How Biotechnology will Impact My Life in the Future.

By Marianne Bird

As we continue to Shelter in Place due to the global pandemic, Covid-19, I know that biotechnology will have a vital impact on my future. Biotechnology gave birth to vaccines, which are a way to create immunizations to viruses. When a cell is infected by a virus, the cell creates specific antibodies in response to the antigen. A vaccine works by use of biotechnology to clone the antibodies and then using them to separate the antigen. Then synthesizing the antigen using a cloned gene, the viruses are then grown in cell cultures. Next the antigens are isolated, filtered out to pure form, and the synthesized peptides can be used as vaccines. They are added to an adjuvant to increase the bodies immune system responsiveness, and sometimes other chemicals to lengthen the shelf life, then distributed. Once administered they help a patient to develop immunity to a virus. There are several Biotech companies in a race right now to find the vaccine for Covid-19. There are a few different approaches being taken such as: antibody vaccines, nucleic acid, recombinant protein sununit, and whole virus vaccines. An effective vaccine must go through the following steps, from MedicalNewsToday.com, Coronavirus vaccine: Everything you need to know, Medically reviewed by Meredith Goodwin, MD, FAAFP on March 12, 2020 — Written by Danielle Dresden,

     "A vaccine must successfully complete the following series of clinical trials:

• Phase I: This evaluates the vaccine’s safety and ability to generate an immune system response in a small group of people.
• Phase II: This tests many people, possibly hundreds, to determine the right dosage levels.
• Phase III: This tests thousands of people to analyze the safety and effectiveness of the drug."

It will take time to create an effective vaccine, to test, and distribute it, but I believe that a vaccine will be invented in the close future. I think that it is very likely that Covid-19 will not be the last global pandemic that I will live through, and the hope of survival rests almost entirely on advancements in Biotechnology. Therefore, in just one instance of my current reality, I see a huge and vital impact of biotechnology on my life in the future.

Works Sited:

https://www.historyofvaccines.org/content/how-vaccines-are-made

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/coronavirus-vaccine#development

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