Report: Enhancing Human Health via Plant Biotechnology & Food

This report discusses the role of plant biotechnology in improving human health by enhancing food quality. It delves into the use of genetic engineering and tissue culture to produce genetically modified plants with enhanced nutritional attributes. The report highlights the benefits of phytonutrients in preventing diseases and promoting well-being, referencing the experimental plant Moringa oleifera and its healthful components. It also covers methods of bio-fortification, including breeding new crop varieties and transgenic breeding, exemplified by Golden Rice, to address vitamin deficiencies. The discussion extends to food enrichment and fortification, emphasizing the importance of biofortified staple foods in enhancing human health and nutrition. Recent plant biotechnology tools are identified as crucial for crop enhancement, disease elimination, and seed protection, ultimately contributing to improved human health outcomes. The report concludes by emphasizing the design of nutritionally improved crops to enhance livestock feed and the production of novel fatty acids beneficial to human well-being through metabolic engineering.

How can we improve human health by
enhancing food quality through Plant
Biotechnology.

Table of Content.
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MATERIALS AND METHODS.....................................................................................................1
RESULTS........................................................................................................................................1
DISCUSSION..................................................................................................................................1
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................2

INTRODUCTION
Plant biotechnology is defined as use of genetic engineering techniques as well as tissue
culture in order to produce genetically modified plants which express new or enhanced desirable
features. It is a tool that is used for the improvement of new plant attribute as well as the
varieties. To achieve commercial success as well as to meet the demand of growers, new
varieties should be produced on a large scale. The present plant biotechnology has generally
been developed as a new era of science and technology where production of secondary
metabolites, valuable plant genetics enhancement, preservation of germ-plasm along with large
number of disease-free -With production new varieties are being preferred. In this, the crop
plants can give necessary food nutrients to the humans, including lipids, vitamins, carbohydrates,
minerals and proteins both directly and indirectly. The level of composition of food ingredients
can vary specifically in various food crops. In this report, there is a discussion about the role of
plant biotechnology in improving human health by simply improving the food quality. In this,
there is also discussion about the benefits of phytonutrients to prevent specific disease in humans
and promote healthy well-being. In addition to this, there is also a discussion about the
experimental plant conducted known as Moringa oleifera that is used to enhance the health of
humans (Kardum and Glibetic, 2018).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The plants are generally the major sources of dietary proteins for both the animals and
humans as well. Amino acids are generally synthesized from the basic elements like oxygen and
carbon from the hydrogen from water, air and the nitrogen from soil. In the essential amino
acids, the role of nutritional component such as SAM (S-ademosylmethioine), is generally a
substrate that is specifically involved in epigenetic as well as in the oxidation of fatty acids, is
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made from Met. Met is generally called as an important methyl donor indirectly through SAM in
the metabolism of humans. Among the mammalian cells, the accumulation of homocysteine can
cause a major harm or injury to the epithelial cells, leading to atherosclerosis. Therefore,
homocysteine accumulated can be decreased by the process re-methylation into Met. In this, the
amino acid Lys can play an essential role in the defence mechanism of the humans. The
deficiency of this amino acid among humans can effectively reduce the capability of the
mammalian cells to defence against toxic agents such as viruses and so on. In this, the deficiency
of Lys amino acid can also play a major role to cause osteoporosis among humans (Mishyna,
Chen and Benjamin, 2020).
Among various plants, there is a plant known as Moringa oleifera, often known as
drumstick tree or the miracle tree. The plant is being used from many years as it contains
the medicinal properties along with its benefits to health. The plant can involve the
properties such as antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antidepressant as well as the antifungal
properties to enhance the public health. The components involved in Moringa plant along
with its benefit to human body are as mentioned below:
Healthful Components of Moringa Benefits
Vitamin A 9% of RDA, decreases risk of Acne, reduces
risk of cancer, can protect eyes from night
blindness.
Riboflavin (B2) 11% of RDA, helps to breakdown the
components of proteins, carbohydrates and
fats. Essential in maintaining the energy supply
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of body.
