The world of biotechnology is rapidly advancing and dense with information. We’ll take a look at a few of the most interesting facts about biotechnology to shine a light on humans, crops, and other living organisms in our world. Some of these factors play a role in our everyday lives, so don’t be surprised if you find these facts fascinating.
The Information Molecule
DNA is known as the information molecule because of its ability to store high-capacity data in incredibly small increments. One of the primary ways DNA serves living organisms is by passing genetic data from one cell to another through its storage components.
Biologist Nick Goldman posits that one gram of DNA can store up to 700 terabytes of information. He projects that, if you were to write all existing photos, videos, and internet data in DNA, it would be around the size of a small van.
Goats, Spiders, and Milk
Spiders are incredibly territorial over their silky webs, so capturing enough woven silk for other applications is nearly impossible. These silks are durable and flexible, so they hold a lot of potential. The University of Wyoming researchers found a way around spiders’ territorial nature by inserting silk-producing genetic codes into goats, a milk-producing and more compliant animal.
These goats produced milk with long silky strands that mimicked spiders’ silk. Researchers harvested these silky strands in mass quantities for other applications and studies.
Carbon Farmers
Plowing fields before or after a growing season often includes weed elimination efforts. But when farmers plow through a large number of weeds, this disrupts the soil’s chemical makeup and releases carbon into the environment.
As a solution, more crops are being produced with biotechnology and producing much higher yields. Biotech-based crops reduce soil disturbances and leave the carbon contents untouched.
Biotech Insects
Biotech-based crops are only in their beginning phases, though they are taking off rapidly with various benefits. Researchers are improving these genetically engineered efforts by mass-producing genetically engineered insects.
These bio-produced insects serve as a population control tactic for diseased insects and crop-eating organisms. Essentially, biotech insects are sterile, and when released into the environment, they breed with natural insects, reducing the number of offspring and diseased insects altogether.
We’re All One and the Same
One of the most interesting facts about biotechnology is all human DNA is 99.9 percent the same. There is only a .01 percent genetic coding that makes everyone different. One of the innovative technologies currently transforming the biotech industry explores that .01 percent with the use of CRISPR, a pair of genetic scissors that can edit, alter, or delete DNA to understand the micro-percents in that .01 difference.
