Applications of biotech

• Monoclonal antibodies


  Generated by using cancer cells from the mouse lymphocyte system that can grow in culture indefinitely (myeloma cells), fused with spleen cells from a mouse immunized with a specific antigen to form hybridomas that are grown into a pure cell lineage
• Medical applications of monoclonal antibodies


  • Diagnostic applications
  • Therapeutic applications
  • Protein purification
  • Miscellaneous applications
• Diagnostic applications of monoclonal antibodies


  • Used in radioimmunoassay (RIA) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) to measure circulating concentrations of hormones, tissue and cell products
  • Used in diagnostic imaging of diseases (immunoscintigraphy) with radiolabeled monoclonal antibodies
• Therapeutic applications of monoclonal antibodies

  • Used in treatment of cancer, transplantation, autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and infectious diseases
• Protein purification using monoclonal antibodies

  • Monoclonal antibodies can be produced for any protein and used to purify that protein by immunoaffinity chromatography
• Gene therapy


  Technique for correcting defective genes responsible for disease development by inserting a normal gene to replace an abnormal, disease-causing gene
• Gene therapy process


  1. Gene is inserted into a carrier called a vector, often a modified virus, which delivers the gene by infecting the cell

  2. Vector can be injected directly into tissue or patient's cells can be removed, exposed to vector in lab, and returned to patient
• Transgenic animals


  • Genetic modifications of animals by introducing a cloned gene into the genome, which may then be present in the germ lines of developed organisms allowing establishment of true-breeding lineage
  • Used as model systems for human diseases and to test potential therapeutic agents
• Recombinant vaccines


  Vaccines produced through recombinant DNA technology, including recombinant protein vaccines and DNA vaccines
• Recombinant vaccine production


  1. Identify protein responsible for growth/development of causative organism

  2. Isolate corresponding gene using molecular biology

  3. Introduce gene into expression vector to produce recombinant DNA

  4. Use recombinant DNA as vaccine or introduce into another host to produce immunogenic protein
• Recombinant insulin


  Insulin produced by introducing the human insulin gene sequence into E. coli bacteria, which then produce recombinant human insulin
• Molecular diagnosis


  Collection of techniques using molecular biology to analyze biological markers in the genome and proteome, and how cells express their genes as proteins, to diagnose and monitor disease, detect risk, and decide on therapies
• Pharmacogenomics


  Study of how genes affect a person's response to drugs, combining pharmacology and genomics to develop effective, safe medications tailored to a person's genetic makeup