Download Topic guide 2.6: Scope of the biotechnology industry

Unit 2: Industrial Microbiology
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Scope of the
biotechnology
industry
Biotechnology is the use of biological systems – living organisms, their
cells or enzymes – to make useful products. Biotechnology processes may
include genetic engineering as well as cell and tissue cultures. As well as
biological sciences such as biochemistry, genetics and microbiology, it
also encompasses expertise from non-biological fields such as chemical
engineering and information technology.
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Unit 2: Industrial Microbiology
1Biotechnology
Biotechnology is a recent term but it has its roots in ancient technologies such as
brewing of beer, which began in Babylon more than 6000 years ago, and breadmaking, which began at least 10 000 years ago. Cheese, yoghurt, wine and vinegar
have been made for hundreds of years.
Biological pest control, selective breeding and use of manure for fertiliser have
long been used for farming. Ancient Greek and Indian medicine used some
moulds, such as mouldy bread poultices, to treat infected wounds. In seventeenthcentury England treatments involving mould are outlined in apothecaries’ books
and in 1871 Joseph Lister described the antibacterial action of Penicillium glaucum.
In 1897 the Bruckner brothers isolated enzymes from yeast (hence the name: en =
in, zyme = yeast).
During the early 1920s in Belgium and France, the antibacterial properties of
Penicillium mould were observed but in 1928, when Fleming observed this effect,
he concluded that the fungus produced a chemical, which he (with help from a
chemist) isolated and named penicillin.
Ten years later Flory and Chain developed the techniques to produce stable
penicillin. By the 1940s large quantities of penicillin could be made and, in 1952,
the first orally-administered version, Penicillin V, was made in Austria. Figure 2.6.1
shows fermentation tanks in a pharmaceutical company.
Figure 2.6.1: Fermentation tanks in
the production hall of a pharmaceutical
company making penicillin.
Since the 1950s there have been huge advances and diversification of biological
sciences. In the early 1950s when Watson and Crick (with valuable help from
Wilkins and Franklin) worked out the structure of DNA it was thought to be
of purely academic interest – some curiosity-driven research. However, it
has spawned a great contribution to modern biotechnology where genetic
manipulation is now a central theme and has, along with improved microscopes
and techniques to enable greater study of microorganisms, transformed the
traditional biotechnologies into modern-day industrial processes.
Microorganisms can be easily genetically manipulated and can be cultured
anywhere. The prokaryotes exhibit a huge range of metabolic pathways and many
have fast growth rates. These characteristics can be exploited for agriculture, the
food and beverage industry, pharmaceuticals, medicine and the environment.
2.6: Scope of the biotechnology industry
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Unit 2: Industrial Microbiology
Table 2.6.1: Examples of some
applications of biotechnology.
Table 2.6.1 shows some examples of the applications of biotechnology.
Area of
biotechnology
Some examples of applications
agriculture
•• genetically modified crops such as Bt corn and cotton, aphid-repellent wheat, GM oilseed rape that has omega-3-fish oils,
GM purple tomatoes with extra antioxidants to protect against cancer, nutritionally enhanced (biofortified) plantains,
sorghum and rice
•• silage-making
•• micropropagation to clone plants
•• embryo cloning to increase the breeding potential of prize cows
•• production of single cell protein to enhance animal feed
•• use of bacteria with lignase enzymes to degrade waste wood and make industrial substrate or animal feed
pharmaceutical
•• transgenic sheep to make human blood-clotting factors to treat haemophiliacs and α-antitrypsin to treat people with
hereditary emphysema
•• GM bacteria to produce insulin and human growth hormone
•• GM microorganisms to produce antibiotics
•• GM crops to produce vaccines
•• diagnostic tests – use of biosensors, e.g. to measure blood glucose levels and to detect bacterial levels in food,
monoclonal antibodies (pregnancy tests), biochemical tests to identify bacteria
•• botox from botulism toxin
medical
•• gene therapy
•• pharmacogenomics – tailor-made drugs with fewer side effects and greater effectiveness, e.g. Herceptin to treat HER2positive tumours
•• genetic testing – before birth (pre-implantation genetic screening) and of adults to detect carriers and presymptomatic
testing, e.g. for Huntington disease
•• use of monoclonal antibodies to deliver anticancer drugs more effectively to target tumour cells
•• use of transgenic pigs to produce organs for xenotransplants
•• plant products such as vincristine (anticancer), quinine and artemisinin (antimalarials) and opiate derivatives (analgesics)
•• streptokinase – clot buster
environmental
•• bioremediation – to decontaminate soils
•• biodegradation of waste – compost, sewage treatment
•• biomining – extraction of minerals such as copper, cobalt, lead, nickel and uranium from low-grade ores by
chemoautotrophic bacteria
•• bioaccumulation – some bacteria extract metals (e.g. silver) or toxins from waste
•• phytoremediation – some trees can remove mercury from contaminated soil and release it into the air as less harmful
vapour
•• GM bacteria to degrade oil spillages
•• use of photosynthetic algae or bacteria to produce ethanol for biofuel – this can be done without using valuable land
space or crops that should be used for food
•• use of bioreactors to recycle organic waste into methane fuel
•• GM salmon that reach large size quickly
food and beverage
industry
••
••
••
••
••
••
••
••
yoghurt
cheese (bacterial rennin)
yeast extract
beer and wine
bread
fruit juice production (pectinase enzymes)
use of enzymes for meat tenderisation and for baby food manufacture
enzymes to make glucose or fructose from starch for processed food and confectionary
chemicals/industry
••
••
••
••
enzymes for washing powders
enzymes for use in textile industry
microbial trypsin to remove hair from hides in leather industry
production of ethanol, propanone, butanol
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Unit 2: Industrial Microbiology
Activity: Timelines
Either: Choose one applied area of
biotechnology. Research its history
and produce an illustrated and
annotated timeline as a poster to
present to others in your group.
