Recombinant DNA Technology To Improve Health

Recombinant DNA technology is the combining of DNA molecules from two different species which are inserted into a host organism to produce genetic combinations that will be beneficial to medicine, agriculture and industry. This technology can and is already used in many ways to improve our daily lives and is used everywhere from the medicine we take to the food we consume.

DNA Cloning

In biology a clone is a group of individual cells or organisms descended from one father cell. This means that clones are identical genetically. This technology has made it possible for scientists to produce many copies of a single fragment of DNA like a gene, by which they create identical copies that make up a DNA clone. DNA cloning is done by inserting a DNA fragment into a small DNA molecule and then allowing this molecule to replicate inside a simple living cell such as a bacterium. The molecule that replicates is called a vector or carrier.

Types of Vectors

Plasmids (circular DNA molecules originating from bacteria) are the most commonly used vectors along with yeast cells and viruses. Plasmids are not a part of the main cellular genome, but they can carry genes that provide the host cell with useful properties, like resistance to specific drugs, increased mating ability, toxin production or production of specific enzymes as well as adaptability to different changes in environment etc. Plasmids normally invade bacteria and replicate autonomously in the host cells. They do not kill the host (at least not characteristically).

Ongoing Recombinant DNA Technology Research

Recombinant DNA Technology is a growing field in which a lot of ongoing research and advancement is happening especially when it comes to health. An example being Lispro (Humalog) which is a recombinant insulin that is way more effective than normal human produced insulin. Another example is Epoetin alfa a recombinant protein that is being used for treating anaemia. A recombinant version of hGH (human growth hormone) was discovered which proved to be incredibly effective in treating children that are unable to produce human growth hormone at the needed quantities naturally.

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR), a more recent development of recombinant DNA technology, has brought out solutions to several problems in different species. This system can be used to target destruction of genes in human cells. Activation, suppression, addition, and deletion of genes in human's cells, mice, rats, zebrafish, bacteria, fruit flies, yeast, nematodes, and crops proved the technique a promising one. Mouse models can be managed for studying human diseases with CRISPR, where individual genes study becomes much faster and the genes interactions studies become easy by changing multiple genes in cells. The CRISPR of H. hispanica genome is capable of getting adapted to the nonlytic viruses very efficiently. The associated Cas operon encodes the interfering Cas3 nucleases and other Cas proteins. The engineering of a strain is required with priming CRISPR for priming crRNAs production and new spacers acceptance. CRISPR-cas system has to integrate new spacers into its locus for adaptive immunity generation. Recognition of foreign DNA/RNA and its cleavage is a controlled process in sequence-specific manner. Information related to the intruder's genetic material is stored by the host system with the help of photo-spacer incorporation into the CRISPR system. Cas9t (gene editing tool) represents DNA endonucleases which use RNA molecules to recognize specific target. Class 2 CRISPR-Cas system with single protein effectors can be employed for genome editing processes. Dead Cas9 is important for histone modifying enzyme's recruitment, transcriptional repression, localization of fluorescent protein labels, and transcriptional activation. Targeting of genes involved in homozygous gene knockouts isolation process is carried out by CRISPR-induced mutations. In this way, essential genes can be analysed which in turn can be used for “potential antifungal targets” exploration. Natural CRISPR-cas immunity exploitation has been used for generation of strains which are resistant to different types of disruptive viruses.

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Applications of Recombinant DNA Technology in health

Gene Therapy

Gene therapy is an advanced but also widely experimental technique with a lot of potential when it comes to health. The first successful report in field of gene therapy to treat a genetic disease provided a more secure direction toward curing the deadliest genetic diseases (like X-Linked combined immunodeficiency).

Many different cancers including lung, gynaecological, skin, urological, neurological, and gastrointestinal tumours, as well as haematological malignancies and paediatric tumours, have been targeted through gene therapy. Inserting tumour suppressor genes to immunotherapy, oncolytic virotherapy and gene directed enzyme prodrug therapy are different strategies that have been used to treat different types of cancers.

Treatment of cardiovascular diseases by gene therapy is an important strategy in health care science. In cardiovascular field, gene therapy will provide a new avenue for therapeutic angiogenesis, myocardial protection, regeneration and repair, prevention of restenosis following angioplasty, prevention of bypass graft failure, and risk-factor management. Mutation in gene encoding WASP, a protein regulating the cytoskeleton, causes Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome (inherited immunodeficiency). Its treatment requires stem cells transplantation; in case matched donors are unavailable the treatment is carried out through infusion of autologous HSPCs modified ex vivo by gene therapy.

Production of antibodies and their derivatives

Plant systems have been recently used for the expression and development of different antibodies and their derivatives. Most importantly, out of many antibodies and antibody derivatives, seven have reached to the satisfactory stages of requirements.

Comparatively conventional vaccines have lower efficacy and specificity than recombinant vaccine. A fear free and painless technique to transfer adenovirus vectors encoding pathogen antigens is through nasal transfer which is also a rapid and protection sustaining method against mucosal pathogens. This acts as a drug vaccine where an anti-influenza state can be induced through a transgene expression in the airway.