The practical realization of this technology has followed from our ability to now detect, decode, isolate, produce, and characterize the various proteins that coordinate the numerous functions essential to human life and health. Processes that precede or are causative in pathophysiology can not only be identified but also now manipulated in an attempt to restore normal function. This relatively new methodology involves the synergism of discoveries in recombinant DNA methodology, genetic engineering, immunology, genomics, proteomics, and bioinformatics, with advances in automation and data analysis to create a cogent, high-technology industry.
As biotechnology-derived pharmaceuticals have become commonplace in healthcare, pharmacy practitioners should have a detailed knowledge of the manufacture and use of these newer agents. It is clear that technology is proceeding at a rate that is already threatening to bypass our ability to manage the ethical dilemmas presented by these advances.
All cell structures and functions begin with proteins, and the code for building the proteins is found in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). This is why the discovery of the double-helix structure of DNA by Watson and Crick in 1953 fundamentally began the unraveling of the mystery of cell processes.
There are four different nucleotides (containing the bases adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymidine) with a total of about 3 billion nucleotide units in the human genome, tightly packed into chromosomes. These include the genetic code for a large number of genes, originally estimated at 100,000 in the human but downgraded to roughly 25,000 as a result of the Human Genome Project, a surprisingly low number compared with other species. Each of these genes controls the synthesis of a protein made up of a long strand of anywhere from 50 to 3000 amino acids. Nirenberg and Matthei, in 1961, and others later, elucidated how the nucleotide sequence of a gene regulates the particular sequence in which the 20 different amino acids will be united to produce a particular protein.