Download What is Biotechnology?

What is Biotechnology?
Definition

“……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
microorganisms for specific uses”.
Origins of Biotechnology
 Biotechnology Timeline

Archaeological clues of domestication and agriculture  artificial
selection of desirable traits creating new varieties.
Ancient Plant Germplasm

Nikolai I. Vavilov (1887-1943)
- established Institute of Plant Industry in Leningrad.
- first gene bank for long term storage of germplasm.

Germplasm collections:
- economical value.
- important to disease resistance to crop plants.
CGIAR
 Consultative
Group on International Agricultural
Research:
International consortium
- ensures conservation of plant species in more than 90 countries
- short term (30 years) and long term (100 years) storage.
- research programs
Fermented Foods and Beverages
Early biotechnology!

Fermentation: from the Latin fervere, “to boil”.

microbial process in which enzymatically controlled
transformations of organic compounds occur.
Bread

Early bread made from emmer.

Fermented dough discovered by accident: Saccharomyces
winlocki used as early as 1500BC.

Bakers yeast used today is Saccharomyces cervasiae.
Yogurt and Cheese

4000BC: lactic acid producing bacteria used to make
yogurt.

Milk  cheese
casein coagulates in presence of bacteria  curd + whey
Cheese flavoring:Penicillium cambemberti, Penicillium
glaucum roqueforti.
Classical Biotechnology
The development of fermentation from ancient times to present day!
Modern fermentation chambers
Alcohol: top fermentation, bottom fermentation.
 Vinegar: microorganisms oxidize wine.
 Commercial products, eg. glycerol, acetone,butanol, lactic
acid, citric acid, yeast biomass


Aseptic technique meant sterile fermenters called bioreactors.

Antibiotics
Hormones and “therapeutics” produced using biotransformation
technology (microbial hydroxylation).
Pharmaceutical compounds
Enzymes, biomass, single cell protein (SCP) and amino acids
produced by batch culturing.



Produced Amino Acids and their Uses
Amino acid
Use
Alanine, aspartate, glycine
Improve taste of fruit juice
Cysteine
Enhance flavor of bread and
fruit juice.
Glutamate (MSG)
Enhance flavor
Histidine + trytophan
Prevents rancidity
Lysine
Bread; complete protein
Methionine
Soybean products; complete
protein
Commercial enzymes produced by microorganisms.
Enzyme
Activity
Microorganism
Use
Cellulase
Hydrolyzes
cellulose
Trichoderma konigi
Digestive aid
Collagenase
Hydrolyzes
collagen
Clostridium
histolyticum
Promotes wound
healing
diastase
Hydrolyzes
starch
Aspergillus oryzae
Digestive aid
invertase
Hydrolyzes
sucrose
Saccharomyces
cerevisiae
Candy
manufacture
Pectinase
Hydrolyzes
pectin
Sclerotina libertina
Clarifies fruit
juice
protease
Hydrolyzes
protein
Bacillus subtilis
Used in
detergents
Modern Biotechnology.
Compound microscope (Janssen, 1590)
 Development of Cell Theory – “all cells arise from cells”
 Biochemistry and Genetics
 Nucleic acids from white blood cells (Meischer)
 Ultracentrifugation
 The Nature of the gene
