The use of recombinant DNA technology in producing pharmaceuticals

Rekombinantna DNA tehnologija podrazumijeva metode kojima možemo prenijeti gene iz jednog organizma u drugi. Time se omogućava dobivanje proteina u organizmima u kojima se ti proteini prirodno ne stvaraju. Takva tehnologija danas ima brojne primjene, a jedna od njih je proizvodnja lijekova. Prvi ljudski protein dobiven iz bakterije E. coli bio je inzulin, 1982. godine. Danas se za manipulaciju gena u svrhu dobivanja rekombinantnih proteina, osim bakterija, koriste i kvasci, životinje, biljke te stanične kulture. Svaka metoda proizvodnje ima svoje prednosti i nedostatke. Glavni nedostatak bakterijama je nemogućnost glikozilacije proteina. Kvasci, kao eukarioti, uspješniji su u tom procesu. Transgenične životinje mogu izlučivati znatne količine proteina u krv, mlijeko, bjelanjak ili urin. Mogu proizvoditi proteine složenih struktura koji moraju proći proces posttranslacijske modifikacije da bi postali aktivni. Upotreba transgeničnih životinja postavlja brojna etička pitanja te pitanja vezana uz sigurnost pripreme takvih proteina. Transgenične biljke mogu proizvoditi velike količine proteina te stvarati proteine kompleksnih struktura. Također takva je proizvodnja jeftina i nema gotovo nikakvih etičkih problema. Najveći nedostatak genetički modificiranih organizama je interakcija s okolišem. Unatoč tome što još uvijek malo znamo o tome kakav bi učinak transgenični organizmi mogli imati na svoj okoliš, možemo reći da je rekombinantna DNA tehnologija u proizvodnji lijekova svojevrsno čudo 20.-og stoljeća.Recombinant DNA technology encompasses various techniques by which we can transfer genes from one organism to another. This way we accomplished production of proteins in organisms for which these proteins are not natural. Such technology has many applications today. One of them is the use in producing pharmaceuticals. Proteins play an important role in the pharmaceutical industry. The first human protein produced in Escherichia coli was insulin, in 1982. Today, we use biotechnology in order to obtain recombinant proteins from bacteria, yeasts, animals, plants and cell cultures. Each manufacturing method has its advantages and disadvantages. The major drawback of bacteria is that they are unable to perform the posttranslation modifications such as glycosylation. Yeasts, as eukaryotes, have some advantages over bacteria in this process. Transgenic animals can secrete significant amounts of protein in blood, milk, egg white or urine. They can also produce proteins with complex structure that must undergo a process of posttranslational modifications. The use of transgenic animals faces many ethical issues and issues of environmental impact of such animals. Transgenic plants can produce large amounts of protein and they can also form complex protein structures. This system of production is cheap and avoids some ethical issues. The biggest disadvantage is interaction with the environment. Although we still know little about how transgenic organisms could affect the nature one day, we can say that the recombinant DNA technology in the production of pharmaceuticals is sort of a miracle of the 20th century