Biotechnology is the use of complete living organisms (unicellular) or of substances obtained from living organisms to make new or improved products of service systems. (Bio = Living, Technology = Technical know-how).
Hence Biotechnology involves the use of plant and animal cells and microbes – (tiny organisms such as bacteria and yeasts) – in the manufacture of goods useful to man.
Sometimes this entails creating conditions where they can produce in vast quantities of substances that naturally they only can make in tiny amounts. But mainly the biotechnology boom has been fuelled by Genetic Engineering, Protoplast Fusion, Cell Fusion or Hybridoma Technology, Cell Culture, Tissue Culture, Embryo Transfer Technology, Germless Development, Enzyme and Protein Engineering, Fermentation and By conversion, so that simple life forms can actually be created to make entirely new products.
(i) Protoplast Fusion:
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The plant cell is consisted of protoplasm which is living and surrounding the cell wall. When fusion between two isolated protoplasts takes place it is called protoplast fusion. Here actually two haploid nuclei fuse to form a diploid cell. The diploid cell can be cultured in an artificial synthetic medium to develop a complete plant. Successful plants are already developed in case of Datura, petunia, tobacco etc. Before going for fusion, the cell walls are to be dissolved by a cellulose digestive enzyme.
(ii) Tissue and cell cultures:
A group of cells performing a common function is called a tissue. When plant tissues and cells are cultured in laboratory conditions (in vitro) using artificial nutritive medium it is called tissue culture. Here a complete plant can be produced using tissue or cell from any part of the plant body to desiring genetic purity i.e., from root, shoot, stem, leaf, embryo, etc. The tissues, at the primary stage, develop into a callous, which further develops into roots and shoots after transferring the callous to media having root-growth hormone and shoot-growth-hormone.
The advantages of tissue culture are:
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(1) It is well suited for quick vegetative propagation of plant species. It is used for asexual propagation in many species including some fruit and timber trees.
(2) Easy isolation of biochemically mutants is possible from cell cultures than from the whole plant populations.
(3) Tissue cultures may be frozen and stored in liquid nitrogen at 196 degree centigrade for long term storage of germless which helps in ‘Germless Conservation’. The technique of freeze- preservation i.e., “Cryobiology” of plant cells is still in the developing stages.
(iii) Fermentation:
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It is a process of anaerobic oxidation of compounds by enzyme actions of microorganisms i.e., yeast, bacteria etc. Usually it is applied to the production of alcohol from sugar by yeast and bacteria throwing alcoholic fermentation. Here carbon dioxide gas is released as bye-product.