders to develop varieties of basic food crop, wheat in particular, which resist devastating plant diseases such as rusts. Hope is one such transgenic wheat variety bred by E. S. McFadden with a transgene from a wild grass. Hope saved American wheat growers from devastating stem rust outbreaks in the 1930s.
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Animals that have a transgene inserted into them. A transgene is any DNA that is not normally in the animals Genome, like GFP (green fluorescent protein).
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Agrobacterium is a genus of bacteria that causes tumors in plants. Agrobacterium tumefaciens is the most commonly studied species in this genus. Agrobacterium is well known for its ability to transfer DNA between itself and plants, and for this reason it has become an important tool for plant improvement by genetic engineering.\n\n\nA. tumefaciens causes crown-gall disease in plants. The disease is characterised by a tumour like growth or gall on the infected plant, often at the junction between the root and the shoot. Tumors are incited by the transfer of a DNA (T-DNA) segment from the bacterial tumour-inducing (Ti) plasmid. The closely related species, A. rhizogenes, induces root tumors, and carries the distinct Ri (root-inducing) plasmid. Although the taxonomy of Agrobacterium is currently confused it can be generalised that 3 biovars exist within the genus, A. tumefaciens or biovar 1, A. rhizogenes or biovar 2, and A. vitis or biovar 3. Strains within biovars 1 and 2 are known to be able to harbour either a Ti or Ri-plasmid, whilst strains of biovar 3, generally restricted to grapevines, can harbour a Ti-plasmid. Non-Agrobacterium strains have been isolated from environmental samples which harbour a Ri-plasmid whilst laboratory studies have shown that non-Agrobacterium strains can also harbour a Ti-plasmid. Many environmental strains of Agrobacterium do not possess either a Ti or Ri-plasmid. These strains are avirulent.\n\nThe plasmid T-DNA is incorporated into the genome of the host cell by homologous recombination, and the virulence (vir) genes on the T-DNA are expressed, causing the formation of a gall. The T-DNA carries genes for the biosynthetic enzymes for the production of unusual amino acids, typically octopine or nopaline. It also carries genes for the biosyntheis of the plant hormones, auxin and cytokinins. By altering the hormone balance in the plant cell, the division of those cells cannot be controlled by the plant, and tumors form. The ratio of auxin to cytokinin produced by the tumor genes determines the morphology of the tumor (root-like, disorganized or shoot-like).\n\n[edit]\nAgrobacterium in biotechnology\nThe ability of Agrobacterium to transfer genes to plants has been exploited for genetic engineering for plant improvement. A modified Ti or Ri plasmid can be used. The plasmid is 'disarmed' by deletion of the tumor inducing genes, the only essential parts of the T-DNA are its two small (25 base pair) border repeats, at least one of which is needed for plant transformation. A team of researchers led by Dr Mary-Dell Chilton were the first to demonstrate that the virulence genes could be removed without adversely affecting the ability of Agrobacterium to insert its own DNA into the plant genome (1983).\n\nThe genes to be introduced into the plant are cloned into the T-DNA region of the disarmed plasmid, together with a selectable marker (such as antibiotic resistance) to enable selection for plants that have been successfully transformed. Plants are grown on media containing antibiotic following transformation, and those that do not have the T-DNA integrated into their genome will die.\n\nTransformation with Agrobacterium can be achieved in two ways. Protoplasts, or leaf-discs can be incubated with the Agrobacterium and whole plants regenerated using plant tissue culture. A common transformation protocol for Arabidopsis is the floral-dip method: the flowers are dipped in an Agrobacterium culture, and the bacterium transforms the germline cells that make the female gametes. The seeds can then be screened for antibiotic resistance, and plants that have not integrated the plasmid DNA will die.\n\nAgrobacterium does not infect all plant species, but there are several other effective techniques for plant transformation including the gene gun.
