mRNA Vaccine: mRNA (messenger Ribonucleic Acid) vaccines pave a new era in the realm of vaccine research and development. Traditionally, vaccines incorporate a part of a harmless pathogen in the body against which the antibodies are targeted. In case of mRNA vaccines, the mRNA molecules of the pathogen (SARS-CoV-2 mRNA in case of the COVID-19 …
Environmental DNA (e-DNA): Environmental DNA or eDNA is DNA that is collected from a variety of environmental samples such as soil, seawater, snow or air rather than directly sampled from an individual organism. Example sources of eDNA include faeces, mucus, gametes, shed skin, carcasses and hair. Researchers have found that Airborne DNA (Sampling the air …
Landraces: Landraces refer to naturally occurring variants of commonly cultivated crops. These are different from commercially grown crops, which are developed by selective breeding (hybrids) or through genetic engineering to express a certain trait over others. Naturally occurring landraces still have a large pool of still untapped genetic material, which can provide solutions to climate …
dbGENVOC: dbGENVOC is a browsable online database of GENomic Variants of Oral Cancer. The database is publicly available and is a free resource. The database will contain somatic and germline variants derived from oral cancer patients and also peer-reviewed published publications. The database also has a built-in search engine. This allows researchers to carry out analysis of identifying …
GM Rubber: GM rubber was developed by inserting the MnSOD (manganese containing superoxide dismutase) gene which was taken from the rubber plant itself. Why needed? Natural rubber is a native of warm humid Amazon forests and is not naturally suited for the colder conditions in the Northeast which is one of the largest producers of rubber in India. Due to …
Bt Cotton: Bt cotton is the only transgenic crop that has been approved by the Government of India for commercial cultivation. Bt cotton has been genetically modified to produce an insecticide to combat the cotton bollworm, a common pest. Bt cotton was created by genetically altering the cotton genome to express a microbial protein from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis. In …
What are Genetically Modified Mosquitoes(GMM)? These are the mosquitoes whose genome has been altered using recombinant DNA technology. Their genome is altered in a way to favour the few desired physiological traits and the generation of desired biological products. The desired trait of these GMM is to reduce the transmission of mosquito-borne human diseases. How does …
Chimers: Chimeras are organisms that are made up of the cells of two distinct species. For instance, if this hybrid embryo is placed in the womb of a monkey, it could possibly grow into a new kind of animal. Research: Scientists have injected human stem cells(cells that have the ability to develop into many different body tissues) …
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs): These are living organisms whose genetic material has been artificially manipulated in a laboratory through genetic engineering. This creates combinations of plant, animal, bacteria, and virus genes that do not occur in nature or through traditional crossbreeding methods. Genetically Modified Crops: Conventional plant breeding involves crossing of species of the same genus to provide …
A mutation means an alteration in genetic material. A mutation is part of the life cycle of a virus. Once the virus enters a host, it begins to replicate and make copies of itself. In an RNA virus such as SARS-CoV-2, proteins are made of a sequence of amino acids. Such a virus contains some …