Niacin (B3), B-6 19% of RDA, helps to reduce cholesterol
levels, encourage the functioning of brain, can
ease arthritis.
Vitamin B1: Thiamine It can boost energy production. It can
specifically help to overcome depression and
good for people who have diabetes.
Calcium It is one of the necessary minerals for human
growth. The Moringa plant leaves can give
about 1000mg and its powder can provide
more than 4000 mg that can benefit health to
humans.
Vitamin C (Folate and ascorbic acid) 12% of RDA, quite important for growth and
development, repairs all the tissues of human
body
Potassium The plant can involve high level of potassium
as well as niazimicin that can help to reduce
the blood pressure levels.
Iron 11% of RDA, helps to perform vital
functioning inside human body such as
gastrointestinal processes, regulation of human
body temperature, immune system.
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Phosphorous It help to keep bones strong, helps in muscle
contraction and help the muscles to recover
after exercise.
Zinc It can help the human immune system and
functions of metabolism. Help to heal the
wounds as well.
Magnesium 8% of RDA, helps to keep the blood pressure
level to normal, steady rhythms of heart, makes
bones strong.
The methods of Bio-fortification of plants can involve such as breeding of new varieties
of crops which are better able to take up essential nutrients like Zinc, grouped with extrinsic
micronutrients applications in the form of fertilizer and foliar sprays. In this, coating of the seeds
with micronutrients like Zinc and Iron earlier to planting is generally other method through
which to enhance the growth and improvement of plants, and the bio-fortifying flora in order to
enhance the nutrition for consumption to humans. In context with bio-fortification through
transgenic breeding, it is generally one of the methods that is being currently in use to tackle
essential deficiencies of vitamins among the developing countries. Significantly, the methods
like transgenic breed is used among the developing countries. The breeding can create the plants
or crops with enhanced features via change in the genome to meet the requirements as well as the
demands for example, deficiency of vitamin A among the evolving countries. In this, the very
common example can involve is Golden Rice (Handa, Fatima and Mattoo, 2018).
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Phytonutrients: most of the phytonutrients can involve the properties of antioxidants which can
help to damage to the cells within the human body. In this, there are abundant phytonutrients
which are expressed to decrease the risk of cardiovascular illness, Alzheimer’s illness, cancer
and many other illnesses.
Food enrichment & fortification: In this, fortified food components can aid humans to fill in their
nutritional gaps in our diet. In addition to this, the fortified food components can deliver the
vitamins as well as minerals to a large portion without needing a vast alteration in their diet or
behaviour.
Biofortification staple food can enhance the quality of nutrients: It is generally a process of
enhancing the density of both minerals and vitamins within a crop via the plant breeding,
transgenic techniques or the agronomic practices. In this, when consumed the biofortified staple
crops, it will generate the measurable enhancements within health of the humans and nutrition as
well.
The recent plant biotechnology tools can significantly help in the enhancement of crops
for the well-being of humans, it can speedup the multiplication procedures for vegetatively
propagated crops, it can identify the illness transmitted by planting or seed material, can
eliminate the illness that is being transmitted by planting material and can protect the seeds with
biological control agents.
RESULTS
Across countries, the deficiency of Vitamin A is quite detrimental towards the human
well-being, containing a great prevalence in the evolving countries often due to its restricted
access to the food’s rich in Vitamin A and poverty as well is observed mostly during the infancy,
childhood and pregnancy. The more common outcomes of Vitamin A deficiency can involve the
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permanent blindness and Xerophthalmia. In context with Golden Rice, it was generally a crucial
breakthrough as an effective source of pro-vitamin A (beta-carotene) having enough potency to
decrease the burden of illness by expressing the genes which encodes carotene desaturase and
PSY (daffodil phytoene). In this, the minerals and vitamins are generally an essential nutritional
component for both growth and development so that human body can effectively perform its
functions. The deficiencies of micronutrients are quite common among population and in this,
the fortification of food is generally the only intervention that is used to decrease the burden of
deficiencies of micronutrient and can enhances the well-being within population. In this, the
fortified food is commonly those which have nutrients added to them that do not naturally occur
in the food. These such food components are specifically meant to enhance the nutrition as well
as can add the well-being benefits such as, milk is rarely protected with Vitamin D, and calcium
as well can be added to fruit juices (Timsina, 2018).
