You have now done your own very simple version of protein purification. As you saw in the videos, industrial GFP purification is more complicated, and includes more steps, including anion exchange chromatography (which we did not do) prior to hydrophobic interaction chromatography. The steps required for medicines are even more involved still, as patient safety must be assured.
The table below provides some examples of medicines that are created using biotechnology. Genetically modified microbes make the proteins, then the proteins are are purified in ways similar to what we saw for GFP. Some drugs can be made more cheaply and quickly using biotechnology than by extracting them from their natural source - this was the case for artemisinin, the malaria drug that was discovered in the wormwood plant, and insulin, which used to be harvested from pig pancreatic glands. However, many biotech medicines are very costly indeed.
For this assignment, choose a biotechnology medicine, either one from the table or another (there are many!). Research the medicine, and the disease or condition it treats. In a short essay, 200-500 words, address the following questions in the assignment textbox or upload a Word doc.
Recombinant DNA Product |
Application |
---|---|
Atrial natriuretic peptide |
Treatment of heart disease (e.g., congestive heart failure), kidney disease, high blood pressure |
DNase |
Treatment of viscous lung secretions in cystic fibrosis |
Erythropoietin |
Treatment of severe anemia with kidney damage |
Factor VIII |
Treatment of hemophilia |
Hepatitis B vaccine |
Prevention of hepatitis B infection |
Human growth hormone |
Treatment of growth hormone deficiency, Turner’s syndrome, burns |
Human insulin |
Treatment of diabetes |
Interferons |
Treatment of multiple sclerosis, various cancers (e.g., melanoma), viral infections (e.g., Hepatitis B and C) |
Tetracenomycins |
Used as antibiotics |
Tissue plasminogen activator |
Treatment of pulmonary embolism in ischemic stroke, myocardial infarction |
(Table from Jack O’Grady, Austin Community College.)