Application of biotech
Xingzhi Wang
School of Life Sciences
Northeast Normal University
History of Biotechnology
• The term "biotechnology" was coined
in 1919 by Karl Ereky, an Hungarian
engineer
• Traditional biotechnology has been used for
thousands of years to produce improved food
and health care products. Today, modern
biotechnology enables us to develop improved
products more safely and more rapidly than ever
before.
Examples
• Examples:
 they could plant their own crops and breed their own
animals, they learned to use biotechnology.
 The discovery that fruit juices fermented
into wine, or that milk could be converted
into cheese or yogurt, or that beer could
be made by fermenting solutions of malt
and hops began the study of
biotechnology
Examples cont’d
 When the first bakers found that they could
make a soft, spongy bread rather than a firm,
thin cracker, they were acting as fledgling
biotechnologists.
 The first animal breeders, realizing that
different physical traits could be either
magnified or lost by mating appropriate pairs
of animals, engaged in the manipulations of
biotechnology.
Definition
• Definition: What then is
biotechnology? the term
"biotechnology" refers to the use of
living organisms or their products to
modify human health and the human
environment.
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Other definitions: 1. •Biotechnologists use engineering and science to create new
products from biologically based raw materials, such as vaccines or foods. They also
develop factory processes to reduce pollution or treat waste products.
•2. Biotechnology uses living cells and materials produced by cells to create
pharmaceutical, diagnostic, agricultural, environmental, and other products to benefit
society.
Introduction
• Biotechnology is essentially
 the use of living organisms (often
minute microorganisms) and their
products
 for health, social or economic purposes.
• Biotechnology is widely considered to be
the growth technology of the 21st
Century which will lead to huge growth in
the Biotechnology industry and exciting
opportunities for graduates.
BIOTECNOLOGY FIELDS OF APPLICATION
Introduction
• Through genetic engineering
scientists can combine DNA from
different sources and this process
is called “Recombinant DNA
technology”
• The secrets of DNA structure and functions have led to gene
cloning and genetic engineering, manipulating the DNA of an
organism
Introduction
• Biotechnology is an interdisciplinary science
including not only biology, but also subjects like
mathematics, physics, chemistry, computing and
engineering.
• It is a blend of various technologies applied together
to living cells for production of a particular product
or for improving upon it.
BIOCHEMISTRY
GENETICS
PHYSIOLOGY
MICROBIOLOGY
MOLECULAR
BIOLOGY
BIOTECNOLOGY
INMUNOLOGY
EMBRIOLOGY
ANALYTICAL
CHEMISTRY
CELL BIOLOGY
INFORMATICS
CHEMICAL
ENGINEERING
Nature of Work
• The nature of work of biotechnologists, being
interdisciplinary, requires working together of
people from different fields such as
biology, chemistry, biochemistry,
microbiology, molecular biology,
immunology, genetics,
engineering,
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• food science, agriculture etc.
Periods of Biotechnology History
• Pre- 1800: Early applications and
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speculation
1800-1900: Significant advances in basic
understanding
1900-1953: Genetics
1953- 1976: DNA research, science
explodes
1977- present: modern biotechnology
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 6000 BC
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Yeast was used to make beer by Sumerians and
Babylonians.
4000 BC
The Egyptians discovered how to bake leavened
bread using yeast.
• 420 BC
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Socrates (470? - 399 BC), the Greek philosopher, speculated on why
children don't always resemble their parents.
320 BC
Aristotle (384 - 322 BC), told his students that all inheritance comes from the
father.
Biotechnology Time Lines
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1000 AD
Hindus observed that certain diseases may "run in the family." Spontaneous
Generation is the dominant explanation that organisms arise from non-living matter.
Maggots, for example, were supposed to arise from horsehair.
1630 AD
William Harvey concluded that plants and animals alike reproduce in a sexual
manner:–egg isolated in 1800’s
• 1660-1675 AD
Marcello Malpighi (1628-1694) in this
period used a microscope to study blood
circulation in capillaries, described the
nervous system as bundles of fibers
connected to the brain by the spinal cord.
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1673 AD
Anton van Leeuwenhoek (1632 - 1723), He
was the first scientist to describe protozoa
and bacteria and to recognize that such
microorganisms might play a role in
fermentation.
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1701
Giacomo Pylarini in Constantiople practiced "inoculation"--intentionally giving children
smallpox to prevent a serious case later in life. Inoculation will compete with
"vaccination"--an alternative method that uses cowpox rather than smallpox as the
protecting treatment--for a century.
