Biotechnology and Capillary Electrophoresis
Biotechnology is defined as a set of techniques for industrial exploitation of biological systems or processes. It encompasses any technique that uses living organisms to make or modify products, to improve plants or animals or to develop micro organisms for specific uses and involves applying molecular and cellular biology, plant, animal and human genetics and immunology in order to create new products. The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) defines biotechnology as “the use of the cellular and molecular processes to solve problems or make products” and list biotechnology types. The firms included in this industry are those that use cells and biological molecules for applications in medicine, agriculture and environmental management.
Conventional techniques of producing biotechnology products, using traditional microbiological fermentation, have evolved, with the development of modern technologies. Modern biotechnology entails use of cell fusion techniques, bio-informatics (use of information technology for documenting bio-diversity and study DNA structures), genetic engineering; structure based molecular design and recombinant DNA technology (insertion of foreign gene) and hybridoma technology (fusing and multiplying cells).
Now we see the role capillary electrophoresis has to play in the field of biotechnology.
Developed in the early 1990s, capillary electrophoresis (CE) is now an established technique in several areas of analysis. The use of CE is routine in many hospitals and clinics, particularly for analyzing serum proteins and disease markers. The technique has also dramatically increased throughput for DNA profiling in criminal investigations. Data resulting from capillary electrophoresis in forensic DNA tests have been shown to be credible evidence in law courts, and forensic testing laboratories have published validated procedures. Pharmaceutical companies make extensive use of capillary electrophoresis, in particular for chiral separations, and the technique is widely accepted by regulatory authorities such as the US Food and Drug Administration. Outside of these areas, however, inexperience of capillary electrophoresis and the predominance of HPLC in many analytical laboratories continue to impede uptake of the technique. This is despite the fact that for many analyses CE may be easier, faster and more cost-effective.
Capillary electrophoresis is an automated analytical technique that separates species by applying voltage across buffer filled capillaries. It is generally used for separating ions, which move at different speeds when the voltage is applied depending on their size and charge. The solutes are seen as peaks as they pass through the detector and the area of each peak is proportional to their concentration, which allows quantitative determinations. Analysis includes purity determination, assays, and trace level determinations.
Analysis times are in the region of 1-30 minutes depending on the complexity of the separation. Modern instruments are relatively sophisticated and may contain fiber optical detection systems, high capacity autosamplers, and temperature control devices. Detection is usually by UV absorbance – often with a diode array. Other commercial detectors include fluorescence detection and coupling to mass spectrometers. Indirect UV detection is widely used for detecting solutes having no chromophores such as metal ions or inorganic anions (Box 1). Low UV wavelengths (ca 190-200nm) are also used to detect simple compounds such as organic acids.
Electrophoresis has traditionally been used for analyzing bio molecules such as DNA and proteins, and capillary electrophoresis has been widely adopted in these areas, notably the use of capillary electrophoresis in forensic DNA testing.
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