Gene expression and its application in biotechnology

Advances in biotechnology has been the subject of praise for a decade now, this is due to techniques such as gene expression which has contributed immensely in the success of genetic engineering, medical advancement, vaccine production and agriculture. Gene expression has become a very important tool for the overall improvement of quality of life. This paper tries to look into the development of gene expression in the last forty years and to highlight how technological advancements in the study of gene expression brought about improvements as a focal point. Technological advancements associated with northern blotting, western blotting, and enzyme-linked immunosobent assays, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) technology with emphasis on quantitative PCR, differential protein display technique and DNA sequencing and hybridization arrays technology with emphasis on macroarrays and microarrays in facilitating gene expression will be discussed.