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1809
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Nicolas Appert devised a technique using heat to can and
sterilize food
1827
The worldwide search for the elusive mammalian egg ended with the first observation
of canine eggs. Remember 1630 and William Harvey
• 1850
ONE OF MY FAVORITES Ignaz Semmelweis used
epidemiological observations to propose the hypothesis
that childbed fever can be spread from mother to
mother by physicians. He tested the hypothesis by
having physicians wash their hands after examining each
patient. He became despised by the medical profession
and lost his job.
Biotechnology Time Lines
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1856
Karl Ludwig discovered a technique for keeping animal organs alive outside the body,
by pumping blood through them.
• Louis Pasteur (1822 - 1895) asserted that
microbes are responsible for fermentation.
• 1859
Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882) hypothesized that animal
populations adapt their forms over time to best exploit the
environment, a process he referred to as "natural
selection." As he traveled in the Galapagos Islands, he
observed how the finch's beaks on each island were
adapted to their food sources.
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1863
Louis Pasteur invented the process of
pasteurization, heating wine sufficiently to
inactivate microbes (that would otherwise
turn the "vin" to "vin aigre" or "sour wine")
while at the same time not ruining the flavor
of the wine. 50-60℃ for half hour.
• Anton de Bary proved that a fungus causes potato blight. A challenge for
scientists during this period was to discern whether a microbe was the cause
of, or the result of, a disease.
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1865
Gregor Mendel (1822 - 1884), an Augustinian monk,
presented his laws of heredity to the Natural Science
Society in Brunn, Austria. Mendel proposed that invisible
internal units of information account for observable traits,
and that these "factors" - which later became known as
genes - are passed from one generation to the next.
Mendel's work remained unnoticed, languishing in the
shadow of Darwin's more sensational publication from
five years earlier, until 1900, when Hugo de Vries, Erich
Von Tschermak, and Carl Correns published research
corroborating Mendel's mechanism of heredity. .
Biotechnology Time Lines
• Pasteur investigated silkworm disease and
established that diseases can be
transmitted from one animal to another.
• 1865 Joseph Lister began using
disinfectants such as phenol (=carbolic
acid) in wound care and surgery as
Pasteur developed the germ theory of
disease
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1868
• Davaine used heat treatment to cure a plant of bacterial
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infection.
Fredrich Miescher, a Swiss biologist, successfully
isolated nuclein, a compound that includes nucleic acid,
from pus cells obtained from discarded bandages.
• 1870
• W. Flemming discovered mitosis.
Biotechnology Time Lines
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1871
DNA was isolated from the sperm of trout found in the Rhine River.
1873-6
Robert Koch investigated anthrax and developed techniques to view, grow,
and stain organisms. He then photographed them, aided by Gram, Cohn,
and Weigart.
• 1880
• Studying fowl cholera, Pasteur published
his work on "attenuated" or weakened
strains of organisms that could not cause
disease but protected against severe forms
of the same disease.
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1881 ANTRAX
• Robert Koch described bacterial colonies growing on
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potato slices, on gelatin medium, and on agar medium.
Nutrient agar became a standard tool for obtaining pure
cultures and for identifying genetic mutants. This is
considered by T.D. Brock to be the single most important
discovery in the rise of microbiology.
Pasteur used attenuation to develop vaccines against the
bacterial pathogens of fowl cholera and anthrax; this was
a founding moment in immunology and opened new
areas in the field of preventive medicine.
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1883
Emil Christian Hansen made the
first pure yeast culture for beer
production in Gamle Carlsberg
Brewery, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1884
• ROBERT KOCH STATED HIS "POSTULATES" FOR TESTING
WHETHER A MICROBE IS THE CAUSAL AGENT OF A DISEASE.
• Pasteur developed a rabies vaccine.
• Christian Gram described the
differential staining technique for
bacteria known as the Gram stain.
• Gregor Mendel died after 41 years of meticulously studying the
heredity "factors" of pea plants. Having received no scientific acclaim
during his lifetime, he said not long before his death, "My time will
come."
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1900 - 1953 - Converging on DNA
• 1900 MENDEL’S WORK FINALLY TOOK ON
IMPORTANCE
The science of genetics was finally born when Mendel's work was
rediscovered by three scientists - Hugo DeVries, Erich Von
Tschermak, and Carl Correns - each one independently researching
scientific literature for precedents to their own "original" work.
• 1902 HUMAN GENETICS BORN
Walter Stanborough Sutton stated that chromosomes are paired and
may be the carriers of heredity. He suggested that Mendel's "factors"
are located on chromosomes.
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1905
X AND Y CHROMOSOMES RELATED TO
GENDER
• Edmund Wilson and Nellie Stevens proposed the idea
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that separate X and Y chromosomes determine sex. They
showed that a single Y chromosome determines
maleness, and two copies of the X chromosome
determine femaleness.
