Fun Fact About Biotechnology
- Humans are born without bacteria, and they first acquire them while moving through the birth canal. Babies born through a C-section have a different microbiota from those born through vaginal birth. Such babies are at high risk of conditions such as obesity and allergies.
- All human DNA is 99.9% similar. It is the 0.1% that accounts for the difference in people (individual uniqueness).
- Biotechnology has been in use since 1919, and its first application was in a DNA recombination experiment with bacteria. Today, biotechnology has been applied in the manufacture of medicines, medical devices, diagnostic tools, biomaterials, and food production.
- The human DNA is 98% similar to chimpanzees and 92% with mice. This would explain why mice and apes are used in drug studies.
- Each cell in your body contains about 2 meters of DNA. If the whole DNA in one person was laid end to end in a straight line, it would measure up to 200 billion kilometres that is more than a thousand times the distance from the earth to the sun.
- Some of the genetic material that makes up your DNA is not of human origin; viruses and bacteria have inserted some of it in a process known as Horizontal DNA Transfer.
- DNA can be used to store data just like your typical hard drives. Scientists have been able to store 700 terabytes in a single gram of DNA.
- The Human Genome Project was completed in 2003; before then, no one knew all the genes in a human.
- Through biotechnology, it is possible to turn carbon dioxide into proteins, which is a great process to counter the effects of global warming.
- Viruses are not alive; they are inanimate complicated organic matter. They lack any form of energy, carbon metabolism and cannot replicate or evolve unless they are in a living cell.
Interesting fact. Perhaps I will further my studies in biotech courses.