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Unit 2: Industrial Microbiology . 26 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. 1 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 2 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 2.6: Scope of the biotechnology industry 3 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 2.6: Scope of the biotechnology industry 4 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. 2.6: Scope of the biotechnology industry 5