1905-1908
William Bateson and Reginald Crudell Punnett, along with others, demonstrated that
some genes modify the action of other genes.
1906
Paul Erlich investigated atoxyl compounds and discovered the beneficial properties of
Salvarsan - the first chemotherapeutic agent.
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1907
• Thomas Hunt Morgan began his work with fruit
flies that will prove that chromosomes have a
definite function in heredity, establish mutation
theory, and lead to a fundamental understanding
of the mechanisms of heredity.
• 1909 MENDEL’S LAWS TO ANIMALS
• Wilhelm Johannsen coined the terms 'gene' to describe the carrier of
heredity; 'genotype' to describe the genetic constitution of an
organism; and 'phenotype' to describe the actual organism, which
results from a combination of the genotype and the various
environmental factors.
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1910 BASIS OF MODERN GENETICS
Thomas Hunt Morgan proved that genes are
carried on chromosomes, establishing the
basis of modern genetics. With his co-workers,
he pinpointed the location of various fruit fly
genes on chromosomes, establishing the use of
Drosophila fruit flies to study heredity..
• 1911
Thomas Hunt Morgan explained the separation of certain inherited
characteristics that are usually linked as caused by the breaking of
chromosomes sometimes during the process of cell division. Morgan
began to map the positions of genes on chromosomes of the fruit fly.
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1912
Lawrence Bragg discovered that X-rays
can be used to study the molecular
structure of simple crystalline substances.
• 1918
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Herbert M. Evans found (incorrectly) that human cells contain 48
chromosomes.
1924 EUGENICS IN THE UNITED STATES
Politicians encouraged by the eugenics movement passed the U.S.
Immigration Act of 1924, limiting the influx of poorly educated immigrants
from Southern and Eastern Europe on the grounds of suspected genetic
inferiority.
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1926
• Thomas Hunt Morgan published 'The theory of
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the gene', the culmination of work on the physical
basis for Mendelian genetics based on breeding
studies and optical microscopy.
Hermann Muller discovered that X-rays
induce genetic mutations in fruit flies 1,500
times more quickly than under normal
circumstances. This discovery provided
researchers with a way to induce mutations, an
important tool for discovering what genes do on
their own.
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1928
• Fredrick Griffiths noticed that a rough type of bacterium
changed to a smooth type when an unknown
"transforming principle" from the smooth type was
present. Sixteen years later, Oswald Avery identified that
"transforming principle" was DNA.
• Alexander Fleming noticed that all the bacteria in a radius
surrounding a bit of mold in a petri dish had died. The
age of penicillin thus began, although it would be
almost 15 years before it was made available to the
community for medicinal use.
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1938
• Proteins and DNA were studied in various labs with X-ray crystallography.
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The term "molecular biology" was coined.
1941
ONE GENE ONE ENZYME
George Beadle and Edward Tatum experimented
with Neurospora, a mold that grows on bread in
the tropics, developing the "one-gene-oneenzyme" hypothesis: each gene is translated into
an enzyme to perform tasks within an organism.
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1943
• The Rockefeller Foundation, collaborating with the Mexican government,
initiated the Mexican Agricultural Program. This was the first use of plant
breeding as foreign aid.
• 1943-1953
• Cortisone was first manufactured in large
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amounts. KIND OF A FIRST BIOTECH
PRODUCT
1944
Waksman isolated streptomycin, an effective
antibiotic for TB.
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1945
• The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) was formed in Quebec,
Canada.
• 1945 - 1950
• CELLS GROWN IN LAB Isolated animal cell
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cultures were grown in laboratories.
1947
Barbara McClintock first reported on
"transposable elements" - known today as
"jumping genes." The scientific community failed
to appreciate the significance of her discovery at
the time.
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1950
• Erwin Chargaff found that in DNA the
amounts of adenine and thymine are about
the same, as are the amounts of guanine
and cytosine. These relationships are later
known as "Chargaff's Rules" and serve
as a key principle for Watson and Crick in
assessing various models for the structure
of DNA. AT ABOUT THE SAME; GC
ABOUT THE SAME.
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1953 - 1976: Expanding the Boundaries of DNA Research
• The discovery of the structure of DNA resulted in an explosion of research in
molecular biology and genetics, paving the way for the biotechnology
revolution.
• 1953
• Nature magazine published James
Watson's and Francis Crick's
manuscript describing the double helix
structure of DNA.
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1953
• Gey developed the HeLa human cell line.