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There are several benefits to ag that are in use today:\n\n1.  Plants are being genetically altered to make them resistant to insects.  They can be modifed to 'taste bad' to the insects so they won't be eaten on.\n2.  Plants can be altered to produce more of the 'pay load' and less 'fluff'.  For example, corn stalks that will produce more ears of corn with less leaves and/or roots.\n3.  Plants can be altered to produce fruit with out seeds.  Seedless watermelons, grapes, organges, etc. come to mind.\n4.  Plants can be altered to thrive in environments where they would not normally. Thus, crops can be grown in areas that would not normally produce.\n\nHope these help!
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Applications of Genetic ENGINEERING\n\nThe first Genetically Engineered drug was human insulin approved by the USA's FDA in 1982 [1]. Another early application of GE was to create human growth hormone as replacement for a drug that was previously extracted from human cadavers. In 1986 the FDA approved the first genetically engineered vaccine for humans, for hepatitis B[2]. Since these early uses of the technology in medicine the use of the GE has expanded to supply many drugs and vaccines.\n\nOne of the best known applications of genetic engineering is that of the creation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).\n\nThere are potentially momentous biotechnological applications of GM, for example oral vaccines produced naturally in fruit, at very low cost.\n\nA radical ambition of some groups is human enhancement via genetics, eventually by molecular engineering. See also: transhumanism.\n\nDNA sequencing is a technique which is used to identify each base in DNA. Although the costs of DNA sequencing has dropped dramatically, the NIH estimates it costs at least $10 million to sequence 3 billion base pairs [3] - the size of the whole human genome.\n\n[edit]\nGenetic Engineering and Research\nAlthough there has been a tremendous revolution in the biological sciences in the past twenty years, there is still a great deal that remains to be discovered. The completion of the sequencing of the human genome, as well as the genomes of most agriculturally and scientifically important plants and animals, has increased the possibilities of genetic research immeasurably. Expedient and inexpensive access to comprehensive genetic data has become a reality, with billions of sequenced nucleotides already online and annotated. Now that the rapid sequencing of arbitrarily large genomes has become a simple, if not trivial affair, a much greater challenge will be elucidating function of the extraordinarily complex web of interacting proteins, dubbed the proteome, that constitutes and powers all living things. Genetic engineering has become the gold standard in protein research, and major research progress has been made using a wide variety of techniques, including:\n\nLoss of function, such as in a knockout experiment, in which an organism is engineered to lack the activity of one or more genes. This allows the experimenter to analyze the defects caused by this mutation, and can be considerably useful in unearthing the function of a gene. It is used especially frequently in developmental biology. A knockout experiment involves the creation and manipulation of a DNA construct in vitro, which, in a simple knockout, consists of a copy of the desired gene which has been slightly altered such as to cripple its function. The construct is then taken up by embryonic stem cells, where the engineered copy of the gene replaces the organism's own gene. These stem cells are injected into blastocysts, which are implanted into surrogate mothers. Another method, useful in organisms such as Drosophila (fruit fly), is to induce mutations in a large population and then screen the progeny for the desired mutation. A similar process can be used in both plants and prokaryotes. \nGain of function experiments, the logical counterpart of knockouts. These are sometimes performed in conjunction with knockout experiments to more finely establish the function of the desired gene. The process is much the same as that in knockout engineering, except that the construct is designed to increase the function of the gene, usually by providing extra copies of the gene or attracting more frequent transcription. \n'Tracking' experiments, which seek to gain information about the localization and interaction of the desired protein. One way to do this is to replace the wild-type gene with a 'fusion' gene, which is a juxtaposition of the wild-type gene with a reporting element such as Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) that will allow easy visualization of the products
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You are talking aboujt a thesis here. This sounds like a school asignment so i suggest you go and do your own reseacrh.\n\nTrangeneics is a relatively new field that has taken off in recent years. You are manipulating the genome to creat specific actions. For example, in a mouse you can insert a gene that codes for  a particular brain receptor. You would isolate this gene, and use a plasmid vector and insert it into the mous eline and you now have the gene in a mouse. These are called engineered or transgenic mice. You can also do what is called a knockout, where you remove a aprticular gene to test an effect.\n\nThere is a TON of info in scientific journals, online and in texts. Do some background. For a specific question or to clarify I will gladly help, but Yahoo answers is NOT where you go to get your homework done.
