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DNA Replication
One major question for the human mind is how life continues. One of the most important mechanisms for all life cells to give offsprings is undoubtedly the DNA Replication. DNA Replication answers to the question: "When a cell divides, where the extra DNA comes from?". What "DNA Replication" is? It is the process that can duplicate the DNA of a cell. The next step is the cell to duplicate!
n the eukaryotes (organisms with cell that have nucleus) the DNA is formed in two strands, each composed of units called Nucleotides. The two strands look like two chains that form the DNA Double Helix. The DNA Replication Process is capable of opening the Double Helix and separating the two strands. Then the two strands are copied. As a result two new DNA molecules are created. The next step is the cell division. After that a daughter cell is created. In its nucleus lies a copy of the parental DNA.

Follow the links in the left menu in order to find more info about the DNA Replication Process.

The Biochemical Reactions

* DNA replication begins with the "unzipping" of the parent molecule as the hydrogen bonds between the base pairs are broken.
* Once exposed, the sequence of bases on each of the separated strands serves as a template to guide the insertion of a complementary set of bases on the strand being synthesized.
* The new strands are assembled from deoxynucleoside triphosphates.
* Each incoming nucleotide is covalently linked to the "free" 3' carbon atom on the pentose (figure) as
* the second and third phosphates are removed together as a molecule of pyrophosphate (PPi).
* The nucleotides are assembled in the order that complements the order of bases on the strand serving as the template.
* Thus each C on the template guides the insertion of a G on the new strand, each G a C, and so on.
* When the process is complete, two DNA molecules have been formed identical to each other and to the parent molecule.

Gene therapy
Main article: Gene therapy
Gene therapy using an Adenovirus vector. A new gene is inserted into an adenovirus vector, which is used to introduce the modified DNA into a human cell. If the treatment is successful, the new gene will make a functional protein.

Gene therapy may be used for treating, or even curing, genetic and acquired diseases like cancer and AIDS by using normal genes to supplement or replace defective genes or to bolster a normal function such as immunity. It can be used to target somatic (i.e., body) or gametes (i.e., egg and sperm) cells. In somatic gene therapy, the genome of the recipient is changed, but this change is not passed along to the next generation. In contrast, in germline gene therapy, the egg and sperm cells of the parents are changed for the purpose of passing on the changes to their offspring.

There are basically two ways of implementing a gene therapy treatment:

1. Ex vivo, which means “outside the body” – Cells from the patient’s blood or bone marrow are removed and grown in the laboratory. They are then exposed to a virus carrying the desired gene. The virus enters the cells, and the desired gene becomes part of the DNA of the cells. The cells are allowed to grow in the laboratory before being returned to the patient by injection into a vein.
2. In vivo, which means “inside the body” – No cells are removed from the patient’s body. Instead, vectors are used to deliver the desired gene to cells in the patient’s body.

As of June 2001, more than 500 clinical gene-therapy trials involving about 3,500 patients have been identified worldwide. Around 78% of these are in the United States, with Europe having 18%. These trials focus on various types of cancer, although other multigenic diseases are being studied as well. Recently, two children born with severe combined immunodeficiency disorder (“SCID”) were reported to have been cured after being given genetically engineered cells.

Biotechnology Industry Facts

Biotechnology industry originated in the 1970s,
based largely on a new recombinant DNA technique
whose details were published in 1973 by Stanley
Cohen of Stanford University and Herbert Boyer of the
University of California, San Francisco. Recombinant
DNA is a method of making proteins—such as human
insulin and other therapies—in cultured cells under
controlled manufacturing conditions. Boyer went on
to co-found Genentech, which today is biotechnology’s
largest company by market capitalization.

Biotechnology has created more than 200 new therapies
and vaccines, including products to treat cancer,
diabetes, HIV/AIDS and autoimmune disorders.
n There are more than 400 biotech drug products and
vaccines currently in clinical trials targeting more
than 200 diseases, including various cancers, Alzheimer’s
disease, heart disease, diabetes, multiple sclerosis,
AIDS and arthritis.

