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Biotech in Ecology
CHAPTER 13
Key Terms
 Ecology
 A branch of science concerned with the interrelationships of
organisms and their environment
 Indicator Species
 Use plants, animals, and microbes to warn us about pollutants
in the environment
 Immunoassays
 Tests that use antibodies from animal immune systems to
detect specific pollution compounds
Key Terms
 Transducer
 An electronic instrument that measures physical change in the
environment produced by a biosensor
 Bioremediation
 An environmental improvement process whereby living
organisms can be used to consume and convert pollutants to
harmless substances
 Biostimulation
 Adding nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus to
stimulate the growth of naturally occurring microbes
Key Terms
 Enhanced bioremediation
 The group of techniques in which nutrients, microorganisms,
or other materials are introduced to a contamination site to
accelerate the clean-up process
 Oleophilic bacteria
 Bacteria capable of breaking down both simple and complex
hydrocarbons found in crude oil
 Phytoremediation
 The process of plants or trees absorbing or immobilizing
pollutants
Key Terms
 High-yield farming
 Producing more per acre
 Integrated farm management
 A new method of farm management that aims to reduce
application of chemicals by optimizing the combination and
timing of all farm management activities
 Refugia
 A process in which noninsect resistant plants are grown
nearby, either mixed with the biotech crops or planted in large
sections
Key Terms
 Biodiesel
 A nonpolluting, biodegradable liquid fuel that is obtained from
renewable raw materials and can be used to replace fossil
diesel fuel
What We’ll Talk About
 Ecology
 Role of biotech in benefitting environment
 Biotech used to detect environmental pollutants
 Distinguish between bio and phyto –remediation
 High yield farming benefits to world hunger
 Positive effect of genetically modified crops on




environment
Conventional vs organic farming
Oil spills and biotech combating
Biodiesel fuel benefits for the environment
Benefits of plants surviving harsh conditions
Ecology
 Rapidly increasing area
 Ecology:
 A branch of science concerned with the interrelationships of
organisms and their environment
 Simple: How all organisms interact within the environment
So why the big deal now?
 Global warming
 Population pressure
 Eating
 Breathing
 Water consumption
 Waste disposal
 Pollution
 Clean up = expen$ive!
 Goal: Reduce cost of research and develop more
efficient techniques
In the News:
 ScienceDaily (Apr. 16, 2012) — New research from
North Carolina State University shows that federal
requirements governing diesel engines of new tractor
trailer trucks have resulted in major cuts in
emissions of particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen
oxides (NOx) -- pollutants that have significant
human health and environmental impacts.
In the News:
 ScienceDaily (Apr. 16, 2012) — Researchers at Rice
University and Penn State University have
discovered that adding a dash of boron to carbon
while creating nanotubes turns them into solid,
spongy, reusable blocks that have an astounding
ability to absorb oil spilled in water.
In the News:
 ScienceDaily (Apr. 13, 2012) — Imagine a world
where the rooftops and pavements of every urban
area are resurfaced to increase the reflection of the
Sun's light rays. Well, this is exactly what a group of
Canadian researchers have simulated in an attempt
to measure the potential effects against global
warming.
In the News:
 ScienceDaily (Apr. 12, 2012) — Researchers from the
Department of Chemistry at the Royal Institute of
Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, Sweden, have
managed to construct a molecular catalyzer that can
oxidize water to oxygen very rapidly. In fact, these
KTH scientists are the first to reach speeds
approximating those is nature's own photosynthesis.
The research findings play a critical role for the
future use of solar energy and other renewable
energy sources.
Happening Now!
 ScienceDaily (Apr. 12, 2012) — University of New
Hampshire researchers have found that residents of
Louisiana and Florida most acutely and directly
affected by the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster -- the
largest marine oil spill in U.S. history -- said they
have changed their views on other environmental
issues as a result of the spill.
On that same thought:
 One year after the worst oil spill in U.S. history, a
sorry legacy of enduring damage, a people
wronged and a region scarred remains. The BP oil
rig that exploded killed 11 workers and spewed
some 170 million gallons of toxic crude oil into the
Gulf of Mexico. Whether we look to habitat and
wildlife, employment and pay, or basic health and
family welfare, the BP oil blowout has devastated
the region. The people of the Gulf Coast still live
with the disaster every day.
Back it up
 Agriculture and Our Environment
 Plants we grow
 Chemicals we spray
 Equipment we use
 Advances in Ag
 Soil plants & bacteria can absorb toxic wastes
 High-yield farming –decreases deforestation
 Genetic modifications resistant to disease and insects
Environmental Pollutants
 Indicator species