Here, a supplemented food usually means that the nutrient component that were mainly
missing during the dispensation are added back in. many of the refined grains are supplemented.
As per the Academy of nutrition and Dietetics, the majority of the people can get adequate of
most nutrients. Therefore, most of the adults are not able to get enough amount of Dietary fibre,
Vitamin A, C, D and E, Calcium, Magnesium. In this, the old age people and the pregnant
women are significantly more prone towards deficiency of Vitamins. The people with essential
diet are also necessity to be aware of potential deficiencies of vitamins. In this, people who
commonly suffer from malnutrition often consume food that may be centered around the main
crop and as a result lack access to the wide variety of vegetables and fruits needed for a healthy
diet. The development of plants that are nutritionally improved as well as resistant to abiotic
stresses can represent a feasible result to such future challenges. More traditionally, the minerals
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and vitamins has been added to the food crops via supplement or the bio-fortification practices.
The provision of the micro-nutrients in the form of supplements to undernourished populations
have been proven to be successful. Bio-fortification of crops can generally occur either by
adding suitable minerals or inorganic components to fertilizers, by conservative plant breeding,
or through the use of biotechnology. Although the use of bio-fortified fertilizers with micro-
nutrients is the simplest of these methods, this practice can be confounded by differences in the
mobility of minerals, as well as by differences in soil composition between plant species and soil
topography. could. Every crop, making the accomplishment of this method highly uncertain. It is
quite necessary to apply micro-nutrients frequently to the soil, resulting in increase in both cost
and labor (Torres, Verón, Contreras and Isla, 2020).
DISCUSSION
In this, the nutritionally improved crops generally been designed to address the
enhancements in the feed for livestock’s as well as poultry. Not only the food crops be bio-
fortified by the genetic engineering, they can also be designed to contain the bio-reactive
compounds that have enhanced the well-being benefits or can decreases the developing risk of
chronic illness like cardiovascular illness or cancer. In addition to this, the plant seed storage oil
has been examined for their capability to produce the novel fatty acids which are advantages to
the human well-being. One example includes, through metabolic engineering a variety of
designer oilseeds, transgenic plants have been developed to produce Omega-3 fatty acids
regularly found in fish oil. In this, omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (Omega-3-
FA) deserve immense attention due to their dietary benefits such as increased brain function as
well as improved heart health. Meanwhile, most omega-3 FAs come from marine life. Plants,
algae and krill that have been genetically modified to express the levels of omega-3 fatty acids
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found in marine organisms have undergone evolution. Furthermore, through metabolic
engineering, the metabolic pathway to produce fatty acids has been reconstituted among plants
such as false flax, a relative of canola (Dumont, Groot and Tichit, 2018).
It has other beneficial fatty acids built into the seed oil of the plant, including gamma
linolenic and stearidonic acids, as well as arachidonic acid. Generations of biopharmaceuticals in
plants add another layer of complexity to the role of plants in human well-being. Vaccines and
other therapeutic proteins containing monoclonal antibodies can be produced at the plant and a
handful are now in the early stages of commercialization. Currently, the diversity of therapeutic
proteins produced in plants is substantial, and ranges from human monoclonal antibodies against
HIV to vaccine proteins against smallpox and other potential biological welfare threats, and even
a collection of new anti-cancer therapeutic agents. There are varieties. The developing field of
tailored medicine. Molecular farming as a field is basically restricted in developed countries by
the need for safe and low-cost biopharmaceuticals. These such vaccines are easily portable and
do not require protection to ensure that they are accessible in distant regions of the world.
Vaccines produced in food crops containing tomatoes, soybeans and bananas can be consumed
directly as well as effectively stimulating an immune response to a specific pathogen (Haynes,
Jimenez, Pardo and Helyar, 2019).
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