What Is Biotechnology? Amrapali A. Akhare

What Is Biotechnology? Using scientific methods with organisms to produce new products or new forms of organisms 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 The application of biological organisms, systems or processes to manufacturing and service industries Amrapali A. Akhare

Biotechnology ? The integrated use of biochemistry, microbiology and engineering sciences in order to achieve technological (industrial) application capabilities of microorganism, cultured tissue cells and part there of. A technology using biological phenomena by copying and manufacturing various kinds of useful substance. The application of scientific and engineering principles to the processing of materials by biological-agents to provide goods and services. Amrapali A. Akhare

Biotechnology ? The use of living organism and their component in agriculture, food and other industrial processes The use of microbial, animal and plant cells or enzymes to synthesize, breakdown and transform materials The integration of natural sciences and organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues to product and services Amrapali A. Akhare

Recombinant DNA Technology? Manipulation of genes is called genetic engineering or recombinant DNA technology Genetic engineering involves taking one or more genes from a location in one organism and either Transferring them to another organism Putting them back into the original organism in different combinations GMO- genetically modified organisms. GEO- genetically enhanced organisms. With both, the natural genetic material of the organism has been altered. Amrapali A. Akhare

History Amrapali A. Akhare

Stages of Biotechnology Development Ancient biotechnology early history as related to food and shelter; Includes domestication Classical biotechnology built on ancient biotechnology; Fermentation promoted food production, and medicine Modern biotechnology manipulates genetic information in organism; Genetic engineering Amrapali A. Akhare

TRADITIONAL PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY Traditional/old biotechnology The conventional techniques that have been used to produce beer, wine, cheese, many other food TRADITIONAL PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY breeding tissue culture inter-specific hybridisation mapping phenotypic/biochemical markers Amrapali A. Akhare

New/modern biotechnology All methods of genetic modification by recombinant DNA and cell fusion techniques, together with the modern development of traditional biotechnological process Amrapali A. Akhare

Areas of Biotechnology Organismic biotechnology uses intact organisms; Does not alter genetic material Molecular biotechnology alters genetic makeup to achieve specific goals Transgenic organism- an organism with artificially altered genetic material Amrapali A. Akhare

What Subjects Are Involved With Biotechnology? Multidisciplinary- involving a number of disciplines that are coordinated for a desired outcome Science Life sciences Physical sciences Social sciences Amrapali A. Akhare

What Subjects Are Involved With Biotechnology? Mathematics Applied sciences Computer applications Engineering Agriculture Amrapali A. Akhare

Biotechnology: A collection of technologies Amrapali A. Akhare

What is the career outlook in biotechnology? Biotech in 1998 1,300 companies in the US 2/3 have less than 135 employees 140,000 jobs Jobs will continue to increase exponentially Jobs are available to high school graduates through PhD’s Amrapali A. Akhare

The Applications of Biotechnology Medical Biotechnology Diagnostics Therapeutics Vaccines Agricultural Biotechnology Plant agriculture Animal agriculture Food processing Food products Industry and manufacturing Environmental Biotechnology Cleaning through bioremediation Preventing environmental problems Monitoring the environment Amrapali A. Akhare

Plant agriculture Plant Biotechnology Crop production and protection Genetically engineered (transgenic) crops Using biological methods to protect crops Exploiting cooperative relationships in nature Nutritional value of crops Improving food quality and safety Healthier cooking oils by decreasing the concentration of saturated fatty acids in vegetable oils Functional foods Foods containing significant levels of biologically active components that impart health benefits Plant Biotechnology Amrapali A. Akhare

PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY a process to produce a genetically modified plant by removing genetic information from an organism, manipulating it in the laboratory and then transferring it into a plant to change certain of its characteristics . Now use a molecular approach to manipulation: molecular markers & mapping gene cloning plant transformation Amrapali A. Akhare

Exogenous genes (non-plant genes) pathogen-derived genes bacterial genes any other organism Exogenous genes (non-plant genes) Applications: transgenic Pathogen resistance Herbicide resistance bioreactors Delivery systems Amrapali A. Akhare

Endogenous genes (Plant genes) Enzymes in biochemical pathway Natural resistance genes Endogenous genes (Plant genes) Gene discovery (functional genomics) Mapping ESTs, libraries Silencing, expression Mutants, arrays Applications: markers transgenic Marker assisted breeding Plant improvement Amrapali A. Akhare

Plant Tissue Culture and Applications Micro-propagation Somatic Embryos Chemicals from Plants Other Uses of Tissue Culture Protoplast Fusion Somaclonal Variation Germplasm Storage Plant Genetic Engineering Plant Transformation Transgenic Plant Amrapali A. Akhare

What Are Genetic Engineering Organisms? Genetic engineering- artificially changing the genetic information in the cells of organisms Transgenic- an organism that has been genetically modified GMO- a genetically modified organism GEO- a genetically enhanced organism Amrapali A. Akhare

