The development of biotechnology has made immense impact in the area of health care. Briefly explain any three such developments with examples.

Explanation

i. Genetically engineered insulin: First two DNA sequences corresponding to A and B, chains of human insulin and introduced them in plasmids of E.coli to produce insulin chains. Chains A and B were produced separately, extracted and combined by creating disulfide bonds to form human insulin.
ii. Gene therapy: Gene therapy is a collection of methods that allows correction of a genę defect. In ADA deficiency treatment, lympho cytes from the blood of the patients are grown in a culture outside the body. A functional ADA cDNA is then introduced into these lymphocytes, which are subsequently returned to the patients.
iii. Molecular diagnosis: A very low concentration of a bacteria or virus can be detected by amplification of their nucleic acid by PCR. It is now routinely used to detect mutations in genes in suspected cancer patients and to detect HIV in suspected AIDS patients.