Biotechnology - Used to develop new products, methods, and organisms intended to improve society - Has existed since the beginning of civilization with the domestication of plants, animals, and the discovery of fermentation - Early applications led to the development of products like bread and vaccines - Modern practice resulted in innovations and breakthroughs in: ➢ Medicines ➢ Therapeutics ➢ Medical diagnostics (Pregnancy tests) ➢ Sustainable biofuels ➢ Reducing waste pollution ➢ GMOs ❖ Led to more efficient and cost-effective agriculture Modern practice of biotech draws from: - Molecular biology - Chemistry - Bionics - Genetic engineering - Genomics - Nanotechnology - Informatics Stages of Biotechnology a) Ancient b) Classical c) Modern Ancient Biotechnology - Early civilization – cavemen - Developments in agriculture and food production - Few records exist - Archeologists research ancient carvings and sketches as sources of information ➔ using carbon dating - Not known when biotech began exactly - Focused on having food or other human needs - First used salt for preservation - Useful plants brought from the wild ➢ Planted near caves where people lived - As food was available, ability to preserve and store emerged - Food preservation ➢ Most likely came from unplanned events such as a fire or freezing ★ Clay pots (Tapayan) - Used for storing food with salt and buried in soil Domestication - 15,000 years ago, large animals were hard to capture ➔ People only had meat when they found a dead animal ➔ They came up with ways to capture fish and small animals using spears - Food supplies are often seasonal ➔ Winter food supplies may get quite low - Seen by scientists as the start of biotechnology - Adaptation of organisms so they can be cultured - Likely began 11,000 - 12,000 years ago in the Middle East - Involved the collecting of seeds from useful plants and growing crude crops from that seed - Involved the knowledge that the seed had to properly mature ★ Note: ➔ Seeds that ARE viable SINK when placed in water ➔ Seeds that AREN’T viable FLOAT on water Proper Planting - Need for water, light, and other conditions for plant growth - Earliest plants, likely grains and other seeds, were used for food Raising animals in captivity - Began about the same time in history (11k-12k years ago?) - Easier to have an animal close by than to hunt and capture a wild one - Learned: ➢ That animals need food and water ➢ About simple breeding ➢ How to raise young - Cattle, goats, and sheep were the first domesticated food animals - About 10,000 years ago, people had learned enough about plants and animals to grow their own food ➔ The beginning of farming Food - Domestication resulted in food supplies being greater in certain times of the year Products were gathered and stored Some foods rotted, others changed form and continued to be good to eat Foods stored in a cool cave and heated by fire ➔ Did not spoil as quickly Immersing in sour liquids ➔ Prevented food decay ❖ Ex: Vinegar Food Preservation - Using processes that prevent or slow spoilage - Heating and cooling ➔ Keeps microorganisms from growing - - Food was stored in: ➢ Leather Bags ➢ Jars of clay Fermentation ➔ Occurs if certain microorganisms are present ➔ Creates an acid condition that slows/prevents spoilage Cheese - One of the 1st food products made from biotech - Began some 4,000 years ago - Nomadic tribes in Asia - Strains of bacteria were added to milk ➔ Lactobacilli shirota strain ➔ Causes acid to form ➢ Results in sour milk - An enzyme called “Rennet” was added ➔ Comes from the lining of the stomach of calves ➔ Used for preserving cheese ➔ Genetically engineered today ★ Note: NOT ALL cheese is made from produced rennet Yeast - Saccharomyces cerevisiae — from google - Saccahromyces cerivisiae (?) — from ma’am - Long used in: ➢ Food preservation ➢ Food preparation ➢ Bread baking ➔ Yeast produces a gas in the dough causing it to rise ➢ Fermented products ➔ Requires the use of yeast in at least one stage of production ➔ Ex: Vinegar; Wine is aged 2-3 years before consuming - Species of fungi ➔ Some are useful ➢ Penicillium notatum — fungi that produces antibodies ➢ Penicillium roqueforti — used to produce blue cheese ➔ Some may cause diseases ➢ Tinea pedis — causes foot ringworm Vinegar - Ancient product used to preserve food - Juices and extracts from fruit and grains can be fermented - Keeps food from spoiling - Used in pickling Fermentation - Process in which yeast enzymes chemically change compounds into alcohol - Alcohol ➔ The first product of fermentation when making vinegar ➔ Converted to acetic acid by additional microbe activity - Acid ➔ Gives vinegar a sour taste - Vinegar ➔ Prevents growth of some bacteria - Biblical references to wine indicate the use of fermentation around 3,000 years ago Fermentation Control - In ancient times, likely happened by accident - Advancements occur in the 1800’s and early 1900’s Fermenters - Used to advance fermentation process - Specially designed chamber that promotes fermentation - Allows better control, especially with vinegar - New products resulting from this: ➢ Glycerol ➢ Acetone ➢ Citric acid Development - Of yeasts were predictable and readily available ➔ Led to modern baking industry Antibiotics - Use of fermentation ➔ hastened the development of antibiotics - Drug used to combat bacterial infections - Penicillin ➔ Developed in the late 1920’s ➔ Introduced in the 1940’s ➔ First drug produced by microbes - Many kinds available today - Limitations in their use ➔ Keep disease-producing organisms from developing immunity to antibiotics - Should only be used when needed - Overuse may make the antibiotic ineffective when really needed later - Some disease organisms are now resistant to certain antibiotics used in both human and veterinary medicines Classical Biotechnology - Follows ancient biotech - Widespread use of methods from ancient ➔ Especially fermentation - Methods adapted to industrial production ➔ Meat in soil - Produced large amounts of food products and offer materials in a short amount of time - Meet demands - Many methods developed