MBB 1

First Lecture Exam Reviewer

BIOTECHNOLOGY
Bio
o Life
Technology
o Practical application of knowledge
Any technique that uses living organisms or
substances from those organisms, to make or
modify a product, improve plants or animals, or to
develop microorganisms for specific uses
Any technological application that uses biological
systems, living organisms, or derivatives thereof,
to make or modify products or processes for
specific use
Objective
o To modify human health and
environment

Through the Ages
10,000 BC: domestication of crops
8,000 9,000 BC: domestication of animals
6,000 BC: brewing of beer
4,000 BC: leavening of bread
1880s: production of vaccines
1940s: production of antibiotics
1980s: use of GMOs
o From teosinte to corn


TRADITIONAL BIOTECHNOLOGY

Classical Breeding
Use of microorganisms to improve processes
o Molds in cheese
o Yeast in beer and wine
o Yeast for leavening bread
Concept of fermentation
o Yeast will produce carbon dioxide and
alcohol
o Method of preservation
o Anaerobic process, in chich bacteria
converts compunds into simpler
compounds (lactic acid, alcohol, CO2)
o Lactobacillus bulgaricus & Streptococcus
thermophilus
Development of vaccines and antibiotics using
microorganisms

Hybrid Technology
Use of cross breeding

Mutation Breeding
Late 1920s, it was discovered that the number of
variations in plants can be increased by exposing
plants to radiation and chemicals
Common mutagens
o X-rays
o Gamma rays, alpha particles, and beta
particles
o Protons and neutrons
o Chemicals
Sodium azide
Ethyl methanesulphonate


Penicillin

Alexander Fleming
Discovered penicillin from fungi Penicillium sp.
He discovered that in the plate where the
Penicillium grew, the Streptomyces were unable
to multiply

Howard Florey and Ernst Chain
Tested the therapeutic potential of penicillin


Vaccines

Edward Jenner
Made the first vaccine in 1796
He infected a child with the bacteria from the
cowpox

Conventional Vaccines
Inactivated/killed Whole Vaccines
o Made from disease-causing organisms or
pathogens, which have been stripped off
of their ability to replicate but are kept
intact such that they elicit reaction from
the immune system
Live Attenuated Vaccines
o Live, but weakened derivatives of
pathogenic organisms

Comparison Live-Attenuated Killed
Production Relatively simple More complex
How it is used Injection Injection
Dose Low, often single High, multiple
Heat sensitivity Sensitive Not sensitive
Need to
refrigerate
Yes Yes
Duration of
immunity
Many years Often less
Safety:
Reversion to
Virulence
Rarely No
Side effects Low-leves
1-2 for every 10
6

No

Live Attenuated Vaccines Killed Vaccines
Polio (oral) Polio (injected)
Measles Cholera
Mumps Hepa A/B
Chicken pox Influenza
Rubella Rabies
Yellow fever Toxoids (diphtheria and
tetanus)
Typhoid fever
Bacillus-Calmette-Guerin
(BCG)


Problems with Traditional Biotechnology
Slow paced
Crossing limited to closely-related varieties
Unpredictable combo of traits
MODERN BIOTECHNOLOGY
Makes use of gene manipulation to actively and
efficiently improve organisms

Gregor Mendel
Austrian monk, gardener, scientist, teacher, and
mathematician
Father of Heredity and Genetics
Traits can be passed on from the parents to the
offspring
Published the results of his investigation of the
inheritance of factors in pea plants

Advantages of Modern Biotechnology
Speed
Precision
Unlimited donor-recipient of genes
Novel products
Mass production

Agricultural Biotechnology (Green)
Use of biotech to improve plants, animals, and
microorganisms typically through increased
productivity, resilience, and improved additional
traits
I.e., golden rice
o Fortified with vit. A (carotenoids)

Industrial Biotechnology (White)
Application of biotechnology for industrial
purposes, such as manufacturing, alternative
energy, and biomaterials
I.e., Biodiesel from Jatrhopa

Aquatic Biotechnology (Blue)
Application of biotechnology on aquatic organisms
or ecosystems
Usually involves harvesting from waters

Medical Biotechnology (Red)
Recombinant from of drugs
Personal drugs
Tissue engineering

Environmental Biotechnology
Development, use and regulation of biological
systems for remediation of contaminated
environments, and for environment-friendly
processes

Key Terms
Filial generation
o Progeny of a cross
Allele
o Heritable factors/units
o Determines trait
Diploid
o Having 2 alleles for each heritable trait
Haploid
o Only one copy for the hereditary unit
o Sex cells are haploid
Homozygote
o Having 2 copies of the same allele
Heterozygote
o Having 1 copy of each allele
o Random segregation
Gene
o Carrier of heredity
Genotype
o Total gene constitution of an organism
Phenotype
o Attributes constituting the actual
organism, which results from a
combination of the genotype the various
environmental factors
Chromosomes
o Tight, condense packages of DNA-protein
complex
o Located in the nucleus
o Visible under a microscope, especially
when stained
Nucleic acids
o DNA and RNA
o Polymeric
Nucleotides
o Monomeric unit of nucleic acids
o Three parts:
Nitrogenous base
Pentose sugar
Phosphate group

Key People

Friedrich Miescher (1869)
Isolated first crude extract of DNA fro pus cells
from discarded bandages
He named the hereditary unit as nuclein

Wilhelm Johannsen (1909)
Coined the terms:
o Gene
o Genotype
o Phenotype

Thomas Hunt Morgan (1910)
Proved that genes are carried on chromosomes,
establishing the bases of modern genetics
Chromosome theory of inheritance
o Used Drosophila

Fredrick Griffith (1928)
Transforming Principle
o Used the strains of Streptococcus
pneumonia
o Smooth Strain - virulent
o Rough Strain benign

Oswald Avery, Colin Macleod, and Maclyn McCarty
(1944)
Purified the transforming principle

Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase (1952)
Blender experiment using phages

Erwin Chagraff (1949)
Proved the 1 is to 1 correspondence of nucleotides
AT and GC

Rosalind Franklin (1951)
Obtained sharp X-ray diffraction photographs of
DNA
Considered as the Dark Lady of DNA

Maurice Wilkins (1951)
Obtained evidence that DNA in cells as well as
purified DNA had a helical structure

James Watson and Francis Crick (1953)
Solved the 3D structure of the DNA molecule