Why Change an organism? To get desirable traits Economic gain Increase production Disease resistance Amrapali A. Akhare

How Can Genetically Engineered Plants Be Used? Agriculture Horticulture Forestry Environment Food Quality Amrapali A. Akhare

What Are Methods of Classical Biotechnology? Plant breeding- improvement of plants by breeding selected individuals to achieve desired goals Cultivar- a cultivated crop variety Amrapali A. Akhare

What Are Methods of Classical Biotechnology? Plant breeding methods; Line breeding- breeding successive generations of plants among themselves Crossbreeding- breeding plants of different varieties or species Hybridization- breeding individuals from two distinctly different varieties Selection Amrapali A. Akhare

Why Are Plants Genetically Engineered? Resist pests Resist herbicides Improved product quality Pharmaceuticals Industrial products Amrapali A. Akhare

What Is Bioremediation? Bioremediation- using biological processes to solve environmental problems Biodegradation- natural processes of microbes in breaking down hydrocarbon materials Biodegradable- capable of being decomposed by microbes Amrapali A. Akhare

How Can Bioremediation Be Used? Oil spills Wastewater treatment Heavy metal removal Chemical degradation Amrapali A. Akhare

What Is Phytoremediation? Phytoremediation- process of plants being used to solve pollution problems Plants absorb and break down pollutants Used with heavy metals, pesticides, explosives, and leachate Amrapali A. Akhare

Compost bin- a facility that contains materials for composting What Is Composting? Composting- a process that promotes biological decomposition of organic matter Compost bin- a facility that contains materials for composting In-vessel composting- using enclosed containers for composting Amrapali A. Akhare

People in Biotech Zacharias Janssen Discovered the principle of the compound microscope in 1590 Dutch eye glass maker Amrapali A. Akhare

What Did These Individuals Contribute to Biotechnology? Anton van Leeuwenhoek Developed single lens microscope in 1670’s First to observe tiny organisms and document observations Discovered cells Bacteria Protists Red blood Amrapali A. Akhare

What Did These Individuals Contribute to Biotechnology? Gregor Johan Mendel Discovered genetics Formulated basic laws of heredity during mid 1800’s Austrian Botanist and monk Experimented with peasStudied inheritance of seven pairs of traits Bred and crossbred thousands of plants Determined that some traits were dominant and other recessiveFindings were published in 1866 Largely ignored for 34 years Amrapali A. Akhare

Anton V.L. Work led to modern microscopes Electron microscope developed in 1931 by group of German scientists Amrapali A. Akhare

What Did These Individuals Contribute to Biotechnology? Walter Sutton Discovered Chromosomes Determined in 1903 that chromosomes carried units of heredity identified by Mendel Named “genes” in 1909 by Wilhelm Johannsen, Danish Botanist Amrapali A. Akhare

What Did These Individuals Contribute to Biotechnology? Thomas Hunt Morgan Discovered how genes are transmitted through chromosomes Studied genetics of fruit flies Early 1900’s Experimented with eye color His work contributed to the knowledge of X and Y chromosomes Nobel Peace Prize in 1933 for research in gene theory Amrapali A. Akhare

What Did These Individuals Contribute to Biotechnology? Ernst Ruska Invented the electron microscope Build the first electron microscope in 1932 German electrical engineer Microscope offered 400X magnification Amrapali A. Akhare

What Did These Individuals Contribute to Biotechnology? Sir Alexander Fleming Discovered penicillin in 1928 First antibiotic drug used in treating human disease 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 took a decade of research Penicillin first used in 1941Penicillin credited with saving many lives during WWII when wounded soldiers developed infections. Amrapali A. Akhare

What Did These Individuals Contribute to Biotechnology? Rosalind Elsie Franklin Research led to the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA Research in France and England in mid 1900’s Her early research was used to produce an atomic bomb Set up X ray diffraction lab Photographs of DNA showed that it could have a double helix structureSome questions surround the theft of her work in 1952 Including x ray photographs Amrapali A. Akhare

What Did These Individuals Contribute to Biotechnology? James Watson and Francis Crick Collaborated to produce the first model of DNA structure in 1953 Described DNA dimensions and spacing of base pairs Had major impact on genetic engineering carried out today Amrapali A. Akhare

What Did These Individuals Contribute to Biotechnology? Mary-Claire King Mapped human genes for research of cancer treatments Research into nature of DNA during late 1900’s Determined that 99% of human DNA is identical to chimpanzee 1975 found similar gene pools between humans and chimpanzee made it possible to research hereditary causes of breast cancer Amrapali A. Akhare

What Did These Individuals Contribute to Biotechnology? Ian Wilmut Created the first true clone, the Dorset ewe Dolly Cloning of a sheep named Dolly in 1997 Produced from tissue of an adult sheep Previous cloning efforts had been from early embryos Amrapali A. Akhare

