1. Modern Biotechnology
What is biotechnology?
k using scientific methods with organisms to produce new products or new forms of organisms
k any technique that uses living organisms or substances from those organisms to make or modify a product, to improve plants or animals, or to develop micro-organisms for specific uses
Biotechnology is the Multidisciplinary Science
k cell and molecular biology
k microbiology
k genetics
k anatomy and physiology
k biochemistry
k engineering
k computer Science
Computers in Biotechnology
· Computer simulations with virtual reality and other uses help in biotechnology.
· Computer modeling may be done before it is tested with animals
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Application
k virus-resistant crop plants and livestock
k diagnostics for detecting genetic diseases and acquired diseases
k therapies that use genes to cure diseases
k recombinant vaccines to prevent disease
k biotechnology can also aid the environment
Goals of Biotechnology
k To understand more about the processes of inheritance and gene expression
k To provide better understanding & treatment of various diseases, particularly genetic disorders
k To generate economic benefits, including improved plants and animals for agriculture and efficient production of valuable biological molecules
Example: Vitamin A fortified engineered rice
k Ancient biotechnology- early history as related to food and shelter; Includes domestication
k Classical biotechnology- built on ancient biotechnology; Fermentation promoted food production, and medicine
k Modern biotechnology- manipulates genetic information in organism; Genetic engineering
Ancient biotechnology:-History of Domestication and Agriculture
- Paleolithic peoples began to settle and develop agrarian societies about 10,000 years age
- Early farmers in the
- 7,000 years ago, pastoralists roamed the
- Early farmers arrived in
- Archaeologists have found ancient farming sites in the
- Not sure why peoples began to settle down and become sedentary
Ø May be in response to population increases and the increasing demand for food
Ø Shifts in climate
Ø The dwindling of the herds of migratory animals
Ø Early Farmers could control their environment when previous peoples could not
Ø People collected the seeds of wild plants for cultivation and domesticated some species of wild animals living around them, performing selective breeding
Ancient Plant germplasm
k The ancient Egyptians saved seeds and tubers, thus saved genetic stocks for future seasons
k Nikolai Vavilov, a plant geneticist, came up with first real plan for crop genetic resource management
k National Seed Storage Laboratory in
k Agricultural expansion and the use of herbicides has put germplasm in danger and led to a global effort to salvage germplasm for gene banks
Classical biotechnology:-Fermented food, 1500 BC
Describes the development that fermentation has taken place from ancient times to the present
k Yeast - fruit juice wine
k Brewing beer - CO2
k Baking bread, alcohol
k Egyptians used yeast in 1500 B.C.
k 1915-1920 Baker’s Yeast
k Fermentation: microbial process in which enzymatically controlled transformations of organic compounds occur
k Fermentation has been practiced for years and has resulted in foods such as bread, wine, and beer
k 9000 B.C. - Drawing of cow being milked Yogurt - 4000 B.C. Chinese Cheese curd from milk - 5000-9000 years ago
k Fermented dough was discovered by accident when dough was not baked immediately
Modern cheese manufacturing involves:
k inoculating milk with lactic acid bacteria
k adding enzymes such as rennet to curdle casein
k heating
k separating curd from whey
k draining the whey
k salting
k pressing the curd
k ripening
k Beer making began as early as 6000-5000 B.C.
k
k Barley malt – earthenware
Yeast found in ancient beer urns
k Monasteries - major brewers
k 1680 - Leeuwenhoek observed yeast under microscope
k Between 1866 and 1876 - Pasteur established that yeast and other microbes were responsible for fermentation.