HENRIETTA LACKS- DIED IN 1951 OF
CERVICAL CANCER- MOTHER OF 5HER CELLS FIRST SHOWN TO GROW
OUTSIDE THE BODY FOR EXTENDED
PERIODS- USED TO DEVELOP THE
POLIO VACCINE
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1957 CENTRAL DOGMA OF DNA•
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HOW DNA MAKES A PROTEIN
Francis Crick and George Gamov
worked out the "central dogma,"
explaining how DNA functions to
make protein.
1959
Francois Jacob and Jacques Monod established the existence of genetic regulation mappable control functions located on the chromosome in the DNA sequence - which
they named the repressor and operon.
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1962
• Watson and Crick shared the 1962 Nobel
Prize for Physiology and Medicine with
Maurice Wilkins. Unfortunately,
Rosalind Franklin, whose work greatly
contributed to the discovery of the double
helical structure of DNA, died before this
date, and the Nobel Prize rules do not
allow a prize to be awarded posthumously.
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1966 GENETIC CODE CRACKED
• The genetic code was "cracked". Marshall
Nirenberg, Heinrich Mathaei, and Severo
Ochoa demonstrated that a sequence of
three nucleotide bases (a codon)
determines each of 20 amino acids.
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1967
• Arthur Kornberg conducted a study using one strand of natural viral DNA
to assemble 5,300 nucleotide building blocks. Kornberg's Stanford
group then synthesized infectious viral DNA.
• 1970
ONCOGENES Peter Duesberg and
Peter Vogt, virologists at UCSF,
discovered the first oncogene in a
virus. This SRC gene has since been
implicated in many human cancers.
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1972
• FIRST RECOMBINANT DNA MOLECULE
• Paul Berg isolated and employed a restriction
enzyme to cut DNA. Berg used ligase to paste
two DNA strands together to form a hybrid
circular molecule. This was the first recombinant
DNA molecule.
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1972 NIH GUIDELINES FOR RECOMBINANT DNA
In a letter to Science, Stanford biochemist Paul Berg and others called for the National
Institutes of Health to enact guidelines for DNA splicing.. Their concerns eventually led
to the 1975 Asilomar Conference.
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1973 AMES TEST
• Bruce Ames, a biochemist at UC Berkeley,
developed a test to identify chemicals that
damage DNA. The Ames Test becomes a
widely used method to identify
carcinogenic substances-carcinogen.
• 1975 RECOMBINANT DNA MORITORIUM
• A moratorium on recombinant DNA experiments was called for at an
international meeting at Asilomar, California, where scientists urged
the government to adopt guidelines regulating recombinant DNA
experimentation. The scientists insisted on the development of "safe"
bacteria and plasmids that could not escape from the laboratory
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1976 MORE ABOUT ONCOGENES
• J. Michael Bishop and Harold Varmus,
virologists at UCSF, showed that
oncogenes appear on animal
chromosomes, and alterations in their
structure or expression can result in
cancerous growth.
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1976 RELEASE OF NIH GUIDELINES
The NIH released the first guidelines for recombinant DNA experimentation. The
guidelines restricted many categories of experiments.
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1977 - Present: The Dawn of Biotech
• Genetic engineering became a reality when
a man-made gene was used to
manufacture a human protein in a bacteria
for the first time.
Biotech companies and universities were off to the races, and the world
would never be the same again. In 1978, in the laboratory of Herbert Boyer at
the University of California at San Francisco, a synthetic version of the
human insulin gene was constructed and inserted into the bacterium
Escheria coli. Since that key moment, the trickle of biotechnological
developments has become a torrent of diagnostic and therapeutic tools,
accompanied by ever faster and more powerful DNA sequencing and cloning
techniques.
Biotechnology Time Lines
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1977
Genentech, Inc., reports the production of the first human protein manufactured in a
bacteria: somatostatin, a human growth hormone-releasing inhibitory factor. For the
first time, a synthetic, recombinant gene was used to clone a protein. Many consider
this to be the advent of the Age of Biotechnology.
• 1978
• RECOMBINANT INSULIN Genentech, Inc.
and The City of Hope National Medical
Center announced the successful
laboratory production of human insulin
using recombinant DNA technology.
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1980 PATENTS ALLOWED
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The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in that genetically altered life
forms can be patented a Supreme Court decision in 1980 allowed
the Exxon oil company to patent an oil-eating microorganism.
• Kary Mullis and others at Cetus
Corporation in Berkeley, California,
invented a technique for
multiplying DNA sequences in
vitro by, the polymerase chain
reaction (PCR).
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1982
• Genentech, Inc. received approval from the Food and Drug
Administration to market genetically engineered human insulin. 1982
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves the first genetically
engineered drug, a form of human insulin produced by bacteria.
