Genetic engineering

Genetic Engineering

Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct human manipulation of an organism's genetic material in a way that does not occur under natural conditions.It involves the use of recombinant DNA techniques, but does not include traditional animal and plant breeding or mutagenesis. Any organism that is generated using these techniques is considered to bea genetically modified organism. The first organisms genetically engineered were bacteria in 1973 and then mice in 1974. Insulin producing bacteria were commercialized in 1982 and geneticallymodified food has been sold since 1994.
Genetic engineering alters the genetic makeup of an organism using techniques that introduce heritable material prepared outside the organism either directly into thehost or into a cell that is then fused or hybridized with the host. This involves using recombinant nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) techniques to form new combinations of heritable genetic materialfollowed by the incorporation of that material either indirectly through a vector system or directly through micro-injection, macro-injection and micro-encapsulation techniques. Genetic engineering does notinclude traditional animal and plant breeding, in vitro fertilization, induction of polyploidy, mutagenesis and cell fusion techniques that do not use recombinant nucleic acids or a geneticallymodified organism in the process. Cloning and stem cell research, although not considered genetic engineering, are closely related and genetic engineering can be used within them. Synthetic biology is anemerging discipline that takes genetic engineering a step further by introducing artificially synthesized genetic material from raw materials into an organism.
Applications
* Medicine
*Research
* Industrial
* Agriculture
* In materials science, a genetically modified virus has been used to construct a more environmentally friendly lithium-ion battery. Some bacteria have...