k Top fermentation - developed first, yeast rise to top
k 1833 - Bottom fermentation - yeast remain on bottom
k 1886 – Brewing equipment made by E.C. Hansen and still used today
k World War I – fermentation of organic solvents for explosives (glycerol)
k World War II – bioreactor or fermenter:
k Antibiotics
k Cholesterol – Steroids
k Amino acids
k large quantities of vinegar are produced by Acetobacter on a substrate of wood chips
k fermented fruit juice is introduced at the top of the column and the column is oxygenated from the bottom
Classic Biotechnology Advances
k In the 1950’s, cholesterol was converted to cortisol and sex hormones by reactions such as microbial hydroxylation (addition of -OH group)
k By the mid-1950’s, amino acids and other primary metabolites (needed for cell growth) were produced, as well as enzymes and vitamins
k By the 1960’s, microbes were being used as sources of protein and other molecules called secondary metabolites (not needed for cell growth)
k Today many things are produced:
k Pharmaceutical compounds such as antibiotics
k Amino Acids
k Many chemicals, hormones, and pigments
k Enzymes with a large variety of uses
k Biomass for commercial and animal consumption (such as single-cell protein)
Old Biotechnology meets new
k Fermentation and genetic engineering have been used in food production since the 1980s
k Genetically engineered organisms are cultured in fermenters and are modified to produce large quantities of desirable enzymes, which are extracted and purified
k Enzymes are used in the production of milk, cheese, beer, wine, candy, vitamins, and mineral supplements
k Genetic engineering has been used to increase the amount and purity of enzymes, to improve an enzyme’s function, and to provide a more cost-efficient method to produce enzymes.
k Chymosin, used in cheese production, was one of the first produced
Foundation of Modern Biotechnology
k 1590 - Zacharias Janssen - First two lens microscope (30x)
k 1665 - Robert Hooke -
k Anthony van Leeuwenhoek – (200x) 1676 - animalcules (in pond water) 1684 - protozoa/fungi
k 1838, Matthias Schleiden, determined that all plant tissue was composed of cells and that each plant arose from a single cell
k 1839, Theodor Schwann, came to a similar determination as Schleiden, for animals
k 1858, Rudolf Virchow, concluded that all cells arise from cells and the cell is the basic unit of life
k Before cell theory the main belief was vitalism: whole organism, not individual parts, posses life
k By the early 1880s, microscopes, tissue preservation technology, and stains allowed scientists to better understand cell structure and function
Transforming principle
k 1928 - Fred Griffith performed experiments using Streptococcus pneumonia
k Two strains: Smooth (S) - Virulent (gel coat) Rough (R) - Less Virulent
k Injected R and heat-killed S - mice died and contained S bacteria
k Unsure of what changed R to S, which he called the “Transforming principle”
1952 – Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase
k Used T2 bacteriophage, a virus that infects bacteria
k Radiolabeled the bacteriophage with S35 (Protein) and P32 (DNA)
k Bacterial cells were infected and put in a blender to remove phage particles
k Analysis showed labeled DNA inside the bacteria and was the genetic material
1953 watson and crick
k Determined the structure of DNA
k Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins provided X-ray diffraction data
k Erwin Chargaff determined the ratios of nitrogen bases in DNA
k DNA replication model - 1953
k DNA bases made up of purine and pyrimidine
k Nobel Prize - 1962
First recombinant DNA experiments
k 1971 scientists manipulated DNA and placed them into bacteria
k 1972 scientists joined two DNA molecules from different sources using the endonuclease EcoRI (to cut) and DNA ligase (to reseal)
k Herbert Boyer later went to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories and discovered a new technique called gel electrophoresis to separate DNA fragments
k A current is applied so that the negative charged DNA molecules migrate towards the positive electrode and is separated by fragment size
Biotech revolution: cracking the code
k 1961, Nirenberg and Mattei made the first attempt to break the genetic code, using synthetic messenger RNA (mRNA)
k Nirenberg and Leder developed a binding assay that allowed them to determine which triplet codons specified which amino acids by using RNA sequences of specific codons
First DNA cloning
k Boyer, Helling Cohen, and Chang joined DNA fragments in a vector, and transformed an E. coli cell
k Cohen and Chang found they could place bacterial DNA into an unrelated bacterial species
k In 1980 Boyer and Cohen received a patent for the basic methods of DNA cloning and transformation
