Engineering health

Avish Ashokan

A BANANA that can deliver a safe, effective and inexpensive vaccine for hepatitis B? Crops that can fight off insects and diseases with little or no use of pesticides, while actually replenishing the soil and preventing erosion? ``Golden'' rice that can provide infants in developing countries with added beta-carotene to fight the scourge of blindness?

No, this is not something out of a science-fiction novel or the stuff of idle dreams. In fact, this is from the very real world of biotechnology.

To many people, biotechnology might, at first sight, seem intimidating. But study it closely and you can see what it can do to protect our environment, to help feed our expanding world, and to foster the treatment and prevention of a wide array of diseases.

Just think for a moment about what gives each and every flower its special colour and form, the source of its beauty, or what allows a corn stalk to grow tall and strong, or what brings out that unique flavour of your favourite fruit. Every living thing, from the most simple to the most sophisticated, carries a genetic code, or ``blueprint'' that determines precisely what traits it will have.

In much the same way, biotechnology is a precise science that enables us to find the most beneficial traits, in terms of added nutrition, increased flavour, or greater ability to fight pests or diseases, and incorporate them into various organisms. Biotechnology is able to isolate a particular gene (or trait) in one organism, remove it, and then transfer it to another organism, where this same gene replicates itself, creating a stronger and more resilient strain of the same substance. On one level, this process is not unlike adding a new ingredient to a recipe, or a new colour or shade to a painting. The only real difference, at the end of the day, is in the result. With biotechnology we are providing real answers to some of the greatest challenges we face such as hunger, malnutrition and disease.

Benefits for all

Biotechnology is already offering a wide variety of benefits, both immediate and long-term, with the potential to improve the quality of life. Some of these are:

Environment, agriculture: While global problems such as deforestation and loss of bio-diversity are growing, increased crop yields enabled by biotechnology may someday help save natural ecosystems by alleviating the need for additional farmland to feed an expanding population. Biotechnology can also help protect crops from the ravages of insects, diseases and even inclement weather.

Nutrition: Medical research continues to point to nutrition as a key to better health and longer lives, which has triggered the boom in the sale of vitamin and mineral supplements. Yet this research has also shown that there is no substitute for eating better, and biotechnology provides food crops with higher levels of those nutrients that our bodies and immune systems need to help cut the risk of heart disease and certain cancers.

Medicine, healthcare. The production of human insulin, the vaccine evolved from a banana for safe and secure cure of Hepatitis B, are but two of the many ways biotechnology has played a pivotal role in the development of vaccines and ways to treat diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimers, AIDS, cancer and heart disease. These advances may help us live longer and lead more productive lives.

`Electronic eavesdropper'

Two researchers at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed an Electric Cell-substrate Impedance Sensing (ECIS) device that uses electricity to study complex cell behaviour. The device offers researchers a way of testing cell interactions through non-invasive means.

The ECIS device is an ``electronic eavesdropper'' on cells and can measure the activity of cells over time. Because it is connected via software to a computer, all data acquisition and analysis can be automated. Data about a cell's response can be taken as frequently as every quarter second.

The device works by electrically ``culturing'' live cells in a set of trays that sit in bays that are supplied with a low-level alternating current from an electrode. When electricity is present, the cells will expand over the electrode, allowing changes to be measured. This electrical sensor allows a new level of detail for the results. Instead of the traditional petri - dish for cultures and examination by a microscope, the entire procedure is now automated.

Many people question the use of animals in research, particularly in non-essential testing. Others maintain that animal modelling is a necessary prerequisite for the discovery of new treatments. One target is the cosmetics industry. This device could markedly reduce or even eliminate the need to use live animals to test and measure the toxicity levels of chemicals.

The device is also cost-effective. Data can be taken in real time, essentially 24 hours a day, with minimal human interaction. The device has been manufactured by Applied BioPhysics. Several large universities and biotechnology companies in Japan, Taiwan, and the US are currently using the machine.

The author is with Arena Multimedia.

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