BIOTECHNOLOGY

Bio - means "Life; Techno - means "tools; - ology means "the study of."
Definition
the use of living systems and organisms to develop or make useful products,
any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms or
derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use
Process by which humans use living things as tools to create new products
encompasses a wide range of procedures (and history) for modifying living organisms
according to human purposes
application of technical advances in life science to develop commercial products

Biotechnology is an interdisciplinary field merging basic science, applied

science, and engineering.

Pure biological sciences

(genetics, microbiology, animal cell culture, molecular biology, biochemistry,
embryology, cell biology).
Dependent on knowledge and methods from outside the sphere of biology
including:
chemical engineering,
bioprocess engineering,
bioinformatics, a new brand of Computer science
biorobotics.

Branches of Biotechnology
Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary field which addresses biological
problems using computational techniques, and makes the rapid
organization as well as analysis of biological data possible.
Blue biotechnology is a term that has been used to describe the marine
and aquatic applications of biotechnology, but its use is relatively rare.
Green biotechnology is biotechnology applied to agricultural processes.
An example would be the selection and domestication of plants via
micropropagation.
Red biotechnology is applied to medical processes. Some examples are
the designing of organisms to produce antibiotics, and the engineering of
genetic cures through genetic manipulation.
White biotechnology, also known as industrial biotechnology, is
biotechnology applied to industrial processes. An example is the
designing of an organism to produce a useful chemical. Another example
is the using of enzymes as industrial catalysts to either produce valuable
chemicals or destroy hazardous/polluting chemicals.

Biotechnology by Industry

Science of Biotechnology Touches Our Life

Improving your familys health
Diabetes - recombinant insulin still savings lives today
Heart disease clot buster drugs, which allows emergency
doctors to dissolve blockages during heart attacks

Science of Biotechnology Touches Our Life

Improving everyday life
The cornflakes in your cereal bowl were grown using fewer pesticides,
New plastics are coming into your home made from corn and other plants,
not petroleum, via a biotechnology process.
New fuels like biodiesel and bioethanol are entering the market.

Genetic engineering is a type of biotechnology - probably the one most

talked about in the news. While genetic engineering requires special
molecular tools to move genes from one location to the next,
biotechnology just means that genes have to change location, usually
with the help of a living organism such as a bacterium.

History of Biotechnology
4000 B.C.:Egyptians use yeast to make leavened bread and wine
3000 B.C.: Peruvians select and cultivate potatoes
500 B.C.: In China, the first antibiotic, moldy soybean curds, is put to use to treat boils.
A.D. 100: The first insecticide is produced in China from powdered chrysanthemums.
1683: Invention of microscope by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek
1761: English surgeon Edward Jenner pioneers vaccination, inoculating a child with
a viral smallpox vaccine.
1861: Pasteurization is invented by Louis Pasteur
1865: Gregor Mendel begins the study of genetics
1870: Breeders crossbreed cotton, developing hundreds of varieties with
superior qualities.
1870: The first experimental corn hybrid is produced in a laboratory.
1911: American pathologist Peyton Rous discovers the first cancer-causing virus.
1928: Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin.
1933: Hybrid corn is commercialized.
1942: Penicillin is mass-produced in microbes for the first time.
1950s: The first synthetic antibiotic is created.
1951: Artificial insemination of livestock is accomplished using frozen semen.
1953:James Watson and Francis Crick uncover the structure of DNA
1958: DNA is made in a test tube for the first time.

History of Biotechnology
1978: Recombinant human insulin is produced for the first time.
1979: Human growth hormone is synthesized for the first time.
1980: Smallpox is globally eradicated following 20-year mass vaccination effort.
1980: The U.S. Supreme Court approves the principle of patenting organisms,
which allows the Exxon oil company to patent an oil-eating microorganism.
1981: Scientists at Ohio University produce the first transgenic animals by
transferring genes from other animals into mice.
1982: The first recombinant DNA vaccine for livestock is developed.
1982: The first biotech drug, human insulin produced in genetically modified bacteria,
is approved by FDA. Genentech and Eli Lilly developed the product.
1985: Genetic markers are found for kidney disease and cystic fibrosis.
1986: The first recombinant vaccine for humans, a vaccine for hepatitis B, is approved.
1986: Interferon becomes the first anticancer drug produced through biotech.
1988: The first pest-resistant corn, Bt corn, is produced.