One of the oldest methods of
detection
Uses plants, animals & microbes as
warnings
 Determine environmental
impacts


Absence
Presence
 Immunoassays


Detect specific compounds
Kit that uses color
Bioremediation
 A set of techniques that:
 Use living organisms for clean up
 Clean up toxic waste in water & soil
 Derived from:
 Latin bios: life
 Latin remedium: Fix or cure
 Microbes do this anyway
 But sometimes we need to speed up the process
Microbes
 Turn toxic waste into harmless substances
 When clean up is over:
 Microbes die/return to original levels
 Growth stimulated by nitrogen & phosphorus
 Biostimulation
 What if there aren’t microbes where the pollution is?
 Microbe “delivery”
 Excavation to treatment site
 Clean up: Insecticides, fungicides, herbicides,
petroleum products & detergents
Bioremediation
 Enhanced:
 Nutrients, microorganisms and other materials added
 But we need it to be effective!!!
 Run LOTS of tests
Bacteria
 Wait…Aren’t they bad??
 27,000 species!!
 Best recyclers EVER!!
 Break down into basic elements
 OIL
 Clean up difficult
 Especially in water!!!!!
 Oleophilic
 Attracted to oil
 Break down hydrocarbons (in oil) to methanol, H2O & CO2
Oleophilic Bacteria
 Consume and dissolve “chocolate mousse”
 What they don’t eat?
 Turn into “oil milk”
 Finer oil = Accessible to other bacteria
 No chemicals!!
 Expensive
 Detrimental
Oil Spills
 Other options?
 Tree bark
Phytoremediation
 Process of plants/trees absorbing or immobilizing
pollutants
 Origin:


Phyto: plant
Remedium: to fix or clean up
 Absorption of more complex materials
 Heavy metals, solvents, hydrocarbons, pesticides, radioactive
metals, explosives, nitrates, crude oil, landfill runoff, organic
pollution
 Pollutant must be shallow
Advantages of Bio-/Phyto- remediation
 Economical
 Lost cost
 Environmental
 Harness natural
processes
 Reduction of
environmental stress
 Use of attractive plants
 Early use
Disadvantages of Bio-/Phyto-remediation
 Time
 Inapplicability to certain situations
 Public fears
High Yield Farming
 Began as Green Revolution in 1960s
 Spared wilderness from farmland conversion
 Producing more per acre
 Also used in forestry
World Population
 Likely to reach 9 BILLION by 2050
 Increased standard of living:
C
 Meat
o
n
 Dairy
s
u
 Fruit
m
 Vegetables
p
t
 Forest
i
o
 Fuel
n
 How????
How to feed the world
 Only two options:
 Grow more on current land
 Use more land
 Grow more:
 Requires technology
 Technology requires $$$
 Use more land
 Lose wild lands & species
 Lose other resources
So here’s the deal:
 Soil erosion
 Use of herbicide
 Conservation tillage
 “no-leach” farming
 GPS
 Integrated Farm
 Plant modification
 Genetics
 Insect resistant
 Herbicide tolerant
 Disease Prevention
 Early detection
 Reduce chemicals
Management
 Reduce applications
 Optimize timing
 Square yards
The Numbers
 Conservation tillage cuts soil erosion by 65-98%
 In 2000, 52 MILLION acres of US soil were no-till
 That’s 17% of the country’s farmland
 If no-till were widely adopted in the US:
 CO2 emissions would be cut by 20%
 Not to mention time saved and productivity increases
GMCs (And not the car)
 Genetically Modified Crops
 Transfer of genetic material to wild organisms
 Herbicide resistant weeds
 Insect tolerance to natural insecticides
 Refugia (aka: Refuge= 20%)
 Non-insect-resistant plants
 Mixed or nearby in sections
 “Haven” to breed non-tolerant insects
 Non-tolerant will mate with tolerant
 Baculovirus
Harsh Conditions
Biodiesel
 Obtained from renewable raw materials
 Nonpolluting
 Biodegradable
 Replace fossil fuel?
 Made from oilseeds
 Decreases harmful emissions
 Use of Ag crops
 10% of cropland for biodiesel all domestic ag fuel would be
produced domestically
Biodiesel Advantages
 Reduce pollution through greenhouse gases
 Reduce global warming
 Biodegradable product
 Degrades into organic by 85% in 28 days
 Materials
 Vegetable oils
 Used cooking oils
 Animal fats
Biodiesel Challenges
 Cost
 3x more to produce than petroleum
 Solutions?
 Biotech to increase oil content in canola & soybeans