Biotechnology is responsible for hundreds of medical
diagnostic tests that keep the blood supply safe
from the AIDS virus and detect other conditions early
enough to be successfully treated. Home pregnancy
tests are also biotechnology diagnostic products.

Consumers are enjoying biotechnology foods such as
papaya, soybeans and corn. Biopesticides and other
agricultural products also are being used to improve
our food supply and to reduce our dependence on
conventional chemical pesticides.

Environmental biotechnology products make it possible
to clean up hazardous waste more efficiently by
harnessing pollution-eating microbes without the use
of caustic chemicals.

Industrial biotechnology applications have led to cleaner
processes that produce less waste and use less energy and
water in such industrial sectors as chemicals, pulp and
paper, textiles, food, energy, and metals and minerals. For
example, most laundry detergents produced in the United
States contain biotechnology-based enzymes.

DNA fingerprinting, a biotech process, has dramatically
improved criminal investigation and forensic
medicine, as well as afforded significant advances in
anthropology and wildlife management.

The biotech industry is regulated by the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration (FDA), the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) and the Department of Agriculture
(USDA).

As of Dec. 31, 2005, there were 1,415 biotechnology
companies in the United States, of which 329 were
publicly held.

Market capitalization, the total value of publicly traded
biotech companies (U.S.) at market prices, was $410
billion as of Dec. 31, 2005.

The biotechnology industry has mushroomed since
1992, with U.S. health-care biotech revenues increasing
from $8 billion in 1992 to $50.7 billion in 2005.

Biotechnology is one of the most research-intensive
industries in the world. The U.S. biotech industry
spent $19.8 billion on research and development in
2005.
n The top five biotech companies invested an average of
$130,000 per employee in R&D in 2005.
n In 1982, recombinant human insulin became the first
biotech therapy to earn FDA approval. The product
was developed by Genentech and Eli Lilly and Co.

Corporate partnering has been critical to biotech
success. In 2005, biotech companies signed 564 new
agreements with pharmaceutical firms and 354 with
fellow biotechs, according to BioWorld.

Most biotechnology companies are young companies
developing their first products and depend on investor
capital for survival. Biotechnology attracted more than
$20 billion in financing in 2005 and has raised more
than $100 billion since 2000.

The biosciences—including not just biotechnology
but all life sciences activities—employed 1.2 million
people in the United States in 2004 and generated an
additional 5.8 million related jobs.

The average annual wage of U.S. bioscience workers
was $65,775 in 2004, more than $26,000 greater than
the average private sector annual wage.
Bioethanol—made from crop wastes using biotech
enzymes—could meet a quarter of U.S. energy needs
by 2025.

The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) was
founded in 1993 to represent biotechnology companies
at the local, state, federal and international
levels. As of December 2006, BIO’s membership consisted
of more than 1,100 biotechnology companies,
academic centers, state and local associations and
related enterprises.

Research Applications Of Biotechnology

Researchers use biotechnology to gain insight into the precise details of cell processes: the specific tasks
assigned to various cell types; the mechanics of cell division; the flow of materials in and out of cells; the path by which an undifferentiated cell becomes specialized; and the methods cells use to communicate with each other, coordinate their activities and respond to environmental changes.

Researchers dissect these processes into the smallest possible bits of useful information. This requires identifying the molecular players involved in each facet of the process, elucidating the nature of their interactions and discovering the molecular control mechanisms that govern these interactions. Once they have teased apart details of the process, they must then reassemble the pieces in a way that provides insight into the inner workings of cells and, ultimately, of whole organisms.

Interestingly, the tools of biotechnology have also become important research tools in many branches of science other than cell and molecular biology, such as chemistry, engineering, materials science, ecology, evolution and computer science. The biotech-driven discoveries in these fields help the biotech industry and others discover and develop products, as well as help industries improve their performance in areas such as environmental stewardship
and workplace safety.