Q.Write short notes on the practical application of genetic transformation.

Genetic transformation is used to make better crops, produce drugs, and even treat genetic disease.

1. Improved agronomic crops -- production of transgenic crops with insect resistance (Bt cotton, Bt brinjal carrying cry genes from Bacillus thuringiensis), herbicide tolerance (e.g. Roundup Ready crops), and virus resistance (e.g. ringspot-virus-resistant papaya).
2. Biopharmaceutical production -- genetically transformed bacteria (e.g. E. coli) or plants engineered to produce human therapeutic proteins/hormones such as insulin, human growth hormone, and interferon, and to produce vaccine antigens (including experimental edible vaccines in transgenic plants).
3. Nutritional improvement -- e.g. Golden Rice, genetically transformed to biosynthesise beta-carotene (a provitamin A precursor) in the grain endosperm, aimed at addressing vitamin A deficiency in populations dependent on rice as a staple.
4. Stress-tolerant crop varieties -- transformation for tolerance to drought, soil salinity, and cold stress. …