Slide 1: Introduction
The living things in this world are made up of cells. They are the smallest units of life. Therefore,
it is not surprising that scientists around the world have used them to make advances in our life.
Today, we would like to show you how they have done this through biotechnology, the use of
cells and their processes for human purposes.
Slide 2: Overall Description
What is biotechnology? Such a term might sound scientific and foreign to us, but when broken
up into categories, this concept is actually quite simple to understand. As a general term,
biotechnology can be defined as the use or modification of organisms for human purposes, such
as developing new medicines or enhancing crops. In biotechnology, humans alter biotic factors
to achieve desired outcomes. There are five main ways in which biotechnology is applied – red,
white, green, blue and black.
Slide 3: Red Biotechnology
Red biotechnology is when the genomes of an organism are changed in order to create a new
medical product or to observe how a genetically-altered organism reacts to a certain medical
product.
Slide 4: White Biotechnology
White biotechnology is industrial-centred. Man alters the genes of organisms or uses cell
components to create products which are industrially useful, destroy harmful products, or
simplify industrial activities.
Slide 5: Green Biotechnology
Green biotechnology is applied agriculturally. It is used to find, modify, suppress and introduce
genetic characteristics of crops or livestock. Man alters the organisms' genetic makeup to
produce the desired outcome.
Slide 6: Blue Biotechnology
Blue biotechnology is applied to marine environments. Man alters the organisms' genetic
makeup and introduces them to a marine environment or introduces existing substances or
organisms to ensure marine safety.
Slide 7: Black Biotechnology
Black biotechnology is all about creating energy. It is used to create renewable energy faster to
replace man’s need for fossil fuels, which are running out and also polluting the environment.
Man alters the genetic makeup of organisms or creates new ones to create clean and natural
energy.
Slide 8: Guiding Questions
These are the guiding questions about human activity and technology.
Slide 9: Human Activity
Should man bear responsibility towards the environment from which he draws his resources?
Well, humans carry out many activities to meet our needs and to build better lives. These
activities have a great impact on the Earth, the human race, and the organisms that inhabit the
Earth. As we live, not only do we take many resources from the environment, we also release
harmful substances to the environment, such as greenhouse gases and other poisonous gases.
Slide 10: Human Activity (Continued)
Over time, this causes many environmental problems which may be difficult to fix if left
unchecked for a long time. Our activities can completely change the ecosystem to such an
extent that nature can no longer repair the damage. Thus, to satisfy our needs, we inadvertently
sacrifice the future of the Earth and the organisms that live on it.
Slide 11: Technology
Technology can be both good and bad, in different perspectives. It is good as it helps to save
lives, for example, through medicine. People also have more access to knowledge, it saves
time, and it brings enjoyment. Through technology, we are always connected to others even if
we are at different places. However, it can also be bad as people tend to get lazier and lose
social skills. It may also be expensive. The newest iPhone or Macbook certainly won’t come
cheap. Apart from that, there may be cyberbullying and it can also make it easier for criminals to
carry out crimes, like creating new and more powerful weapons, check a person’s background,
infiltrate security systems and much much more. So is technology good or bad? Well,
technology should be good as long as it does not get out of hand, and is used responsibly and
appropriately.
Slide 12: Benefits to Man and the Community
Biotechnology is beneficial as it allows fermentation, there are medicinal, industrial and marine
benefits, and we can also use it to create genetically-modified foods and renewable energy
sources.
Slide 13: Fermentation
What is fermentation? Well, fermentation is a process of chemical change caused by organisms
or their products, usually producing effervescence and heat. In fact, fermentation is the oldest of
all biotechnological processes; it is an anaerobic process where energy is produced without the
participation of oxygen or any other inorganic electron acceptors.
How is fermentation useful to organisms? In the absence of oxygen, yeast and bacteria carry
out fermentation to obtain energy for growth and respiration.
Slide 14: Fermentation
Fermentation is used in the production of beer, wine and bread, by the fermentation of sugar by
yeast. In bread, the yeast ferments the sugar in the dough. Carbon dioxide is produced and
forms gas bubbles, which expand and cause the dough to rise when baked. The production of
cheese and yogurt also involve the fermentation of milk by bacteria.
Slide 15: Medicinal Benefits: Red Biotechnology
Red biotechnology has to do with medicine. With red biotechnology, vaccines can be safer and
more effective. New cures for genetic diseases can be created through the genetic modification
of organisms. Red biotechnology can be used to show how a person's genetic inheritance alters
his or her response to drugs. This is done by modifying organisms' genetic makeup to test their
reactions to certain medical products. Medical products can then be tailored to an individual's
genetic needs and the doctor will be able to prescribe a more accurate dosage of drugs.
Scientists can design probes to examine DNA molecules to improve genetic testing.
Slide 16: GM Foods: Green Biotechnology (Point 1)
Green biotechnology has to do with genetically-modified foods or GM foods. These foods are
modified to have certain desirable characteristics. There are many benefits of GM crops.
Firstly, farmers will be able to harvest more crops as GM crops are pest-resistant. GM crops can
also reproduce more quickly. This benefits both the farmers and the community as it is a
solution to the decreasing food supply due to an increasing population.
For example, cotton, which is used to produce cottonseed oil, is pest-resistant due to the
Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) crystal protein gene added to the plant genome.
Slide 17: GM Foods: Green Biotechnology (Point 2-3)
There will also be healthier food as the food will contain less chemicals due to the decrease in
the usage of pesticides.