History of Biotechnology
1990: The first successful gene therapy is performed on a 4-year-old girl suffering
from an immune disorder.
1992: FDA approves bovine somatotropin (BST) for increased milk production
in dairy cows.
1993: FDA approves Betaseron, the first of several biotech products that have
had a major impact on multiple sclerosis treatment.
1994: The first breast cancer gene is discovered.
1994: The Americas are certified polio-free by the International Commission
for the Certification of Polio Eradication.
1995: Gene therapy, immune-system modulation and recombinantly produced
antibodies enter the clinic in the war against cancer.
1996: A gene associated with Parkinsons disease is discovered.
1996: The first genetically engineered crop is commercialized.
1997: A sheep named Dolly in Scotland becomes the first animal cloned from
an adult cell.
1998: FDA approves Herceptin, a pharmacogenomic breast cancer drug
for patients whose cancer overexpresses the HER2 receptor.
1999: A diagnostic test allows quick identification of Bovine Spongicorm Encephalopathy
(BSE, also known as mad cow disease) and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD)

History of Biotechnology
2000: Kenya field-tests its first biotech crop, virus-resistant sweet potato.
2001: FDA approves Gleevec (imatinib), a gene-targeted drug for patients
with chronic myeloid leukemia. Gleevec is the first gene-targeted drug to receive
FDA approval.
2002: EPA approves the first transgenic rootworm-resistant corn.
2002: The banteng, an endangered species, is cloned for the first time.
2003: China grants the worlds first regulatory approval of a gene therapy product,
Gendicine (Shenzhen SiBiono GenTech), which delivers the p53 gene as a
therapy for squamous cell head and neck cancer.
2003: The Human Genome Project completes sequencing of the human genome.
2004: UN Food and Agriculture Organization endorses biotech crops,
stating biotechnology is a complementary tool to traditional farming methods
that can help poor farmers and consumers in developing nations.
2004: FDA approves the first antiangiogenic drug for cancer, Avastin.
2005: The Energy Policy Act is passed and signed into law, authorizing numerous
incentives for bioethanol development.
2006: FDA approves the recombinant vaccine Gardasil, the first vaccine developed
against human papillomavirus (HPV), an infection implicated in cervical
and throat cancers, and the first preventative cancer vaccine.
2006: USDA grantsDow AgroSciences the first regulatory approval for
a plant-made vaccine.
2007: FDA approves the H5N1 vaccine, the first vaccine approved for avian flu.
2009: Global biotech crop acreage reaches 330 million acres.
2009: FDA approves the first genetically engineered animal for production of a
recombinant form of human antithrombin.

 Gregor Mendel (Augustinian Monk)

breeding experiment using pea plant, Pisum sativum
gene unit of inheritance was born
led to the identification of DNA as the primary genetic material
Uncovering biochemical structure of beans
understand how DNA stores and regulates flow of genetic material
Development of techniques that allow the manipulation of DNA

DNA double helix

The realization that DNA formed a double helix

solved a large part of the question of how DNA
was involved in all life forms by revealing how
to make endless copies of a DNA molecule. But
it would still be years before the molecular
mechanism of inheritance was fully
understood.

HYBRIDIZATION
The process of interbreeding between individuals
of different species (interspecific hybridization) or
genetically divergent individuals from the same
species (intraspecific hybridization). Offspring
produced by hybridization may be fertile, partially
fertile, or sterile.

CONVENTIONAL BREEDING

BIOTECHNOLOGY

CONVENTIONAL BREEDING

Kiwifruit

Source: Fruit Breeding: Past, Present and Future Dept. of Horticulture, Purdue Univ.

Blueberry

Source: Fruit Breeding: Past, Present and Future Dept. of Horticulture, Purdue Univ.

Citrus
Mandarin

Source: Fruit Breeding: Past, Present and Future Dept. of Horticulture, Purdue Univ.