• Michael Smith at the University of
British Columbia, Vancouver,
developed a procedure for making
precise amino acid changes anywhere
in a protein. SITE DIRECTED
MUTAGENESIS.
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1983
• Eli Lilly received a license to make insulin.
• 1985
• Genetic fingerprinting enters the court room.
• Cal Bio cloned the gene that encodes human
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lung surfactant protein, a major step toward
reducing a premature birth complication.
Genetically engineered plants resistant to
insects, viruses, and bacteria were field tested
for the first time.
• The NIH approved guidelines for performing experiments in gene therapy
on humans.
Biotechnology Time Lines
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1986
The FDA granted a license for the first recombinant vaccine (for hepatitis) to Chiron
Corp.
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The EPA approved the release of the first genetically engineered crop, gene-altered
tobacco plants.
• 1987
• Calgene, Inc. received a patent for tomato
polygalacturonase DNA sequence, used to
produce an antisense RNA sequence that
can extend the shelf-life of fruit.
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1988
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Harvard molecular geneticists Philip Leder and Timothy Stewart
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awarded the first patent for a genetically altered animal, a mouse that is
highly susceptible to breast cancer.
1990
UCSF and Stanford University were issued their 100th recombinant DNA
patent license. By the end of fiscal 1991, both campuses had earned $40
million from the patent. PATENTS AND MONEY
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1990
• The first gene therapy takes place, on a
four-year-old girl with an immune-system
disorder called ADA deficiency. The therapy
appeared to work, but set off a fury of discussion of ethics both in academia
and in the media.
• The Human Genome Project, the
international effort to map all of the genes
in the human body, was launched. Estimated cost:
$13 billion. 1990 Formal launch of the international Human Genome Project.
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Publication of Michael Crichton's novel Jurassic Park, in which bioengineered
dinosaurs roam a paleontological theme park; the experiment goes awry, with deadly
results.
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1992
• The U.S. Army begins collecting blood and tissue samples from all new
recruits as part of a "genetic dog tag" program aimed at better identification
of soldiers killed in combat.
• 1993
• Kary Mullis won the Nobel Prize in
Chemistry for inventing the
technology of polymerase chain
reaction (PCR).
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1994
• The first genetically engineered food
product, the Flavr Savr tomato, gained
FDA approval.
• The first crude but thorough linkage map of the human genome
appears.(See Science, v.265, Sep.30, '94, for the full color pull-out).
• 1995
• A new coalition of mainstream religions launched a campaign
seeking to overturn current laws allowing the patenting of genes
used for medical and research applications. The group also includes
Jeremy Rifkin, the controversial and outspoken critic of the
biotechnology industry. SHOULD PATENTS BE ALLOWED?
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1996
The discovery of a gene associated with
Parkinson's disease provides an important new
avenue of research into the cause and potential
treatment of the debilitating neurological ailment.
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A new inexpensive diagnostic biosensor test for the first time allow instantaneous detection of the toxic strain of E.
coli E. coli strain 0157:H7, the bacteria responsible for several recent food-poisoning outbreaks. CAN IT BE DONE
FOR ANTRAX OR OTHER BIOTERRORISM AGENTS?
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Surveys indicate the public regards research into the workings of the human genome and gene therapy with a
combination of fear and mistrust
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1997
Researchers at Scotland's Roslin Institute report
that they have cloned a sheep--named Dolly-from the cell of an adult ewe. Dolly the first sheep
cloned by nuclear transfer technology bearing a
human gene appears later. Nuclear transfer
involves transferring the complete genetic
material (the DNA contained in a nucleus)
from one cell into an unfertilized egg cell
whose own nucleus has been removed.
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Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1998
Two research teams succeed in
growing embryonic stem cells, the
long sought grail of molecular
biology.
• Scientists at Japan's Kinki University clone eight identical calves using cells
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taken from a single adult cow.
A rough draft of the human genome map is produced, showing the locations
of more than 30,000 genes.
Biotechnology Time Lines
• 1999
MAD COW DISEASEA new medical
diagnostic test for the first time allow quick
identification of BSE/CJD a rare but
devastating form of neurologic disease
transmitted from cattle to humans.
Application of Biotechnology
• Its use and application ranges from
fields like agriculture to industry
(food, pharmaceutical, chemical,
bioproducts, textiles etc.), medicine,
nutrition, environmental
conservation, animal sciences etc.
making it one of the fastest growing
fields.
• The work is generally carried out in the laboratories, as it is a
scientific research oriented field.