Due to the decrease in the usage of pesticides, farmers will have less exposure to the harmful
chemicals found in them. Pesticides can cause toxic effects, chemical sensitivity syndrome, as
well as cancer. Without the need to use pesticides, farmers will have better working conditions.
Slide 18: GM Foods: Green Biotechnology (Point 4)
Green biotechnology can help to save the environment as well. Pesticides can harm other nontargeted species which are of medicinal value such as the cocoa plant, the cinchona tree and
many more. They also contribute to soil contamination and water pollution. When non target
species of plants and animals are killed, biodiversity is also reduced.
Slide 19: GM Foods: Green Biotechnology (Point 5)
GM foods are more nutritious as they contain more nutrients from the genes that are inserted in
them. For example, golden rice has increased iron and vitamin A, while canola, which are seeds
used for producing oil, will produce oil that has lesser cholesterol.5.
Slide 20: GM Foods: Green Biotechnology
GM Crops have better storage properties and have improved taste. The Flavr-Savr tomato is
one example. To develop their full flavour, tomatoes need to ripen on the vine. However, as they
ripen, they become soft, making them hard to harvest and to maintain in good condition for sale.
Hence, farmers harvest them before they are ripe and make them ripe using ethylene gas which
results in the loss of flavour.
Flavour-Savour tomatoes, on the other hand, ripen on the vine longer while maintaining firmer
skin.
Slide 21: GM Foods: Green Biotechnology (Point 7)
GM Crops are more disease resistant. The Hawaiian Papaya, which is resistant to Papaya
Ringspot Virus by transferring a new gene into the plant genome, is one example. Another
example is the Squash (Zucchini), which is resistant to watermelon, cucumber and zucchini
yellow mosaic viruses as it contains coat protein genes of viruses.
Slide 22: GM Foods: Green Biotechnology (Point 8)
GM Crops have increased tolerance to unfavourable conditions. Wheat, rice and maize crops
that are drought-tolerant are currently being created. These crops can grow in water-deficient
lands and prevent harvest shortfalls in the event of a drought. This enables more crops to be
produced even in dry land.
Slide 23: Industrial Benefits: White Biotechnology
With white biotechnology, we can use processes and modifications to create enzymes which
can be used to create new and valuable chemicals needed for industrial processes. These
chemicals can act as catalysts and help to speed up industrial processes. Apart from that, using
white biotechnology, we can create organisms that make the process of creating certain
products more environmentally-friendly, as less carbon emissions are produced. The industrial
process of extracting metals from their ores can also be made easier through white
biotechnology. It allows Bioleaching, which is the extraction of metals from their ores using
bacteria. Organisms can also be designed using white biotechnology to break down the harmful
chemicals produced through industrial activities that contaminate industrial sites.
Slide 24: Marine Benefits: Blue Biotechnology
Blue biotechnology has many benefits. Firstly, it can help with the cleaning up of marine oil
spills. Organisms are designed by scientists to break down crude oil from oil spills. For example
Scientist Ananda Chakrabarty recently developed a bacterium that breaks down crude oil into
simpler substances. It removes the oil faster than a human can, thus reducing the damage
caused by the oil spills. Secondly, blue biotechnology can also be used to design certain
organisms, that when introduced, increase the supply of certain sea species that are
endangered, or control the spread of certain dangerous sea species.
Slide 25: Energy Consumption Benefits: Black Biotechnology
Black biotechnology’s main benefit is that it provides clean energy. Scientists use microbes to
absorb carbon dioxide and convert it to a more complex molecule. This gives us energy without
the need for burning, which is needed for fossil fuels. Burning causes carbon dioxide to be
released into the atmosphere, resulting in air pollution and global warming. The clean energy
provided by black biotechnology prevents this. Its second benefit is that it also gives us energy
that is somewhat renewable. The time needed for the microbes to produce energy is short. On
the other hand, coal takes a much longer period of time, compared to our lifespan, to form.
Thus, energy produced through black biotechnology will run out much slower than fossil fuels,
and can even be considered renewable.
Slide 26: Future of Biotechnology
Chemical Engineering of Medicine. Plants that slightly slow down the growth of Congenital
Diseases like AIDs and Cancer now can be genetically modified to cure and even prevent these
diseases. Industrial development. New advances suggest that cleaner and more efficient oil can
be used to power machinery in factories. These oils were obtained from genetically-modified
plants. Green biotechnology. New research suggests that widespread cloning may be possible
for the crops in near future. Though scientists had failed in the first experiment of “Dolly the
sheep”, a newer, safer method has been discovered to clone these crops quickly.
Slide 27: Future of Biotechnology
Energy structuring. New research suggests that we will soon be able to harness the properties
of genetically-modified microbes to structure a new form of energy. This will halve energy
consumption in homes, reducing the consumption of earth’s natural resources. These microbes
will soon have the potential to speed up the formation of fossil fuels too, which will help to solve
the problem of their dwindling supply. New species of Phytoplankton. Scientists have been able
to engineer a species of phytoplankton that is able to reproduce faster, increasing the supply of
food for animals in the sea. This will solve the problem of a lack of seafood for fishing, and go
some way to preventing sea species from becoming extinct.
Slide 28: Summary
Slide 30: End of Presentation and Questions
We have come to the end of our presentation. We hope you have enjoyed learning about
biotechnology as much as we have! Any questions?
Slide 31: Thank You Slide
Thank you for your kind attention!