CROP IMPROVEMENT Development of Seedless Citrus

(Achievements at CIRAD/INRA Montpelier France)
Source: Fruit Breeding: Past, Present and Future Dept. of Horticulture, Purdue Univ.

Created by farmers by artificial selection on wild mustard plants

Source:http//berkely.edu/evosite

Interspecific Hybridization in Citrus

(Orange)

(Mandarin)

(Grapefruit)

Source: Fruit Breeding: Past, Present and Future Dept. of Horticulture, Purdue Univ.

Tangerine Orange

Tangor

Murcott

INTERSPECIFIC HYBRIDIZATION
Source: Fruit Breeding: Past, Present and Future Dept. of Horticulture, Purdue Univ.

Tangerine Grapefruit

Tangelo

Minneola

INTERSPECIFIC HYBRIDIZATION

Page

Source: Fruit Breeding: Past, Present and Future Dept. of Horticulture, Purdue Univ.

INTERSPECIFIC HYBRIDIZATION
Most types of bananas originate
from hybrids of the Musa
acuminata and Musa
balbisiana. When these two cross
breed, the result is a half breed
banana plant that is almost
completely sterile

INTRASPECIFIC HYBRIDIZAION

Apple mango
Apple mango, a famous mango variety of
Africa, which has a hard skin like apple, will be
available in local markets if the experiments at
a few agricultural universities of the state are
successful. It would have the sweetness,
flavour, fragrance of kesar or alphanso and
size, skin and colour of an apple mango of
Kenya.

Levels of Breeding
Primitive

Vegetative propagation of unique clones

Mass culture of superior clones
Selection of chance seedlings
Propagation of clonal variants

Conventional Recombination of elite clones

Breeding
Interspecific recombination
Backcross breeding
Mutation breeding
Biotechnology Embryo rescue
Paraplast fusion
Marker assisted selection
Transgenic breeding

Biotechnology and Crop Improvement

Plant Cell and Tissue Culture
Somatic embryogenesis
Micropropagation
protoplasts
Note: Using explants such as meristems, rhizomes, leaf bases, flowers, zygotic
embryos

Source: Biodiversity: Use and Conservation

GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISM (GMO) - PLANT

Source: Electrostatic Zapping of Seeds and Embryos

Limitations of Conventional
Breeding
Nontechnical
Must compete with seedlings found
world-wide
Market resistance to new cultivars
Patent costs and restrictions
Testing problems

Limitations of Transgene Technology

Nontechnical
Legal problems
Consumer resistance

standard-bred,
Traditional breeding
Breeding was accomplished primarily by carefully selecting healthy males
and females of any particular chicken or turkey breed and allowing them to
mate.

Crossbreeding (breeding genetically dissimilar birds)

genes that promote fast growth, laying larger numbers of eggs, or obesity

Recombinant Bovine Growth

Hormone
Recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) is a synthetic
(man-made) hormone that is marketed to dairy farmers to
increase milk production in cows.

Both the natural and recombinant forms of the hormone stimulate a

cow's milk production by increasing levels of another hormone
known as insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1).

What are the health concerns in humans?

First, does drinking milk from rBGH-treated cows increase blood levels of
growth hormone or IGF-1 in consumers?

Second, cows treated with rBGH tend to develop more udder infections
(mastitis). These cows are given more antibiotics than cows not given rBGH.
Does this increased use of antibiotics lead to more antibiotic-resistant
bacteria, and is this a health concern for people?

Scientific reviews
In the early 1990s, the FDA and other organizations looked at 3 questions
regarding IGF-1 exposure from rBGH-treated milk. These were:
How much higher is the IGF-1 concentration in cow's milk produced with rBGH,
compared to that in untreated milk?
How much of the additional IGF-1 in milk do consumers absorb in an intact,
active form?
How does the amount of absorbed IGF-1 compare with the amount of IGF-1
normally produced by the human body?

The available evidence so far:

Neither natural nor synthetic BGH has been found to affect human growth
hormone receptors.

GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISM (GMO) - ANIMAL

Source: Life Sciences Foundation

Biotechnology
(Intersection of Science and Capitalism)

SOURCE: Matt Bogard. "Sustainable Agriculture Bibliography"

2010 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/matt_bogard/6