Or: Choose one biotechnology
process/product and produce an
illustrated talk to inform others in
your class about it.
Checklist
In this topic you should now be
familiar with the following ideas:
 modern biotechnology has
advanced since the 1950s mainly
due to big advances in DNA
technology
 biotechnology encompasses
genetics, microbiology,
biochemistry, engineering and IT
 the biotechnology industry has a
large scope including agri-food,
medicine, pharmaceuticals and
the environment.
Case study: Professional profile
– Dr Florence Wambugu of
Africa Harvest
Dr Florence Wambugu was raised in Kenya. One of
10 children she usually went to bed hungry and
decided to study hard at school and get a science
qualification to help solve the hunger problem.
Her mother sold their valuable cow to finance
Florence’s university education. After graduation
Florence obtained her PhD in the UK at Bath
University where she focused on the control of the
sweet potato virus.
In 1991 she went to the US and, with support from
Monsanto, undertook pioneering work, developing
GM virus-resistant sweet potato using a new
Figure 2.6.2: Dr Florence Wambugu
gene-transfer technique. She then returned to
receiving an award for her
Kenya as Director of the International Service for
pioneering work in GM crops.
the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications. She is
now CEO of Africa Harvest, a local biotechnology
non-profit organisation that specialises in ensuring that farmers have access to high yielding and
disease-free seedlings of tissue culture bananas – a staple food in Kenya. She appreciates that
many local farmers cannot read complex instructions about pesticides but understand how to
plant seeds. She is also aware that thousands of agricultural workers each year are exposed to
pesticides, so GM pest-resistant crops that do not require these chemicals are safer for people and
better for the environment. Kenya has biosafety laws and many countries in Africa are adopting
biotechnology to raise crop productivity, economic development and farmers’ incomes.
Africa Harvest is working in several African countries to ensure the acceptance of biotechnology.
In Burkino Faso, Kenya and Nigeria Africa Harvest is helping to fast-track the development of
biofortified crops. Scientists there hope to produce Vitamin A-enriched sorghum.
Why do you think GM crops containing more Vitamin A may help solve this dietary shortage in
many of the less economically developed countries?
Further reading
Books
Kennedy, P., Hocking, S. and Sochacki, F. (2008) OCR AS Biology Student Book, Oxford: Heinemann.
Websites
http://africaharvest.org
http://toxics.usgs.gov/definitions/eutrophication.html
www.water-pollution.org.uk/eutrophication.html
www.wri.org/ecosystems
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Unit 2: Industrial Microbiology
Acknowledgements
The publisher would like to thank the following for their kind permission to reproduce their
photographs:
Corbis: Photoquest Ltd / Science Photo Library 1; Science Photo Library Ltd: Maximilian Stock
Ltd 2; Press Association Images: Steve Pope / AP Photo 4.
All other images © Pearson Education
We are grateful to the following for permission to reproduce copyright material:
Africa Harvest for case study details about Dr Florence Wambugu, Africa Harvest,
http://africaharvest.org. Reproduced with permission.
In some instances we have been unable to trace the owners of copyright material, and we would
appreciate any information that would enable us to do so.
About the author
Sue Hocking obtained her first degree in Zoology from the University of Liverpool, her PGCE from
Sussex University and, later, a Masters in Health Promotion from Bath Spa University.
She has taught science, psychology, biology and health studies for many years in secondary
schools, further education and sixth form colleges. She has extensive experience of examining and
has co-written a range of biology textbooks and teacher support material covering KS3, GCSE, AS
and A2, as well as BTEC levels 1–5.
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