An Introduction to Biotechnology LECTURE 1: Biotechnology; 3 Credit hours Atta ur Rahman School of Applied Biosciences (ASAB) National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST)

Dr Vacanti, a transplant surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and Jeffrey Borenstein, micro-engineering expert at the nearby Draper Lab are looking at growing more complex tissues.

Belgian Blue Cattle which is famous for their double muscling due to a gene that suppresses the production of Myostatin.

Bovine somatotropin hormone is important for growth, development, and other bodily functions of all animals. In the 1930s, it was discovered that injecting bST into lactating (milk-producing) cows significantly increased milk production.

America produced 500 million gallons of biodiesel and Europe produced 2.75 billion, it adds up.

Wastewater treatment plant could be the next source of clean energy Microbial Fuel Cell

Bacteria to produce proteins for medicine or material science

The 75-ha willow phytoremediation system at Enköping, central Sweden: wastewater treatment plant (foreground), ponds for winter storage of wastewater (background) and willow fields irrigated by wastewater from sludge

Biotechnology The office of the United States Congress defines biotechnology; “Any technique that uses living organisms or substances from those organism, to make or modify a product, to improve plant or animals, or to develop microorganism for specific uses” Thus biotechnology encompasses – Tools and techniques – Living organism i.e. plant, animal or microorganism – Products from these organism can be new or rare

Biotechnology Biotechnology is multidisciplinary involving naturals sciences; Cell and molecular biology Microbiology Genetics Physiology Biochemistry to name a few Engineering and computer sciences

Application of Biotechnology Production of new and improved food Live stocks Industrial chemicals Pharmaceuticals Diagnostics tools Recombinants Vaccines Protecting Environment Protecting endangered species

Major areas of Biotechnology Biotechnology Microbial Biotechnology Animal Biotechnology Environmental Biotechnology Plant Biotechnology Health Biotechnology

Course Contents Biotechnology – Fundamentals of biotechnology – Core Techniques in Biotechnology – DNA Technology From DNA to proteins Principals of recombinant DNA technology – Microbial Biotechnology Products from microorganisms Fermentation: principal and application Food biotechnology – Plant Biotechnology Plant tissue culture and applications Genetically Engineered Plants Applications of Plant genetic engineering Bio fertilizers

– Animal Biotechnology Animal cell culture and characterization of cell lines Application of animal cell culture Transgenic animal technology – Environmental Biotechnology Bioremediation Phytoremediation Utilization of biomass Bio mining and bioleaching – Biotechnology in medicine and health care Gene therapy Xenotransplantation Forensic Biotechnology Human Genome Project Impacts of biotechnology on human beings: Biotechnology Ethics