Essay On Biotechnology

What field/program are you studying at Guilford Technical College and why did you choose it?

Child is a gift from God. Every parent hopes for a healthy child. However, abnormalities in the fetus growth becoming common nowadays. These may be due to physical, radiation and chemical factors. These factors will cause deformities such as genetic mutation which causes mental retardation, abnormal body buildup and other conditions which bring a lot of troubles in the future to the child themselves and their parents. Modern technologies and innovations in the medical field had developed a method to detect the abnormality before delivery and prevent this future tragedy to happen. This method is known as prenatal screening. There are several advantages and disadvantages of prenatal screening.

There are many risks associated with parental-age; including the increased likelihood of being pregnant with multiples, high blood pressure, hypertension and gestational diabetes. Consequently, these risks can cause the premature delivery of a baby with a low-birth weight (The American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists 2015; March of Dimes 2017; Evidence Based Birth 2017). Women aged 40 are also susceptible to have a 51% chance of a spontaneous miscarriage and are two and-a-half times as likely to have a stillborn baby (Birth Injury Justice.org 2017); compared to a 22 year old with 8.7% (Birth Injury Justice.org 2017; Evidence Based Birth 2017). The miscarriage rates are higher in older women as they occur within the half of the first trimester due to genetic problems including Down syndrome; as 1 in 53 at the age of 40 have a baby with a genetic disorder, compared to 1 in 1064 at 25 (Evidence Based Birth 2017).

Procedures such as amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling (CVS) represent the standard diagnostic methods used by clinicians to screen fetuses for abnormalities or genetic disease such as Down syndrome. In amniocentesis, a needle is inserted into the amniotic sac of the mother and a small sample of amniotic fluid is obtained. Fetal tissue is contained within the amniotic fluid and is subsequently analyzed genetically and cytogenetically for abnormalities. In the case of CVS, a sample of placental tissue is obtained through the mother’s cervix for downstream genetic analysis as in the case of amniocentesis (CDC,

The fertility rate is an important factor when evaluating the health of the public. Despite the United States having one of the best healthcare systems in the world, approximately 13% of women between the age of 18 & 44 have trouble conceiving. Although the US has implemented the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a landmark policy, assisting millions of Americans in obtaining health insurance, unless altered, the policy could hurt the 3 out of 20 women who struggle with infertility. After evaluating the core essential benefits of the Affordable Care Act, the views of stakeholders, and the state mandates, an easy solution can be established to assist those suffering from impaired fecundity.

gestational age, and other medical issues (Tin & Gupta, 2007). The question is because many

The concept of intentionally altering an organism’s DNA in order to produce genetically modified organisms (GMOs) has been critically analyzed by both science and the mainstream media in the last decade. However, the genetic modification of organisms is not a recent innovation as humans have been modifying organisms for over 30 000 years (Rangel, 2015). Back then, breeding through artificial selection was the most prominent method of genetic engineering. Organisms with the most desirable traits would be bred together in order to create a new generation of superior organisms. Throughout the centuries, the developments in science and technology have resulted in new methods of genetic engineering. Now, genomes can be spliced in order to insert or remove genes. It has essentially come down to a copy and paste process with genes from animals being inserted into plants as the common practice.

The first way that prenatal testing can be done is through something called a prenatal diagnostic test. "In general, it is the diagnostic procedures, such as amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling, that people think of when they hear the term prenatal testing," (Press 1). Amniocentesis is when doctors take a sample of the fluid that surrounds the baby in the uterus to determine certain genetic disorders or chromosomal abnormalities. Chorionic villus sampling is when doctors take cells from projections on the placenta to also discover any genetic disorders or chromosomal abnormalities. These processes are considered "invasive" because they are putting objects that could potentially hurt the baby into the protective area surrounding the baby. These ways of prenatal testing come with a very negative feeling because they could possibly injure the baby, and the word invasive is attached to a very negative connotation. However, these options can find more abnormalities and diseases than non-invasive prenatal testing. "NIPT accurately diagnoses Down's syndrome, Edward's syndrome, Patau syndrome, Turner's syndrome, and numerical chromosome aberration and cannot detect other chromosomal anomalies," (Ryu & Kim 1). Even though this is true, NIPT is still a very beneficial option to the mother and unborn child. NIPT usually uses a DNA sample to determine chromosomal abnormalities that could lead to things such as Down's syndrome. The procedure is done by the doctors taking a sample of the mother's blood to determine what types of diseases and disabilities the baby will have. Many people like this type of prenatal testing because it is not detrimental to the baby, or mother's health. "Studies investigating the acceptability of NIPT suggest that pregnant women find it preferable because the standard screening is associated with more uncertain results and

