Apoptosis is the process of programmed cell death (PCD) which usually occurs in multicellular organisms. In this case, biochemical events leads to morphological cell changes and death. Some of these changes are blebbing, cell shrinkage, nuclear fragmentation, chromatin condensation and chromosomal Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) fragmentation. Apoptosis is however distinct from necrosis which is a form of traumatic cell death that results from acute cellular injury. Apoptosis generally confers advantages during an organism's life cycle. One of the advantages can be seen in the differentiation of fingers and toes in a developing human embryo. This occurs because cells between the fingers apoptose and causes the digits to be separate. Unlike necrosis, apoptosis produces cell fragments called apoptotic bodies that phagocytic cells are able to engulf and quickly remove before the contents of the cell can spill out onto surrounding cells and cause damage. Also, between 50 and 70 billion cells die each day due to apoptosis in the average human adult. For an average child between the ages of 8 and 14, approximately 20 billion to 30 billion cells die a day.. In addition to its importance as a biological phenomenon, defective apoptotic processes have been implicated in an extensive variety of diseases whereby excessive apoptosis causes atrophy and an insufficient apoptosis results in uncontrolled cell proliferation leading to cancer or tumour
Genetic engineering, which is synonymous to genetic modification, is the designed alteration of the genetic make-up of an organism and it is the basis for modern biotechnology. on the other hand, biotechnology is the application of science in production of goods and services using biological agents. The cell which is the functional unit of life contains two kinds of nucleic acids: Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and the Ribonucleic acid (RNA). While the DNA is the genetic material, the RNA functions in protein synthesis. The tools and method for genetic modification include; gene insertion, gene deletion and gene regulation. Vectors are the biological vehicles used to transport DNA into host cells and without them, the whole process will be almost impossible. Birds belong to the class of aves and are characterised by presence of feathers. They are classified into precocious, semi precocious altricial and semi altricial based on development. However, birds can be modified for improved egg production, meat production, erythropeitin production and bird flu resistance. That notwithstanding, concerns have been raised on its effect on the environment and human health risks including concerns for modern birds and their own health. Whatever the case may be, the choice to consume transgenic birds should be left to the consumers, therefore, clear distinctions should be made between transgenic and nontransgenic bird for consumers to choose.
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