Biotech Applied looks at the practical applications of biotechnology - including drug development, the use of bacteria in industry, biotechnology on the farm and at the dinner table (the issue of genetically modified foods), the use of DNA forensics, and strategies for introducing biotechnology into the classroom.

Revolutions in Medicine

• DNA Primer: An Introduction to Nucleic Acids and Their Application to Infectious Disease Detection
• The Biopharmaceuticals - FDA - approved biopharmaceutical drugs and vaccines
• The Chips Are Coming - Implanted biochips - is it Big Brother or bionic man?
• Genes and disease
  • Blazing a Genetic Trail in Medicine - To decipher diseases and discover cures, start with DNA.
  • Case Studies - Hereditary Colon Cancer - A genetic test result yields more questions than answers.
  • Inheritance of an Illness - For many diseases, a back-up copy of a gene can keep you well.
  • The Ras Gene and Cancer - Rats and viruses lead to the discovery of a key cancer-causing gene.
• More targets, more chemicals, faster testing: the three revolutions in drug making
  • Genomics: Selling DNA - Incyte doesn't need to make drugs. It already makes millions of dollars selling a bunch of As, Cs, Gs and Ts.
  • Combinational Chemistry: Making More Drugs - Combinatorial chemistry promises better drugs, new superconductors and an artificial nose, all with a one-thousand-fold increase in productivity.
  • Drug Testers Think Small - Hunting for drugs using worms, single cells and glass chips.
• Take One Snail And Call Me In The Morning - Replacing morphine and other opiates with pain drugs from a sea snail and a tree frog.

Bacteria Going to Work

• Biomining - Using bacteria to extract minerals from ores.
• Cleaning Up Wastes - Using bacteria to digest away pollutants.
• Future Fuel - Ideas for using bacteria-based energy abound, but their application lags.
• Prospecting for Extremophiles - Bacteria living on marine worms or in boiling pools of mud could provide the next ingredient in your detergent.
• The Smell of Wealth - The ultimate in high-temperature composting.

From Farms to Your Table

• Agriculture - An Overview - The logic of using biotechnology in agriculture.
• Ag-Biotech Forecast - A review of the economic impact of adopting genetically engineered crops in the U.S. - preliminary results.
• Animal Health Care - An Overview - The farm animals are sick, and biotechnology is coming to the rescue.
• Animal Health - Research Update - Highlights of animal health and how biotechnology is used to develop new medicines for farm and companion animals.
• Barnyard 101: An Introduction to Transgenic Farm Animals - How to get genes into animals, and why you would want to.
• Biotechnology in Agriculture: Review - A brief discussion of the government efforts to regulate biotechnology's role in agriculture.
• Cloning and Transgenic Animals: The Influence of Technical Confluence - Dolly and Polly are here; homologous recombination is next.
• Genetically Engineered Virus-Resistant Squash Approved For Sale - It has been named Freedom II, but not everyone is happy about its commercialization.
• Gene Gun Speeds Search for New Orchid Colors - Firing DNA into orchid flower petals allows a quick test for color changes.
• Green Genes - The history, methods and promise of plant biotechnology. An overview by Gerald R. Fink, Ph.D. from the Winding Your Way Through DNA Symposium
• Herman the Bull - He's transgenic, so his daughters will make extra-special milk.
• Rhizobium Meliloti Field Tests - Report on whether alfalfa yields are increased with legume inoculation with rhizobium.
• Sugar from Tobacco? - Bacterial gene + tobacco host = a new low-calorie sweetener.
• Transforming Plants - Basic Genetic Engineering Techniques - How to get new genes into plants.

Biotechnology - It's In Your Food

• Agricultural Biotechnology, a Virtual Tour:   "Look Ma, No Seeds in my Watermelon" - Building the perfect watermelon - a case-study from research to market.
• The Development and Introduction of Genetically Modified Potatoes in the Netherlands - Why Holland needs genetically modified potatoes, and the issues surrounding their introduction.
• European Attitudes - Agricultural Biotech - Even in 1994, Europe was nervous about genetically modified foods. A view of the calm before the more recent storm.
• Feed the World -- But How? - Before biotechnology helps improve food production in developing countries, there are bureaucratic and ethical issues to face.
• The Flavr Savr Arrives - A genetically modified tomato is approved by the FDA.
• Two Views of the Flavr Savr - How the brave new tomato was approved, and an assessment of the tastiness factor.

Forensics - Sleuthing with Biotech

• DNA Fingerprinting in Human Health and Society - How to read and interpret a DNA fingerprint.
• An Interview with DNA Forensics Authority Dr. Bruce Weir - Just how accurate are DNA fingerprints?
• Use of DNA in Identification - A simple explanation of DNA identification technology, and an unusual use for it in Argentina.

Strategies for Introducing Biotechnology in the Classroom

Biotechnology Education and the Internet - A 1996 review of biotechnology information resources available on the Internet and current links to "Ask an Expert"
• Dining on DNA -- An Exploration of Food Biotechnology - A lesson plan about food biotechnology.
• "No Trick More Enlightening: Make Every Demonstration an Experiment" - How to integrate the fundamentals of science into the simplest classroom demonstration.
• A Student's Experiment - A lesson plan on oil-eating bacteria, based on a ninth-grader's experiment.
• Terminators: Wordplays for Ideas and Insights - The derivations of some scientific words gives insight into their true meaning.

Biotech Resources for Educators and Scientists

• Bio-Link "enhances and expands biotechnology education programs by providing cutting edge professional development for instructors, by improving curriculum, by making use of technologies and by creating a system that promotes the sharing of information."
• Bio-Tech is an Internet-based biology/chemistry educational resource and research tool. It is both a learning tool to enrich the public's knowledge of biology issues and a research tool for those already involved in the broad subject of biology.
• National Center for Biotechnology Information creates public databases, conducts research in computational biology, develops software tools for analyzing genome data, and disseminates biomedical information related to the molecular processes affecting human health and disease.
• Information Systems for Biotechnology (ISB) provides information documents and searchable databases pertaining to the development, testing and regulatory review of genetically modified plants, animals and microorganisms.

Winding Your Way Through DNA

Excerpts from UCSF's 1992 symposium on biotechnology.

Three of the many topics presented at this important and informative symposium are available in About Biotech. The Bioethics section includes DNA on the Witness Stand, a discussion of DNA identification technologies. Biotech Applied (this page) links to Green Genes, a discussion of genetically modified food, and Biotech Chronicles includes From Corned Beef to Cloning, an account of the beginnings of recombinant DNA technology.

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