Modern medicine continues to bring new technology to its patients and is steering in the direction of “Science Fiction” in some areas. Every individual has to decide if prenatal testing “works” for them, if the result is worth the risk of induced stress, miscarriage and/or fetal limb abnormalities. Psalm 127:3 in the Bible says, “Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a

There are three ways that a mother can be tested during pregnancy to see if their child will have Down syndrome. One is amniocentesis, which is the removal and analysis of a small sample of fetal cells from the amniotic fluid. Amniocentesis can not be done until the 14-18th week of pregnancy and with this process there is a lower risk of miscarriage than with the other two processes. Another process is chorionic villus sampling (CVS), which is the extraction of a tiny amount of fetal tissue at 9 to 11 weeks of pregnancy. The tissue is then tested for the presence of extra material from chromosome 21. Chorionic villus sampling has a 1-2% chance of the mother having a miscarriage. The last process is percutaneous umbilical blood sampling (PUBS), which is the most accurate method used to confirm the results of CVS or amniocentesis. During PUBS the tissue is tested for the presence of extra material from chromosome 21. PUBS cannot be done until the 18-22nd week and it carries a high risk of the mother having a miscarriage.

Many people today are often amazed by the amount of nutrition and health information required for humans. The constant stream of genetic modification of food can be confusing. Genetically modified (GM) foods are plants and animals that have had their genetic makeup artificially altered by scientists to make them grow faster, taste better, last longer and to provide more nutrients. Scientists make these alternations by transferring genes from one organism into another in order to change the condition or character of the receiving organism. This process is known as biotechnology or genetic engineering (GE), and it has revolutionized the way that agriculture is practiced in many parts of the world. Researchers are now able to use GE

The next technique routinely performed for prenatal diagnosis is amniocentesis. A long needle is inserted into the mother’s uterus to withdraw a sample of amniotic fluid containing cells shed by the fetus. The cells are cultured and analyzed for chromosome abnormalities. Despite the lengthy time in obtaining results because the cells need to be cultured, this method has become widely accepted as a safe and accurate way to determine genetic disorders.

In this brief, the reader will see how organic and genetically modified organisms are viewed and interpreted. They will see the “facts” about the genetically modified organisms and organic organism, and how producers and consumers view this. The reader will be able to understand what is actually happening to genetically modified organisms and organic organisms during the production and when it is getting processed. They will also learn about certified organic and the USDA organic and how each one is determined in the production. Everybody has an opinion about organic and GMO and believes which ones are better. The reader of this paper will also learn the differences between organic and GMOs and the pros and cons of each of them. After reading this paper the reader will be educated on what to buy at the grocery store between organic and GMO. Organic and GMO will always be a topic that has controversy.

Biotechnology is a broad term. Basically, it is the “tools and techniques [opening] new research avenues for discovering how healthy bodies work and what goes wrong when problems arise”(Siedler para. 1). It covers controversial technology and procedure, like genetic engineering and gene therapy. It is controversial because it can affect everyone(Jeremy para. 16). As a consequence, the development of biotechnology has been a “slow, quiet progress”(Kirsner para. 3) because society may or may not recognize the repercussion of it. However, scientist like Smith- a previous chief for the Cambridge biotech company, Genzyme- continues to develop biotechnology(para. 1). Because biotechnology can be controversial, yet scientist continues to develop it;

Biotechnology & Biotechnological Equipment Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tbeq20 Altered Gene Expression: Induction/Suppression in Leek Elicited by Iris Yellow Spot Virus Infection (IYSV) Egyptian Isolate Elsayed Elsayed Hafeza, Ahmed A. Abdelkhaleka, Abeer Salah El-Deen Abd El-Wahabb & Fatma Hassan GalalcResults and Discussion Biological transmission and symptoms appearance IYSV was first reported on leek seed crops in 2006 in the Willamette Valley (36). This virus is known to infect other Allium spp., including onion and garlic (36). It has been reported that IYSV is transmitted by the onion thrips (Thrips tabaci) but has not been shown to be transmitted by other thrips species (20). The results from our study revealed that viral symptoms appeared in the biologically inoculated plants (using Thrips tabaci) 10 days post inoculation. The inoculated leek plants showed spindle-shaped, straw-colored, irregular lesions with occasional green islands.