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Recombinant DNA Technology and Gene Therapy Using Viruses
Published in Patricia G. Melloy, Viruses and Society, 2023
Recombinant DNA technology, also known as genetic engineering, is the idea that a gene or stretch of DNA from one biological source can be transferred to another source where it can be expressed in that new organism (Alberts et al. 2019; Kurreck and Stein 2016; Mukherjee 2016; Colavito 2007; Minkoff and Baker 2004). The transfer of genetic material into the new organism is a kind of genetic modification, resulting in a genetically modified organism (LabXChange 2022). The genetically modified organism (GMO) can also be called a transgenic organism, meaning that it is an organism containing a transgene or newly introduced gene (Pray 2008).
Genetics of Obesity: Overview and Research Directions
Published in Claude Bouchard, The Genetics of Obesity, 2020
Recent progress in animal genetics, transfection systems, transgenic animal models, recombinant DNA technologies applied to positional cloning, and methods to identify loci contributing to quantitative traits have provided a new impetus to this field. The stage is now set for major advances to occur in the understanding of the genetic and molecular basis of complex diseases such as human obesities. Table 6 provides an overview of some of the methods that now can be harnessed to bear upon the task of uncovering the genes and molecular mechanisms pertaining to the causes of human obesities and of the genetic susceptibility to the metabolic complications of obesity.
Sources of Essential Oils
Published in K. Hüsnü Can Başer, Gerhard Buchbauer, Handbook of Essential Oils, 2020
Chlodwig Franz, Johannes Novak
Genetic engineering is defined as the direct manipulation of the genes of organisms by laboratory techniques, not to be confused with the indirect manipulation of genes in traditional (plant) breeding. Transgenic or GMOs are organisms (bacteria, plants, etc.) that have been engineered with single or multiple genes (either from the same species or from a different species), using contemporary molecular biology techniques. These are organisms with improved characteristics, in plants, for example, with resistance or tolerance to biotic or abiotic stresses such as insects, disease, drought, salinity, and temperature. Another important goal in improving agricultural production conditions is to facilitate weed control by transformed plant resistant to broadband herbicides like glufosinate. Peppermint has been successfully transformed with the introduction of the bar gene, which encodes phosphinothricin acetyltransferase, an enzyme inactivating glufosinate ammonium or the ammonium salt of glufosinate, phosphinothricin, making the plant insensitive to the systemic, broadspectrum herbicide Roundup (Roundup Ready mint) (Li et al., 2001).
Virus-like particle-based nanocarriers as an emerging platform for drug delivery
Published in Journal of Drug Targeting, 2023
Bingchuan Yuan, Yang Liu, Meilin Lv, Yilei Sui, Shenghua Hou, Tinghui Yang, Zakia Belhadj, Yulong Zhou, Naidan Chang, Yachao Ren, Changhao Sun
Norwalk VLPs, for example, were manufactured under Good Manufacturing Practice conditions for clinical trials, including the first human trial of an edible vaccine [138]. These advances continue to support the theory that plant-derived VLPs can be used as a vaccine and raise the need for further research in this area. The gene encoding the VLPs is inserted into plant cells to produce the VLPs. Available plants include tobacco, potatoes, spinach, rice, corn, broad beans, lettuce, alfalfa, rockcress, strawberries, tomatoes, bananas and seaweed. Proteins that form VLPs can be expressed in the plant leaves or stems. These proteins can also be produced under culture conditions from transformed chloroplasts of various plants, single-celled algae, tobacco roots, tobacco or potatoes. Available transgenic vectors include plant virus vectors and Agrobacterium tumefaciens. It should be noted that plant hosts infected with natural viruses could serve as a source of viral structural proteins with a strong assembly capacity to construct new nanomaterials [139].
The relevance of studying insect–nematode interactions for human disease
Published in Pathogens and Global Health, 2022
Zorada Swart, Tuan A. Duong, Brenda D. Wingfield, Alisa Postma, Bernard Slippers
With an increasing number of insect genomes being sequenced and made available in public databases, together with the development of advanced gene-editing tools, gene modification provides an alternative to traditional chemical or environmental vector control measures [51,52]. Genetically modified mosquitoes are already being released to control mosquito populations responsible for the spread of dengue fever, for example [53,54]. Releasing transgenic organisms is of course not without risks. Modified genes might be transmitted to the wild-type population and changes in the wild-type population could affect the virulence of the vector-borne pathogen. Molecular insight into the interactions between parasites, vectors, and bacterial symbionts is therefore important not only to discover additional treatment targets but also to ensure the safety of existing and developing control measures [55].
How necessary are animal models for modern drug discovery?
Published in Expert Opinion on Drug Discovery, 2021
Transgenic animals have a foreign gene introduced into their genome. Such animals are usually produced by DNA microinjection into the pronuclei of a fertilized egg that is subsequently implanted into the oviduct of the surrogate mother. Transgenic animals have become a key tool in functional genomics in order to generate models for human diseases and validate new drugs [20]. Transgenesis includes the addition of foreign genetic information to animals and specific inhibition of endogenous gene expression. The knockout animals are transgenic that have a specific interest gene disabled are transgenic, and are widely used to investigate both normal gene function, as well as the analyses of patho-biological roles of select genes involved in various disease states [21]. In addition, such transgene/knockout animal models are actively used in the development of new therapeutics and associated strategies.