Johan Friedrich Miescher Swiss Biologist Isolated nuclei of white blood cells in 1869 Led to identification of nucleic acid by Walter Flemming Amrapali A. Akhare

Watson Born in the US Crick – born in England Collaborative research at Cambridge University in England Amrapali A. Akhare

Norman E. Borlaug Developed wheat varieties producing high yields Research in Mexico Semi dwarf varieties Developed wheat variety that would grow in climates where other varieties would not Amrapali A. Akhare

Borlaug Nobel Peace Prize in 1971 Credited with helping relieve widespread hunger in some nations Amrapali A. Akhare

Products of Biotechnology Amrapali A. Akhare

Products of Biotechnology One of the first commercial products of genetic engineering was insulin E. coli bacteria was genetically engineered to produce insulin. Amrapali A. Akhare

Products of Biotechnology BST (Bovine Somatotropin) Increases milk production in dairy cattle. BST became available commercially as a result of genetic engineering Amrapali A. Akhare

Animal Feed Livestock such as cattle are commonly fed genetically engineered feed (corn, grain) Amrapali A. Akhare

Products of Biotechnology Herbicide Resistant Crops Amrapali A. Akhare

Products of Biotechnology Biodiesel - diesel-equivalent, processed fuel derived from biological sources. Amrapali A. Akhare

Biotechnology in Animal Science used in determining the sex and parents of animals Artificial Insemination allows us to control genetic input of offspring. Amrapali A. Akhare

Biotechnology in Animal Science Embryo Transfer – Allows for cattle to have multiple calves per year. Amrapali A. Akhare

Pharming Pharming is the production of pharmaceuticals in animals engineered to contain a foreign, drug-producing gene. Amrapali A. Akhare

Pharming These goats contain the human gene for a clot-dissolving protein that is produced in their milk. Amrapali A. Akhare

Biotechnology in Animal Science Cloning creates a genetically identical copy of an animal or plant. Plants are often cloned – cuttings Human identical twins are also clones. Amrapali A. Akhare

Regulations Prior to marketing products from biotechnology, Companies works with regulatory agencies in the U.S. and many other countries to assess the products’: Safety Nutrition Agronomic performance. Amrapali A. Akhare

Ethics in Biotechnology Amrapali A. Akhare

Why Ethics in Biotechnology New technology. Plurality of moral convictions. Divergent economic, political, and social objectives. Growing sensitivity of the public. Doubts of the public about internal control mechanism of scientific institutions and the scientific community to adequately consider moral implications of research and its consequences. Complexity of ethical issues involved. Amrapali A. Akhare

Bioethics Bioethics: A discipline dealing with the ethical implications of biological research and applications Bioethics: a discipline dealing with the ethical implications of biological research and applications Ethics: motivation based on ideas of right and wrong Amrapali A. Akhare

Ethics and Biotech Not everyone believes that biotechnology is going to benefit us in the future. Let nature be… not in God’s plan… etc… Amrapali A. Akhare

Concerns Unexpected impact on environment and to other organisms Expanse of G.E organisms Safety of foods Lack of education Amrapali A. Akhare

Concerns Some countries have banned GMO’s and others have turned down food that has been genetically modified. Amrapali A. Akhare

Two Kinds of Ethical Arguments Used to Evaluate Concerns Over Biotechnology Extrinsic objections say the possible consequences of some biotech applications are objectionable, but others may be acceptable GMOs are wrong because risks outweigh benefits. Intrinsic objections say the process of biotechnology is objectionable in itself GMOs are wrong , no matter how great the benefits. Comments on Intrinsic versus Extrinsic Objections: These terms are simply one way to formulate ethical arguments for and against something, ultimately leading to a deeper understanding of the issue. Intrinsic objections basically argue that the ends do not justify the means. For example, if you believe that taking another life is wrong under any circumstances, the “good” that could come out of “murder” is irrelevant. That would include taking another life in war, for self-defense, or to protect your daughter from a rapist. Thus, if someone finds that “any technique that uses living organisms...” is unacceptable based on intrinsic objections, biotechnology would be unacceptable. Period. Extrinsic objections argue that the means may be acceptable, but the ends are not. Using the example above, it may be permissible to “take another life” under certain conditions but not others (just because that $*#* took your parking space!). This exercise was to simply help students analyze in a more structured manner why they object to biotechnology (or anything else for that matter). Further, if their arguments fall under the extrinsic objections category, using sound logical analysis, a person can better explore under what conditions do they find biotechnology acceptable and why. Is Bt corn ok - but human cloning not? This would incorporate the possible positive social and/or environmental consequences regarding biotechnology. This discussion is also a perfect lead-in to classroom activities on risk identification, assessment and management. Amrapali A. Akhare