Biotechnology and its Applications — Part 1: Agriculture and medicine: visual lesson, ISC Class 12 Biology

Lesson

Biotechnology at work

Part 1 — how biotechnology is used to grow better crops and make medicines.

In this lesson you will

Describe micropropagation, meristem culture and somatic hybridisation
List the advantages of GM crops and explain Bt crops, RNA interference and golden rice
Explain the production of human insulin, recombinant vaccines and the uses of stem cells

Concept

Plant tissue culture

Any plant cell or tissue (explant) can regenerate a whole plant — totipotency. Growing explants on a sterile medium with nutrients and plant hormones allows micropropagation: thousands of genetically identical plants (somaclones) in a short time.

Table of plant tissue culture techniques and uses
Technique	Use
Micropropagation	Mass production of identical plants: tomato, banana, apple
Meristem culture	Virus-free plants from apical or axillary meristems, which are free of virus: banana, sugarcane, potato
Somatic hybridisation	Fusion of protoplasts of two species to combine traits: pomato

Diagram

Micropropagation multiplies plants fast

If each shoot gives 5 new shoots at every subculture, one explant gives 625 plantlets after 4 rounds.

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