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Biotechnology in one form or another has flourished since prehistoric times. When the first human beings realized that they could plant their own crops and breed their own animals, they learned to use biotechnology. The discovery that fruit juices fermented into wine, or that milk could be converted into cheese or yogurt, or that beer could be made by fermenting solutions of malt and hops began the study of biotechnology. When the first bakers found that they could make a soft, spongy bread rather than a firm, thin cracker, they were acting as fledgling biotechnologists. The first animal breeders, realizing that different physical traits could be either magnified or lost by mating appropriate pairs of animals, engaged in the manipulations of biotechnology. \n\nWhat then is biotechnology? The term brings to mind many different things. Some think of developing new types of animals. Others dream of almost unlimited sources of human therapeutic drugs. Still others envision the possibility of growing crops that are more nutritious and naturally pest-resistant to feed a rapidly growing world population. This question elicits almost as many first-thought responses as there are people to whom the question can be posed. \n\nBiotechnology is “any technique that uses living organisms or substances from those organisms, to make or modify a product, to improve plants or animals, or to develop microorganisms for specific purposes
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there are plenty of sites on genetic engineering and i have listed one below but some things seem better with modification for instance pigs produce vast amount of phosphorous which screws up our environment with a modification they can be grown with a change in their saliva to prevent that which makes for a better greener world, we use plastic surgery to make changes for the better, some things need the change.
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What is Biotechnology? Throughout human history, we have learned a great deal about the different organisms that our ancestors used so ...www.accessexcellence.org/RC/AB/BC/what_is_biotechnology.html - More from this site \nBiotechnology Information Directory \nProvides links to products, services, companies, publications, clinical trials, education, and more.\nCategory: B2B > Biotechnology > Directories\nwww.cato.com/biotech - 19k - Cached - More from this site \nWikipedia: Biotechnology \nBiotechnology is technology based on biology, especially when used in ... Biotechnology Industry News from Pharmaceutical Business Review. Biotechnology News ...\nQuick Links: Sub-fields of biotechnology - Biotechnology medical products - History\nen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biotechnology - 53k - Cached - More from this site \nBiotechnology:Topic \nBiotechnology is having an increasingly important impact on a number of sectors and disciplines. ... OECD Biotechnology Statistics 2006 ...www.oecd.org/topic/0,2686,en_2649_37437_1_1_1_1_37437,00.html - 76k - Cached - More from this site \nBiotechnology in Food and Agriculture \nBiotechnology in Food and Agriculture, web site of the Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations, FAO ... of FAO Biotechnology PAIA - Survey results ...www.fao.org/biotech/index.asp?lang=en - 21k - Cached - More from this site \nNational Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) \nEstablished as a national resource for molecular biology information, NCBI creates public databases, conducts research in computational biology, develops software tools for analyzing genome data, and disseminates biomedical information.\nCategory: National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI)\nwww.ncbi.nih.gov - 17k - Cached - More from this site \nBiotechnology \nInformation from the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition and the FDA.\nCategory: Agriculture > Biotechnology\nvm.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/biotechm.html - 18k - Cached - More from this site \nBiology > Biotechnology in the Yahoo! Directory \nLearn about biotechnology through journal, organization, academic research, and industry sites. ... Southwest Biotechnology and Informatics Center (SWBIC) ...dir.yahoo.com/Science/Biology/Biotechnology - 12k - Cached - More from this site \nAgricultural Biotechnology \nRegulating and monitoring the use of biotechnology for agriculture.\nCategory: U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)\nusda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?...&navtype=RT - 49k - Cached - More from this site \nCategory:Biotechnology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia \nBio21 Institute of Molecular Science and Biotechnology, University of Melbourne. Bioaugmentation ... Virtual Center of Biotechnology for the Americas ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Biotechnology
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Transgenesis is an efficient way to add target genes that provide specific traits to a plant that were not present in the original germline. the advantages are that you can create crops that are more drought resistant, require less use of pesticides, produce a higher yield, include more nutrients, etc. The disadvatange is that by creating a new "species" of plant, you don't know if that plant will interact poorly with the environment or with people or other animals that consume it. It is interesting to note, however, that intentional genetic manipultion of plant species by humans has been underway since the dawn of agriculture, albeit by the slower means of selective breeding. New technologies are frequently intimdating, but they are usually not much worse than what is going on before and sometimes are much better for all involved.
