 Traditional
technology, e.g. traditional medicines and healers
 Medical biotechnology, e.g. immunity, antibiotics, blood
transfusion
 Cloning of plant and animal tissues and stem cell research
 Ethics and legislation: cloning & stem cell research
 Current trends being made in terms of stem cell research
 Careers in biotechnology
 Knowledge
that cultures
acquire over generations
through environmental
interaction.
 Biotechnology:
Use of
living things in industrial
processes e.g making
antibiotics
 Indigenous
knowledge is
held by traditional
healers.
 There are two groups of
traditional healers:
 Diviners
 Herbalists
 Ointments,
tonics, teas
and extracts that have
been used with other
forms of treatment.
 Around
3000 plant
species.
 Overuse
of plants because
of unsustainable use.
 Found
in Kalahari Desert
 Underground stems have
anti-inflammatory
properties
 Used
to treat Arthritis and
Rheumatism
 Found
in grasslands, KZN.
 Swollen
stems used
contain sterols which
strengthens immune
against diseases such as
HIV/ AINDS; TB; Athritis,
ect.
 Immune
response: ways
in which the
body protects
itself from
pathogens.
Fevertemperature
increases
 Where
pathogens now are
actively destroyed by
body.
 Lymphocytes:
leucocytes
that produce antibodies
to destroy pathogens.
 Phagocytes: leucocytes
that engulf and destroy
pathogens
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There are several methods that can help reduce the
spread of disease:

disinfecting surfaces

disinfecting skin using antiseptics

sterilizing equipment

using food preservatives in food

personal hygiene.
The spread of disease can also be reduced by vaccinating
the population and using antibiotics.
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Antibiotics are chemicals used to treat bacterial infections.
These chemicals kill or stop the growth of bacteria.
However, some types of
bacteria are no longer affected
by certain antibiotics – this is
called antibiotic resistance.
This can be a problem as
without effective antibiotics
some people might not be
able to fight the infection
themselves.
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Vaccines can protect people from diseases, such as measles.
Vaccines contain dead or
weakened strains of the harmful
microbe that causes the disease.
This stimulates the immune system.
If the person comes into contact
with the microbe again the immune
system can destroy it quickly and
effectively.
Why is it important that everyone
is vaccinated?
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What is cloning?
Cloning is the production of identical
copies of organisms, cells or DNA.
A clone is a genetically identical
organism or a group of genetically
identical cells derived from a single
parent.
Cloning occurs in nature as part
of growth and reproduction. This
natural process can be
manipulated to produce clones
of organisms artificially.
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Why clone organisms?
Scientists can use genetic technologies to clone whole
organisms; this is known as reproductive cloning.
Farm animals or crop plants with desirable features can be
cloned, ensuring a constant food supply and high productivity.
It is thought that
reproductive cloning
could also help to
increase numbers of rare
or endangered species.
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Producing animal clones
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Somatic cell nuclear transfer
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Natural clones in plants
Some plants are able to naturally produce genetically
identical offspring. Adult plant cells are totipotent, meaning
that each cell has the capacity to regenerate the entire plant.
The English elm can reproduce by
vegetative propagation – asexual
reproduction that involves producing
new plants from existing vegetative
structures. Root suckers or basal
sprouts can form from the roots of elm
trees, when they are under stress.
If the tree cannot withstand its current environmental conditions
it still has a chance of survival, because the basal sprouts can
allow the organism to regrow metres from the original tree.
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Large scale cloning of plants
A plant with highly desirable characteristics, e.g. a high yield
crop plant, can be used to produce many more plants with
exactly the same genetic composition.
A large number of cloned crop
plants can be propagated
easily, as clones require the
same conditions, grow at the
same rate and will therefore be
ready for harvest at the same
time, reducing costs.
The production of plant clones
can occur at any time of the year.
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Tissue culture
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Producing plant clones
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Disadvantages of reproductive cloning
A population of cloned individuals will have a very low genetic
diversity. This reduces the ability of the population to adapt.
Clones will be equally vulnerable
to a disease or pests, causing
diseases to spread fast, affecting
the whole population.
A good example of this is Dutch
elm disease. Accidently spread
throughout Europe the disease
devastated native elm populations.
It is thought that these were natural
clones from only a few individuals.
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Disadvantages of reproductive cloning
The first cloned mammal,
Dolly the sheep, died
prematurely due to lung
disease. This raised
concerns about the health
and life expectancy of
cloned animals.
It is thought that some cloned mammals will have shorter
telomeres than other animals of the same again. Telomeres
are pieces of non-coding DNA that prevent the chromosome
from degrading. They shorten as cells divide and are therefore
considered a measure of ageing in cells.
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Therapeutic cloning
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 Biomedical
Engineer.
 Biochemist.
 Medical Scientist.
 Biological/Clinical Technician.
 Microbiologist.
 Process Development Scientist.
 Biomanufacturing Specialists.
 Business Development Manager.