Current Applications of
Biotech
Before going in-depth with a few areas of biotech research, it
is important to gain a brief understanding of the many
applications of biotechnological advancements.
• Microbial
• Environmental
• Agricultural
• Aquatic
• Animal
• Medical
• Forensic
Biotecnology Application
RED BIOTECHNOLOGY:
Medicine and pharmaceutics
GREEN BIOTECNOLOGY:
Agriculture and food
WHITE BIOTECNOLOGY:
Industrial proccesses
BLUE BIOTECNOLOGY:
Environment
Biotech Applications
• Biopolymers and Medical Devicesnatural substances useful as medical
devices
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hyaluronate- an elastic, plastic like substance used
to treat arthritis, prevent postsurgical scarring in
cataract surgery, used for drug delivery
adhesive substances to replace stitches
• Designing Drugs – using computer
modeling to design drugs without the
lab- protein structure
Biotech Applications
• Replacement Therapies- lack of
production of normal substances
 Factor VIII- missing in hemophilia
 Insulin
• Use of Transgenic Animals and Plants
Biotech Applications
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Gene Therapy – replace defective genes
with functional ones
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ADA (adenosine deaminase) deficiency
cystic fibrosis
Immunosuppressive Therapies – used to
inhibit rejection (organ transplants)
Cancer Therapies -one method is antisense
technology
Vaccines – biggest break through in
biotechnology- prevention of disease
Products of Modern
Biotechnology
•There are a wide variety of products that the biotechnology
field has produced.
•More than 65% of biotech companies in the U.S. are
involved in pharmaceutical production (relating to drugs
developed for medical use).
•1982 - Genentech developed
Humulin (human insulin) to
treat diabetes.
•It was the first biotech drug
to be FDA approved.
Products of Modern
Biotechnology
•There are more than
80 biotech drugs,
vaccines, and
diagnostics with more
than 400 biotech
medicines in
development targeting
over 2oo diseases!
•Nearly 1/2 of new
drugs target cancer
Top 10 Selling Biotech Drugs
Drug
Developer
Function
Betaseron
Chiron/Berlex
Multiple sclerosis
Ceredase
Genzyme
Gaucher’s disease
Engerix B
Genentech
Hepatitis B vaccine
Epiver
GlaxoSmithKlein
Anti-HIV
Epogen
Amgen
Red blood cell enhancement
Genotropin
Genentech
Growth failure
Humulin
Genentech
Diabetes
Intron
Biogen
Cancer & viral infections
Neupogen
Amgen
Neutropenia reduction
Procrit
Amgen
Platelet enhancement
Biotech Treatments
•In the near future, it may be
commonplace for treatments to
include the use of gene therapy
(attempt to replace “defective” gene
with “normal” gene) and tissue
engineering (designing & growing
tissues for use in regenerative
medicines).
•1st Genetically Modified Organism
(GMO) to produce human protein was
E. coli (pictured right) that was given
DNA to produce somatostatin (hGH human growth hormone - 1977)
tPA
•One of the first
genetically engineered
(GE) products sold was
tissue plasminogen
activator (tPA)
•tPA is a blood clot
dissolving enzyme used
immediately after a heart
attack or stroke to clear
blocked vessels
Other Biotech Products
• Other biotech products include
proteins in:
• home pregnancy tests
(monoclonal antibodies)
• frost-resistant strawberry
plants
• Although many are focused on
medical and agricultural
applications, some are for our
own fashion interests (specialty
apparel)!
Genes for Jeans?
• Stonewashed jeans use
genetically engineered
enzymes (amylase &
cellulase) to create a
faded look
• Originally, pumice
stones were used (jeans
washed with the stones)
• This method damaged
the machines
Microbial Applications
• Bacteria & yeast are the most
frequently used microbes
• Better enzymes and organisms
for making foods, simplifying
manufacture and production
processes, and making
decontamination processes for
industrial waste product removal
more efficient.
• Microbes used to clone and
produce batch amounts of
important proteins
Agricultural Applications
•Agricultural Biotechnology is
estimated to be $6 billion market
(2005), including applications such
as:
• Pest-resistant plants
• Higher protein & vitamin content
in foods
• Drugs developed and grown as
plant products
• Drought-resistant, cold-tolerant,
and higher-yielding crops
Plant Advantage
• The Ag-Biotech field boasts
about the plant advantage over
microbial biotech.
• Plant advantage refers to the
fact that the cost of producing
plant material with recombinant
proteins is often significantly
lower than bacteria
• Also, the Ag biotech may
combine with medical biotech in
order to produce drugs with
molecular pharming
Molecular Pharming
• Molecular pharming is the
use of genetically modified
plants (or animals) as a source
of pharmaceutical products.