through classical biotech are widely used today - Manipulation of genetic material within organisms - Based on genetics and the use of microscopy, biochemical methods, related sciences, and technologies ➔ Biochemical ➢ Combination of biology and chemistry Modern Biotechnology - Known as genetic engineering - Roots involved the investigation of genes - Deals with manipulating genetic information - These were used in modern biotech: ➢ Microscopy ➢ Advanced computer technology - In-depth knowledge of science - Based on genetics research from the mid 1800’s - Use of biotech to produce new life forms ➔ Emerged in mid 1900’s ➔ Made possible by rDNA technology Gene splicing - Process using rDNA technology to join, by attachment or insertion, a DNA segment from one source to a DNA segment from another source - Process of chemically cutting DNA in order to add bases to the DNA strand Genetics - Study of heredity - Most work has focused on ➢ Animal genetics ➢ Plant genetics - Genes ➔ Determiners of heredity ➔ Carry the genetic code - Understanding genetic structure is essential for genetic engineering Heredity - How traits are passed from parent to offspring - Members of the same species pass the characteristics of that species - Differences ➔ Exist within each species ➔ Known as ‘Variability’ Heredity and Variability - Used in modern biotech rDNA - Recombinant DNA process - Genetic material ➔ Moved from one organism to another - Materials involved are quite small - Challenging and is often controversial - Many have opposing/negative views on biotech People in Biotechnology: Zacharias Janssen - Discovered the principle of the compound microscope in 1590 - Dutch eyeglass maker Anton Van Leeuwenhoek - Developed the single lens microscope in 1670 - Father of Modern Microscopy - First to observe tiny organisms and document observations ➔ Tiny organisms = pond water - Work led to modern microscopes - Electron microscope ➔ Developed in 1931 by a group of German scientists Gregor Mendel - Father of Genetics - Formulated ➔ basic laws of heredity during mid 1800s - Austrian botanist and monk - Experimented with peas - Studied inheritance of 7 pairs of traits - Bred and crossbred thousands of plants - Determined that some traits were dominant and other recessive - Findings were published in 1866 ➔ Largely ignored for 34 years John Friedrich Miescher - Swiss biologist - Isolated nuclei of white blood cells in 1869 - Led to identification of ➔ nucleic acid by Walter Flemming Walter Sutton - Determined in 1903 that chromosomes carried units of heredity identified by Mendel - Named “genes” in 1909 by Willhelm Johannsen ➔ Danish botanist Thomas Hunt Morgan - Studied genetics of fruit flies in the early 1900s ➔ Experimented with eye color - His work contributed to the knowledge of X and Y chromosomes - Nobel Peace Prize in 1933 ➔ For research in Gene Editing Ernst Ruska - Developed the first electron microscope in 1932 ➔ Offered 400x magnification - German electrical engineer Alexander Fleming - Discovered penicillin in 1928 ➔ First antibiotic drug used in treating human diseases ➔ First used in 1941 (during WWII) ➔ Also called “the wonder drug” - Credited with saving lives during WWII when soldiers developed infections - Observed growth of molds (Penicillium genus) in a dish that also contracted bacteria ➔ Bacteria close to the molds were dead ➔ Extracting and purifying the molds tok a decade of research Rosalind Elsie Franklin - Research in France and England in mid 1900’s ➔ Led to discovery of structure of DNA - Her early research was used to produce an atomic bomb - Set up an x ray diffraction lab - Photos of DNA showed that it could have a double helix structure - Some questions surround the theft of her work in 1952, including x ray photos Watson and Crick - James Watson and Francis Crick - Collaborated, produced the first model of DNA structure in 1953 - Described DNA dimensions and spacing of base parts - Had major impact on genetic engineering carried out today ★ Note: In DNA, Guanine is always paired with Cytosine, and Thymine with Adenine. While in RNA, G and C are the same but Adenine is always paired with Uracil ★ DNA - C & T, A & T / RNA - C & T, A & U Watson - USA Crick - England Watson & Crick - Had a collaborative research at Cambridge University in England Norman E. Borlaug - Developed wheat varieties ➔ Producing high yields ➔ That would grow in climates where other varieties would not - Research in Mexico ➔ Semi dwarf varieties - Won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1971 - Credited with helping relieve widespread hangover in some nations Mary Claire King - Researched into nature of DNA during late 1900’s - Determined that 99% of human DNA is identical to chimpanzee DNA - 1975 ➔ Found similar gene pools between humans and chimpanzees which made it possible to research hereditary causes of breast cancer Ian Wilmut - Cloned a sheep in 1997 that lived for 6 years ➔ Named “Dolly” ➔ Produced from tissues of an adult sheep ➢ Previous cloning efforts had been from early embryos Research - Use of systematic methods to answer questions - Problems may be basic or applied ➢ Basic ➔ Requires generating new information to gain understanding ➢ Applied ➔ Involves the use of knowledge already acquired - Supplies facts that can be used to improve a process/product - Settings range from elaborate labs to field plots - ➢ Field plots ➔ Small area of land that’s used to test questions/hypothesis ➔ Belief is that same result would be obtained if carried out on a larger scale ➔ Often tested several times ➔ Known as replication Biotechnology research in ag (agriculture?) is carried out by ag experience stations and large corporations Development - Creation of new products or methods based on findings of research - Carefully studied before being put into full scale - New products tested before approval - Government agencies such as the FDA are involved - Prototype is developed ➔ Research model that is carefully tested Prototype - Becomes a pattern for the production of similar products - After being fully tested, full scale production begins