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Variablility is important in fighting epidemics.  Something that can make one individual animal sick might not make another sick, provided that other animal is unique.  Similar genes means similar genetic bases for immunity--a disease that afflicts one can afflict all.\n\nTraditional agriculture is also based on the idea of artificial selection, which improves the livestock over generations.  Cloning means no variation, which retards the idea of improving the qualities of livestock.\n\nFinally, it's pointlessly expensive.  Why get a cell biologist to transfect genes when a bull will do it for free?
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Genetic Engineering.\n\nWhich isn't around yet, so you're stuck with what you have.
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Biotechnology or BT is industrial application of biology. Its biology in the service of mankind. It involves application of plants, animals and microorganisms in industry. On the other hand, Biomedical engineering uses traditional engineering expertise to solve problems in biology and medicine. Hearing aids, pacemakers etc. are the gifts of biomedical engineering to mankind. \n\nFor list of Biotechnology colleges and Biomedical engineering colleges, visit http://www.biotechworld.cjb.cc
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A transgenic virus carried by birds and the birds unaffected by it. You should be writing horror stories. Click the link below.
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biotechnology is technology that has to do with living things. for instance, growing organs, genetically enhancing/modifying plants and animals, etc.
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The future of biotechnology is bright.If you move to the area of agriculture, the scope is immense.There are food plants that need to be protected from pests and made to cope with less water content. In terms of quality of produce, there is some scope of improvement.\nIn pharmacology several biochemically engineered  drugs are to be manufactured.There are large number of labs in different parts of the world that have taken up the challenging task of manufacturing drugs that afflict mankind.GENE THERAPY is being talked about.All you have to do is be in touch with  latest techniques and use your computer to find out latest developments.If you are in India, get in touch with people at CCMB at Hyderabad, and JNU. You may even visit some of the progressive labs for stimulating your thoughts.
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i think mixing different species have both advantages n disadvantages .some of the Advantages and Disadvantages of Transgenic Crops?\nThe use of transgenic crops has been an issue for many years. Many concerns have been raised and these generally fall into two categories: \n\n\nA concern about what affect genetically modified material could have on human health. For example, transgenic crops have been suggested to cause allergies in some people, although it is uncertain whether transgenic crops are the source of this reaction3. Furthermore the antibiotic resistance genes placed in these crops has been suggested to cause resistance to antibiotics leading to super bugs that cannot be killed with antibiotic treatments3. The idea of a population being uncomfortable with ingesting DNA that originated from another source, such as a virus or bacteria, must also be considered when thinking about producing transgenic crops. However, to date, there is no evidence of the DNA from transgenic crops being any different from the DNA ingested from conventional crops. \nA concern about whether transgenic crops cause damage to the natural environment. One example includes pollen from transgenic corn, which has been suggested to kill the Monarch butterfly larvae. It has been shown that hybrid corn expresses a bacterial toxin in its pollen, which is then dispersed over 60 meters by wind. In this range, the corn pollen is deposited on other plants near cornfields where it can be ingested by non-target organisms including the monarch butterfly5. These butterflies have been found to eat less, have a slower growth rate and higher death rate5. A second example is the hybridization of crops with nearby weeds. This could cause these weeds to attain resistance to herbicides or other things that we have been trying to avoid for many years. Genes that provide resistance to viral disease or other traits allowing them to survive in their environment could end up benefiting weed populations around a crop field. This trait could make that population more difficult to control. To date, there has been little evidence to support this theory2. \nOn other side of the coin are the notions that support the use of transgenic crops. The potential benefits of which are quite obvious, including such things as increased yields (to feed a growing population), decreasing the use of pesticides (to save the environment and the cost of pesticides), and the production of novel crops (such as providing crops with increased nutritional value)3. Being able to retrofit any crop to our desires is a powerful concept, especially with the changing climates of today