• These are usually recombinant
proteins with a therapeutic
value.
• This is an emerging but very challenging field that requires:
•manipulation (at the genetic engineering level) of protein
glycosylation (addition of polysaccharide chain)
•subcellular protein targeting in plant cells
Animal Applications
•Animals can be used as
bioreactors!
•Many human therapeutic
proteins are needed in massive
quantities (>100s of kgs), so
scientists create female
transgenic animals to express
therapeutic proteins in milk.
• Goats, cattle, sheep, & chickens are sources of antibodies
(protective proteins that recognize & destroy foreign material)
•Transgenic refers to containing genes from another source
Dolly
In 1996, Dolly sheep became the first cloned animal created
by somatic cell nuclear transfer process.
• Born: July 5, 1996
• Announced: February 22, 1997
• Died: February 14, 2003
• Dolly was cloned from a cell
taken from a six-year-old ewe
• She became the center of much
controversy that still exists
today
Dolly the sheep, the first mammal
to be cloned from an adult cell
• Dolly gave birth
to four lambs
Cloned kitty
The first two cats cloned by chromatin transfer
Human Clone
• Britain grants embryo cloning patent
and became the first country in the
world to grant a patent covering
cloned early-stage human embryos.
The decision ignited new controversy
among biotechnology critics even
though the Geron Corporation, the
company licensed to use the patent,
has no intention of creating cloned
humans.
• Cloning in the public eye: myths and
misconceptions!!!
• Bush says cloning human embryos is
'morally wrong.'
Knock Outs
• Basic research in biotech uses
knock-out experiments, which are
very helpful for learning about the
function of a gene.
• A knock-out is created when an
active gene is replaced with DNA
that has no functional information.
• Without the gene present, it may
be possible to determine how the
gene affects the organism (its
function)
Aquatic Applications
•Aquaculture is a common aquatic application of biotech.
•Aquaculture is the process of raising finfish or shellfish in
controlled conditions for food sources.
• Products include:
• transgenic salmon (increased
growth rates)
•disease-resistant oysters
• vaccines against viruses that
infect aquatic species
•Overall, aquatic organisms are thought to be rich & valuable
sources for new genes, proteins, & metabolic processes.
Medical Applications
• Medical applications of biotech include preventative,
diagnostic, and treatment.
• The Human Genome Project is very useful within this field.
• Gene therapy and stem cell
technologies are two up-andcoming fields within the medical area
of biotech.
• Stem cell technologies include
immature cells that have the potential
to develop and specialize into a
variety of other cell types.
Stem Cells
• Different chemicals
can coax them to
develop into different
cell types.
• Newest, most
promising area
• Most controversial
Forensic Applications
•DNA fingerprinting is the classic example of a forensic application.
It is used most commonly for law enforcement and crime scene investigation
(CSI).
•It was first used in 1987 to convict a rapist in England.
Other applications of DNA
fingerprinting include:
• identifying human remains
• paternity tests
• endangered species (reduces
poaching)
• epidemiology (spread of disease
)
Environmental Applications
• The major environmental use is for bioremediation.
• Bioremediation is the use of biotech to process or
degrade a variety of natural and manmade products,
especially those contributing to pollution
• Therefore, cleaning up environmental
hazards produced by industrial progress
is a major application of this type of
biotechnology.
• There is a strong tie to microbial
biotech (since many microbes are
helpful for this area).
Bioremediation
• Bioremediation can be defined as any
process that uses microorganisms or their
enzymes to return the environment altered
by contaminants to its original condition.
ENVIRONMENT
• Environmental biotechnology has become
another area of extensive work due to the
dangers brought about by increasing
levels of environmental pollution.
• A lot of hard work is being done to protect
our environment. In this field, the job of a
biotechnologist spans from checking
industrial air pollution levels, treatment of
industrial waste to recycling of sewage
sludge.
Oil Spill
•In the 1970s, the first U.S. GMO patent was granted to a
scientist for a strain of bacteria capable of degrading
components in crude oil.
•In 1989, the Exxon
Valdez oil spill in
Alaska used
Pseudomonas
species (oildegrading bacteria)
to clean up the spill
•It was 3x faster &
without increased
environmental effects
Waste Management
 Environmental Pollution is
a major problem
 Landfills are becoming full
 Old dump sites are creating
problems
 Waste is piling up
 Sewage and chemical
disposal is a constant
problem
Waste Management
Genetically altered bacteria
are used to feed on oil slicks
and spills
Bacteria are being developed
to decompose or deactivate
dioxin, PCBs, insecticides,
herbicides, and other
chemicals
Bacteria are under
development to convert solid
wastes into sugars and fuel
Biomaterials
• Biotechnology is the technology connected with plant,
animal, and human life.
