Introduction to

Biotechnology
Biotechnology
Biotechnology helps to
meet our basic needs.
Food, clothing, shelter,
health and safety
Biotechnology
Improvements by using
science
Science helps in
production plants, animals
and other organisms
Biotechnology
Also used in
maintaining a good
environment that
promotes our well
being
Biotechnology
Using scientific processes
to get new organisms or
new products from
organisms.
Biotechnology
Large area
Includes many
approaches and methods
in science and technology
Office of Tech
Assessment Definition
Any technique that uses
living organisms or
substances from those
organisms to make or modify
a product, to improve plants
or animals….
Cont.
Or to develop
microorganisms for
specific uses.
Agricultural View
All of the applied science
based operations in
producing food, fiber,
shelter, and related
products
Agricultural View
Milk production
New horticultural and
ornamental plants
Wildlife, aquaculture, natural
resources and environmental
management
Multidisciplinary
Involves many disciplines
or branches of learning
Includes all areas of Life
Sciences
Organismic Biotech
Working with complete,
intact organisms or their cells
Organisms are not
genetically changed with
artificial means
Organismic Biotech
Help the organism live better
or be more productive
Goal – improve organisms
and the conditions in which
they grow
Organismic Biotech
Study and use natural
genetic variations
Cloning is an example of
organismic biotech
Cloning
Process of producing a new
organism from cells or
tissues of existing organism.
1997 cloned sheep – “Dolly”
in Edinburgh Scotland
Molecular Biotech
Changing the genetic
make-up of an organism
Altering the structure and
parts of cells
Complex!
Molecular Biotech
Uses genetic engineering,
molecular mapping and
similar processes
Genetic
Engineering
Changing the genetic
information in a cell
Specific trait of one organism
may be isolated,cut, and
moved into the cell of
another organism
Transgenic
Results of Gen. Eng. Are
said to be “transgenic”
Genetic material in an
organism has been altered
Biotech examples
 Medicine
 Agriculture
 Environment
 Forestry
 Food and beverage
processing
Medicine
 Some new developments
delve into the hereditary
material of humans known
as gene therapy
Medicine
 Therapeutant - product used to
maintain health or prevent
disease
 Biopharmaceuticals – drug or
vaccine developed through
biotechnology
 Called designer drugs
Medicine
 Biopharming – production of
pharmaceuticals in cultured
organisms
 Combination of the
agriculture and
pharmaceutical industries
Medicine
 Certain blood – derived
products needed in human
medicine can be produced
in the milk of goats
Environment
 Any biotechnological process
that may promote a good
environment
 Organisms developed during the
gulf war to “eat” oil
 Organism used in gold mining to
“eat” contaminants
Environmental
 Problems naturally solved
by microorganisms such
as bacteria, fungi break
down contaminant into a
form less harmful or not
harmful
Ag and Forestry
 Plant biotech
 Animal biotech
Plant biotech
 Improve plants and the
products produced from them
 Insect and disease resistance
 Engineered to have desired
characteristics
Plant biotech
 Corn plant produced with
high levels of the amino
acid Lysine
Animal Biotech
 Improve animals or the
products they produce
 Animals may be used to
produce products that
promote human health
Animal Biotech
 Increase productivity
 Pigs engineered to
produce human
hemoglobin
Food and
Beverages
 Use of technology in
producing and processing
 Some biotech principles
have been employed for
hundreds of years
 Yeast in baking bread
Food and Bev.
 Genetically altered crops
 rBGH milk
Biotechnology
 Helps meet human needs
 Food, clothing and shelter
 Plants and animals are used
in manufacturing food,
clothing and materials for
shelter
Biotechnology
 Used to make products
more useful or desirable
 Ex: conversion of milk into
cheese or yogurt
Efficiency
 Must keep the cost of
improving products as low
as possible
 Biotech results in greater
efficiency
Efficiency
 Inoculating legume seeds
with bacteria that allow the
plant to pull nitrogen out of
the air and put it into the soil
 Saves the producer the cost
of applying N fertilizer
Efficiency
 Results in trees that grow
faster and produce wood
that is more desirable
Greater Production
 Increases yields
 bST use in cows to produce
more milk
 Higher crop yields from
drought, disease & insect
resistant crops
Health Promoting
Foods
 Food with unique traits
 Some contain
therapeutants
 Some designed with
nutrient enrichment
Safety
 Consumers want foods to
provide needed nutrients and
in some cases, enhanced
foods
 Do not want side effects from
those enhanced foods
Easy preparation
 Flavr-Savr Tomato
 Reached the market in
early 1990’s
 Engineered to have a
longer shelf life
Flavr-Savr
 No soft spots
 No rotten spots
 Tomato resists spoilage
Synthetic biology
 Creating lifelike
characteristics through the
use of chemicals
 Based on creating structures
similar to those found in
living organisms
Synthetic Biology
 Need for synthetic cells lead
to the development of the
vesicle
 Vesicle – tiny rounded
structure with cell like traits
Vesicle
 Tiny structures similar to
soap bubbles were created
to serve as the cell
membrane
 Visible only with powerful
microscope
Vesicle
 Once the cell membrane
has been successfully
developed, development
of the materials with the
cell is initiated.
Synthetic biology
 Is important because it
brings science closer to
creating life in the lab
 Cells and tissues may be
developed to treat human
injury and disease