Genetically Engineered Insulin Video Lecture - NEET

microbes outnumber all other species and
make up most living matter they're
invaluable for humans to survive and
thrive and we're continually discovering
how to exploit them including
genetically modifying them to produce
medicines food and fuel the first
organisms to be genetically modified
were ecoli bacteria by Herbert Boyer and
Stanley Cohen in 1973 ecoli is a common
inhabitant of the human colon it's
simple to grow and can be easily
manipulated and duplicated today
bacteria and yeast which cause so many
human diseases are being genetically
altered to help cure illness genetic
engineering is really about adding
things to microbes
it's about rewriting their instruction
manuals to produce something different
perhaps something useful to us like
drugs we're essentially turning them
into tiny factories one example is
insulin which should be produced
naturally in the pancreas to regulate
the amount of sugar in the blood when
it's not produced we get diabetes
previously natural insulin was extracted
from the pancreas of cow and pig
carcasses in abattoirs
but it's expensive and difficult to
ensure an adequate supply in the 1980's
scientists discovered how to produce
human insulin by transplanting the
genetic information for the human
insulin hormone from a human cell into
the DNA of the e coli bacterium this
reprograms the bacteria to produce
insulin in just the same way as they
make their own proteins in fact the
genetic modification of microbes is
transforming our ability to combat all
sorts of diseases a very good example of
this is lactobacillus this is a
bacterium that naturally lives in your
gut it protects you against urinary
tract infections and other diseases and
this microbe is now being engineered as
a possible treatment for HIV we have
high hopes for a new malaria treatment
produced by genetically engineered
bacteria and yeast there will be cheap
enough to give to anyone who needs it in
South America and Africa as demand
increases for alternatives to
conventional fuels scientists are hoping
that genetically modifying microbes
could also produce a sustainable
solution to our energy needs they want
to use the bacteria and yeast to break
down organic waste products like the
stems leaves and husks from crops and
excrete bio fuels like ethanol and
butanol as their waste product ethanol
has been heralded as a cleaner greener
fuel than petrol and East naturally
produces ethanol from sugars and ability
traditionally used for mint beer this
has huge implications
since currently biofuel production uses
starch crops like corn and sugar which
are extremely expensive microbes are
also being genetically engineered into
our clothing infusing clothes with
bacteria or viruses may give them super
properties such as the ability to self
clean or naturally glow in the dark so
the tag on your t-shirt may one day read
99% cotton and 1% eco lie
you