• For example, knowledge about the joints,
muscles, and nerve endings in our bodies
can be combined with engineering to
develop an artificial hand.
• These human-made materials designed to
be placed within the human body are
called biomaterials.
Transplant Organs for Humans
• Inadequate supplies of human organs for transplantation
result in more than 25,000 deaths annually.
• Researchers are studying ways to
•
develop organs in animals suitable to
be transplanted into humans until
human organs become available.
Especially promising are pig organs!!!
• Photo of mouse growing a "human ear" - a
shape made of cartilage
Biohand: knowledge from the joints,
muscles, and nerve
Genetically Modified
Food
• Can animal genes be jammed into plants?
Would tomatoes with catfish genes taste
fishy? Have you ever eaten a genetically
modified food? The answers are: “yes”,
“no” and almost definitely “yes”
• Despite dire warnings about
"Frankenfoods“, there have been no
reports of illness from these products of
biotechnology.
GM potato 'could improve child health'
Approved Biotech Products
• 1982: FDA approves genetically
engineered human insulin
• 1986: Orthoclone OKT3 (Muromonab-CD3) approved for
reversal of kidney transplant rejection.
• 1986: first recombinant vaccine approvedhepatitis
• 1987: Genentech gets approval for rt-PA
(tissue plasminogen activatior) for heart
attacks
Approved Biotech Products
• 1990: Actimmune (interferon 1b) approved for chronic
granulomatous disease
• Adagen (adenosine deaminase) approved for severe combined
immunodeficiency disease.
• 1994: first genetically engineered food the
Flavr Savr tomato is approved.
• 1994: Genentech’s Nutropin is approved
(growth hormone deficiency)
Approved Biotech Products
• 1994: Centocor’s ReoPro approved (for
patients undergoing balloon angioplasty)
• Genzymes Ceredase/Cerezyme approved
for Gaucher’s Disease (inherited metabolic
disease)
• Recombinant GM-CSF approved
(chemotherapy induced neutropenia)
 1998: Centocor’s RemicadeTM approved
(monoclonal antibody for Crohn’s disease)
Focus on “Famous” Biotech
Product: Insulin
• Insulin:
• Insulin is a hormone, and therefore, a
protein.
•
•
•
Insulin was the first hormone identified (late 1920's) which won the doctor and
medical student who discovered it the Nobel Prize (Banting and Best).
They discovered insulin by tying a string around the pancreatic duct of several dogs.
Note that there are other hormones produced by different types of cells within
pancreatic islets (glucagon, somatostatin, etc) but insulin is produced in far greater
amounts under normal conditions making the simple approach used by Banting and
Best quite successful.
Properties of Insulin
• Insulin is secreted by groups of cells within the
•
•
•
pancreas called islet cells.
The pancreas is an organ that sits behind the
stomach and has many functions in addition to
insulin production.
The pancreas also produces digestive enzymes
and other.
Without insulin, you can eat lots of food and
actually be in a state of starvation since many of
our cells cannot access the calories contained in
the glucose very well without the action of insulin.
Insulin (cont’d)
• The first successful insulin
preparations came from cows (and later
pigs). The pancreatic islets and the insulin
protein contained within them were
isolated from animals slaughtered for food
in a similar but more complex fashion than
was used by our doctor and med-student
duo.
• Wockhardt launches
indigenous human
recombinant insulin
• Mr H. Khorakiwala,
Chairman, Wockhardt
Ltd, with
• Dr M. Sahib, Director,
Genomics & Biotech
Research, at the
launch of human
recombinant insulin
`Wosulin' in Mumbai
Thank you
Biotech Applications
•
Diagnostics



•
Antibodies
Biosensors
PCR
Therapeutics



Natural Products
Foxglove:
digitalis: heart conditions
•
•
Yew tree- cancer agent (taxol) breast and ovarian
cancers
Endogenous Therapeutic agents – proteins produced
by the body that can be replicated by genetically
engineered: tPA – tissue plasminogen factor
(dissolves blood clots)
Approved Biotech Products
• 1938: Howard Florey/Ernst Chain, Oxford U.,
•
•
•
•
England isolated penicillin
1940-1945: Large scale production of penicillin
1943-1953: Cortisone first manufactured in large
amounts
1977: Genentech produced somatostatin
(human growth hormone-releasing inhibitory
factor), manufactured in bacteria. First time a
recombinant gene was used to clone a protein.
1978: Harvard researchers produced rat insulin
by recombinant DNA.