Page 9 - Sequence 2020-22

3. Meet the needs of agricultural yield: Humans have used biotechnology for thousands of years in

agriculture and used selective breeding to produce better foods and medicines. More recent
examples of biotechnology include cloning and genetic modification. Biotechnology can help

us meet the food demands of our ever increasing population. For example, Golden rice is a
variety of rice that has been genetically modified to contain beta-carotene which helps people
who do not get enough vitamin A in their diet. This vitamin deficiency is the cause of

preventable blindness in children and increases their susceptibility to a disease that kills over
half a million children each year. Soybeans, cotton and corn have also been genetically

modified to include beta-carotene. Other crops have also been genetically modified to be
resistant to pesticides. The pesticide resistant gene that occurs naturally in some plants will be

identified, removed and inserted into crop plants. This means that farmers can spray whole
fields with pesticides and kill the pests, not the crops.

4. Use of next generation computing technology: Much of this research is fueled by the need to

analyze the ever-growing store of genomic and proteomic data. However, many research and
development investments, including techniques to mine newly produced genomic data, have

not provided the anticipated improvements in productivity. This raises the questions of
whether advancements expected from next-generation computing technology can translate

into tangible benefits for biotechnology researchers, and whether researchers can capitalize
on an increased understanding of biological systems using tools made more readily available

in high-performance computing.
~ Ms. Chandranana Vengurlekar

F.Y.B.Sc. (2021-2022)

2