ONGOING BIOTECHNOLOGICAL PROJECTS AND AREAS OF RESEARCH
The biotechnology is going to play a major role in the following areas of research and technology:
- Production of bio-pesticides and bio-fertilizers- this will reduce the dependency on chemical pesticides and will safeguard the environment.
- Production of photosynthetically efficient plants- this will solve the relevant energy related issues.
- Production of transgenic animals as bioreactors for producing valuable drugs- This area has generated a lot of debate as there are concerns regarding the interaction of these transgenic animals with the environment and the consequences under certain conditions e.g if these undergo spontaneous mutations.
- Human Gene Therapy- excellent alternative in medicine to cure certain diseases at genetic level.
- Production of plants resistant to herbicides, viruses, insects and other pests- This approach will not only reduce the indiscriminate use of chemical pesticides but will increase the crop productivity as well.
- Production of diagnosis kits for toxoplasmosis identification.
- Production of monoclonal antibodies for organ transplant tissue typing- This will help to reduce the failure rates of graft/tissue rejection.
- Production of human interferons microbiologically.
- Production of human insulin microbiologically- an alternative treatment for diabetics.
- Production of xanthan gum in oil fields for enhanced crude oil recovery.
- Microbiological upgradation of hydrocarbons.
- Production of ethanol by continuous fermentation.
- Bioprocessing alkenes to valuable oxides and glycols.
- Production of fructose using inexpensive forms of glucose.
- Improved production of Vit B12.
- Developing immobilized cell and enzyme systems to use in chemical process industries.
- To use genetic engineering for constructing organisms with desirable traits for their use in specific industries.
Genetical improvement of pharmaceutical microorganisms.
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