Abstract:
Pakistan with 220 million people inhabiting about 796,000km2 space is a populated country. Being an agricultural country, Pakistan strives hard to alleviate poverty through its productivity and industrial development. In rural area health care system is still primitive and use of medicinal plants is a necessity. But due to rapid loss of floristic and cultural diversity, the plants are becoming rare and poor people are suffering. Our inherent strength of unani and traditional systems of medicine can be optimally utilized through biotechnological interventions. Realizing that the present century would greatly depend on medicines from plan-based systems, development of new molecules, drugs, prospecting of new genes and the whole field of pharmacogenomics is a mission. The real issue is: how does science cater to the poor? Misidentifications or adulteration of materials lead to reduced effectiveness of herbal products or accidental poisonings. Current research in the lab is focused on molecular barcoding of medicinal plants, therapeutic applications of medicinal plants, bio-synthesis of nanoparticles. Biotechnology is a bigger business in 21 st century. Genetically engineered business was 2% of American GDP in 2017. Pharmaceuticals and crops, contributing $137bn and $104bn respectively. Industrial biotechnology, is much less visible but more lucrative, worth $147bn. Synthetic Biology is “Applying engineering principles to biological systems”, because DNA synthesis technology has made “biology easier to engineer”. This has already started changing everything. Now, it is a way of controlling flows of energy on every scale from that of the smallest living cell to that of the whole living planet. Internationally, this discipline is growing so fast that more than 300 teams from 42 countries took part in the annual International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition there 2019 with 3500 participants. The synthetic biology is the ability to write new chemical messages on to fresh bits of tickertape, rather than just move nature's old messages from genome to genome. No longer limited by the genes they found in nature, biologists were able to get cells to work in whole new ways to reprogram them. This was made possible because of a) computer and internet revolution; b) the low price of DNA sequencing technology c) ability of synthesize compounds cheaply. Gene from a number of different organisms can be used to build new pathways, and making molecules beyond the reach of chemistry for less than the cost of harvesting them from plants, an example is that of artemisinin (malaria drug). Synthetic Biology may play a role in reprogramming cells to do helpful therapeutic things. Immune-system cells are the most obvious candidates, to help in overcome crises like corona virus. Possibilities of synthesizing cannabinoids and morphine. Cannabinoids with wide number of forms, some psychoactive, some therapeutic. A set of cannabinoidsynthesizing pathways offers therapeutic and recreational possibilities. Another 20-protein pathway capable of producing morphine and its relatives, developed by a company, Antheia. This will help to get cheaper pain relief, and also to make opiates that are less addictive. Companies are also developing products that mimic the taste and texture of meat. “Gene drives”-genetic systems which, seemingly paradoxically, use sexual transmission to spread sterility-offer a way that CRISPR technologies might be used to try to wipe out disease vectors, such as the species of mosquito that spread malaria.
Page(s):
0-0
DOI:
DOI not available
Published:
Journal: First International Conference on Revamped Scientific Outlook of 21st Century (Abstract Book), Volume: 0, Issue: 0, Year: 2022
Keywords:
cannabinoidsynthesizing pathways
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Gene drives
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Genetically Engineered
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Unani medicine system