The application of modern biotechnology is virtually limitless since almost all life forms contain DNA. Although agricultural biotech products are the most prominent, biotechnological applications also find their way in environmental improvement and medical solutions.

In agricultural biotechnology, we may have heard of Bt corn, an insect-protected crop. A GM crop of this kind has a built-in insecticidal protein that protects the plant from being eaten by some pests. Bt corn, for example, is protected from corn borers. Other traits confe

• herbicide tolerance (soybean, cotton, canola, tomato)
• virus or disease resistance (papaya, potato, squash)
• improved nutritional trait (beta carotene-fortified rice called golden rice, potatoes with higher starch content, high oleic acid and laurate content in canola and soybean)
• improved industrial trait (extended shelf life of tomato, flood-resistant rice, crops able to thrive in high salinity or minimum water)

Some microorganisms are now genetically modified to clean up toxic wastes such as ocean oil spills. These “clean-up organisms” are able to convert the toxic chemicals into relatively harmless ones such as water and carbon dioxide. Other GM microorganisms also involved in bioremediation can help convert agricultural wastes to organic fertilizers, biofuels and animal food supplements.

There are also some plants that are modified to become agents of bioremediation. Biodegradable plastics can now be made using rapeseed, cotton and Arabidopsis.

Biotechnology has long been used in the field of medicine. GM bacteria that contain the gene for human insulin help diabetics by providing readily available and more affordable insulin. We may have also heard of DNA-based paternity testing and applications of molecular biology in forensics. Other applications of biotechnology in medicine include:

• improved diagnosis of disease – determining presence of a gene that is highly associated with certain diseases;
• gene therapy – “correcting” the DNA by replacing the abnormal gene with the correct one;
• stem cell therapy – engineering somatic cells to form tissues or organs to replace defective ones;
• xenotransplantation – improving the chances of acceptance of an animal organ to human transplant; and
• personalized drugs – a human genome may contain genes that are responsible for predisposition to certain diseases. Thus, drugs can be customized according to an individual’s genome.