Lecture 1
BTE 101
Introduction to
Biotechnology and
Genetic Engineering
Course Instructor
Ifthikhar Zaman
Introduction to Biotechnology
What is Biotechnology?
Bio-technology
the use of biological system Father of
Biotechnology
to solve problems or
make useful products
In 1919, Karl Ereky, a Hungarian engineer, coined the
term biotechnology for the first time to describe the
interaction of biology and human technology.
What is Biotechnology?
• Biotechnology is the manipulation of living organisms and organic material to serve
human needs.
• Using scientific methods with organisms to produce new products or new forms of
organisms.
• Using living organisms to make things that will be useful to us. This could include
medicines, animals with certain traits, plants that grow quickly, or even complete
organisms.
Biotechnology is any technique that uses living organisms or substances
from those organisms to make or modify a product, to improve plants or
animals, or to develop microorganisms for specific uses.
Biotechnology:
A Multidisciplinary Subject
Purpose of Biotechnology
✔ Produce traditional products in a new manner
• Increase crop productivity, meat and milk production
• Bacteria that produce insulin for the treatment of diabetes
• Modified bacteria that secrete enzymes to help dissolve oil spills in marine
habitats
✔ Produce new products (drugs, protein) that did not exist before
• Diagnostic tests to identify genes for inherited diseases: Cystic fibrosis,
Huntington‘s disease
• Forensic assays for DNA and body fluids
✔ Modify genetics to produce organisms with new “recombinant“ traits
• Plants with resistance to disease and parasites
• Replacing a defective gene in a plant, animal or human
• In vitro fertilization, cloning
• Preservation of species by freezing gametes or embryos
The Stages of Biotechnology
ANCIENT BIOTECHNOLOGY
•Related to food and shelter; includes
domestication
CLASSICAL BIOTECHNOLOGY
•Built on ancient biotechnology:
Fermentation promoted food production,
and medicine
MODERN BIOTECHNOLOGY
•Manipulates genetic information from
microorganisms: genetic engineering
Products of Modern Biotechnology
Product Application
Blood factor VIII Treat hemophilia
(clotting factor)
Epidermal growth factor Stimulate antibody production in patients
with immune system disorders
Insulin Treat diabetes
Interferons Treat cancer and viral infections
Interleukins Treat cancer and stimulate antibody
production
Monoclonal antibodies Diagnose and treat a variety of diseases
including arthritis and cancer
Tissue plasminogen Treat heart attacks and stroke
activator
Traditional Biotechnology Modern Biotechnology
I) Refers to a number of ancient ways of I) Refers to a number of techniques
using living organisms to make new involving intentional manipulation of
products or modify existing ones genes, cells and living tissue in controlled
manner to generate changes in the genetic
make-up of an organism or produce new
products
II) Examples: II) Examples:
• Useful plants brought from the wild and • Human insulin (Humulin) produced
planted from genetically modified E. coli
• Selective breeding and hybridization • Bt cotton, Bt brinjal
• Store and preservation of food • Golden rice (rich in vit. A)
• Through fermentation making bread, • Many therapeutic proteins/growth
wine, cheese, yogurt factors produced by bacteria
III) Traditional biotechnology is centered III) Modern biotechnology uses gene
by active techniques which lack efficacy manipulation to actively engineer
and accuracy. organism with high efficiency and
accuracy.
The areas of Biotechnology
Many branches of biotechnological applications have been identified by a color system.
Types of Modern Biotechnology
• Agricultural Biotechnology
• Medical Biotechnology
• Environmental Biotechnology
• Microbial Biotechnology
• Animal Biotechnology
• Forensic Biotechnology
• Aquatic Biotechnology
Examples of
Biotechnology
Selective breeding
• Selective breeding is the process by which people choose which traits they
would like to have in the next generation of offspring
• They then select the organisms, that have those traits, to breed in order
to produce offspring with those traits.
Examples:
• Fish have been selectively bred for increased protein content, increased
size, and increased growth rate.
• Dairy cows have been selectively bred to produce more milk. Chickens
have been selectively bred for large eggs.
Examples of
Biotechnology
Genetic Engineering
• Genetic engineering involves directly changing the DNA of an organism.
• This could be adding or deleting traits (e.g. genes or groups of genes) on the
DNA strand.
• Organisms produced in this way are referred to as GMOs
(Genetically modified organisms)
Examples:
• Bt Brinjal
• Glo- fish
• E. coli producing human insulin
Examples of
Biotechnology
Cloning
• The term cloning describes different processes that can be used to
produce genetically identical copies of a biological entity.
• The copied material, which has the same genetic makeup as the
original, is referred to as a clone.
Example: Dolly the sheep.
Study additional material
Introduction to Biotechnology (Bangla) | Biotechnology | Nerdy Andaa
[Link]
THANK YOU!
