Investigate the uses and applications of biotechnology (past, present and future), including: analysing the social implications and ethical uses of biotechnology, including plant and animal examples; researching and evaluating the development and use of a biotechnology

What this dot point is asking

NESA wants you to know specific named biotechnologies, what they do, and how to evaluate their social and ethical implications. Use one detailed example per category (agriculture, medicine, industry) rather than a long superficial list.

The answer

Biotechnology is the use of living organisms or their components to make products or processes for human use. Modern biotechnology relies on recombinant DNA, fermentation and increasingly on genome editing.

Agricultural biotechnology

Bt cotton (transgenic insect resistance)

The cry1Ac gene from Bacillus thuringiensis is inserted into cotton, where it expresses a Cry protein lethal to bollworm larvae. Reduces pesticide spraying, increases yield, and now accounts for the majority of cotton grown in India, China, the United States and Australia.

Golden rice (transgenic nutritional enhancement)

Rice engineered to express beta-carotene (vitamin A precursor) using genes from maize and a soil bacterium. Aims to reduce vitamin A deficiency in populations dependent on rice. Approved in the Philippines in 2021. Critics argue dietary diversification would address the deficiency without GM crops; supporters point out diversification has failed for decades in the affected regions.

Herbicide-tolerant crops

Soybean, canola and corn engineered with bacterial EPSPS gene confer resistance to glyphosate, allowing farmers to spray over a growing crop. Increases yields and reduces tillage, but selects for glyphosate-resistant weeds and concentrates farm income towards seed and chemical companies.

Medical biotechnology

Recombinant human insulin (Humulin, 1982)

The first commercial recombinant drug. Human insulin gene is inserted into E. coli using a plasmid vector; bacteria express and secrete insulin, which is purified for clinical use. Replaced porcine and bovine insulin and removed allergic complications.

Recombinant vaccines

Hepatitis B and HPV vaccines use yeast-expressed viral surface proteins rather than live or attenuated virus, removing infection risk during manufacture.

Gene therapy

Inserting a functional copy of a gene into a patient's cells to correct a genetic disease. Examples: Luxturna (RPE65 for inherited blindness, approved 2017), Zolgensma (SMN1 for spinal muscular atrophy, approved 2019).

Monoclonal antibodies

Engineered antibodies (e.g. trastuzumab for HER2-positive breast cancer) target specific cell-surface markers with minimal off-target effects.

Industrial biotechnology

Recombinant chymosin (rennet)

Calf rennet historically extracted from slaughtered calves' stomachs is now produced in genetically modified Aspergillus or yeast, supplying the cheese industry without animal slaughter and at lower cost.

Biofuels

Engineered microbes ferment plant biomass into ethanol or biodiesel as renewable transport fuel.

Bioremediation

Bacteria such as Pseudomonas putida engineered to metabolise oil hydrocarbons or heavy metals at contaminated sites.

Forensic and reproductive biotechnology

DNA profiling. Short tandem repeat (STR) analysis identifies individuals from a blood, saliva or tissue sample. Used in criminal forensics, paternity testing and identification of disaster victims.

Reproductive cloning. Somatic cell nuclear transfer (Dolly the sheep, 1996) and embryo splitting are used in livestock breeding for high-value animals (champion racehorses, prize bulls). Banned for human reproduction in most jurisdictions.

Social and ethical considerations

Benefits. Higher yields, fewer pesticides, cheaper medicines, replacement of animal-derived products, treatments for previously untreatable diseases.

Concerns.

1. Intellectual property. Patents on seeds and gene therapies concentrate control with a few corporations and raise prices.
2. Access equity. Million-dollar gene therapies are out of reach for most patients globally.
3. Environmental. Gene flow to wild relatives, resistance evolution in target pests, non-target ecological effects.
4. Religious and cultural. Some communities oppose transgenic organisms on religious or "playing God" grounds.
5. Animal welfare. Cloned and transgenic livestock face higher rates of developmental abnormalities.
6. Consent and dual use. Germline gene editing raises consent issues for future generations; gene drives could intentionally drive species extinct.

Summary table

Examples in context

Example 1. Bt cotton in northern NSW. Cotton growers in the Namoi and Macquarie Valleys have planted Bollgard 3 cotton since 2016. The plants contain three Bacillus thuringiensis genes that produce insecticidal proteins lethal to Helicoverpa caterpillars (cotton bollworm). The Australian Cotton Research and Development Corporation reports that pesticide spray applications fell from around 12 per season in the 1990s to fewer than two per season today, because the in-plant Bt toxin replaces broad-spectrum sprays. Cotton Australia data also show insectivorous bird and beneficial insect populations recovering on Bt farms. Growers must, however, plant non-Bt refuge crops alongside Bt cotton to slow the evolution of Bt-resistant caterpillars, an industry-wide stewardship plan.

Example 2. Recombinant human insulin replacing pig insulin. Until the early 1980s, type 1 diabetics in Australia used insulin purified from pig pancreases collected from abattoirs, which provoked immune reactions because porcine insulin differs from human insulin by one amino acid. In 1982, Eli Lilly's Humulin became the first recombinant insulin: the human INS gene was inserted into Escherichia coli using a plasmid vector, the bacteria expressed the protein, and the insulin was extracted by chromatography. Today Australian pharmacies dispense recombinant insulin (Humulin, Novolin) almost exclusively. This biotechnology allows scalable, immunologically identical insulin and removes dependence on slaughterhouse supply.

Try this

Q1. Identify two ethical concerns associated with planting genetically modified Bt cotton in Australia. [2 marks]

• Cue. Possible answers include patenting and seed-saving restrictions, gene flow to native plant relatives, evolution of resistance, and concentration of agricultural power in seed companies.

Q2. A pharmaceutical company produces recombinant human growth hormone using genetically modified Escherichia coli. Calculate the relative cost advantage if a 1000 L bioreactor yields 50 g of hormone per batch versus extraction from 100 cadaver pituitaries yielding 4 mg per pituitary. [3 marks]

• Cue. Bioreactor yield is 50 g (50000 mg); cadaver yield is 100 by 4 = 400 mg. The bioreactor produces 125 times more per batch, plus avoids cadaver-derived prion risk (Creutzfeldt-Jakob).

Q3. Evaluate the use of recombinant DNA technology in agriculture. (a) Identify one specific agricultural biotechnology used in Australia. (b) Describe one benefit and one risk. (c) Justify whether the benefit outweighs the risk in your view. [1+2+3 marks]

• Cue. (a) Bt cotton (or canola). (b) Reduced pesticide use; resistance evolution or gene flow. (c) A clear judgement supported by evidence such as Cotton Australia data, with reference to the refuge-crop stewardship model.