E C H N O L

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Bachelor of Science in Biology Major in

Molecular Biology and Biotechnology
 At its simplest, biotechnology is technology based on biology
- biotechnology harnesses cellular and biomolecular
processes to develop technologies and create different
products.

It is the use of biology to solve

problems and make useful
products. The most prominent area
of biotechnology is the production
of therapeutic proteins and other
drugs through genetic engineering.

The use of biotechnology Traditional Form

dates as far back as 1919. Roughly ead are
Brewing and baking br
50 years later, researchers used
that fall
examples of processes
bacterial genes to perform the
within the concept of
first successful recombinant-DNA ast (=
biotechnology (use of ye
experiment. uce
living organism) to prod
ch
the desired product). Su
Modern Form traditional processes us
ually
The more modern form
sms in
utilize the living organi
of
biotechnology generally
involves a further
more advanced modifi their natural form (or
cation of the ).
biological system or or developed by breeding
ganism. With
the development of gene
tic
engineering in the 1970
s, research in
biotechnology (and othe
r related
areas such as medicine,
biology etc.)
developed rapidly beca
use of the new
possibility to make chan
ges in the
organisms' genetic mat
erial (DNA).
History of Biotechnology
TIMELINE

BEFORE COMMON ERA

7000 BCE
Chinese discover fermentation through beer making.

6000 BCE
Yogurt and cheese made with lactic acid-producing
bacteria by various people.

4000 BCE
Egyptians bake leavened bread using yeast.

500 BCE
Moldy soybean curds used as an antibiotic.

250 BCE
The Greeks practice crop rotation for maximum soil
fertility.

100 CE
Chinese use chrysanthemum as a natural insecticide.
 PRE-20TH CENTURY
1663
First recorded description of living cells by Robert Hooke.
1677
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek discovers and describes bacteria and
protozoa.
1798
Edward Jenner uses first viral vaccine to inoculate a child from
smallpox.
1802
The first recorded use of the word biology.
1824
Henri Dutrochet discovers that tissues are composed of living cells.
1838
Protein discovered, named and recorded by Gerardus Johannes Mulder
and Jöns Jacob Berzelius.
1862
Louis Pasteur discovers the bacterial origin of fermentation.
1863
Gregor Mendel discovers the laws of inheritance.
1864
Antonin Prandtl invents first centrifuge to separate cream from milk.
1869
Friedrich Miescher identifies DNA in the sperm of a trout.
1871
Ernst Hoppe-Seyler discovers invertase, which is still used for making
artificial sweeteners.
1877
Robert Koch develops a technique for staining bacteria for identification.

1878
Walther Flemming discovers chromatin leading to the discovery of
chromosomes.

1881
Louis Pasteur develops vaccines against bacteria that cause cholera and
anthrax in chickens.
1885
Louis Pasteur and Emile Roux develop the first rabies vaccine and use it
on Joseph Meister.
 20TH CENTURY
1919
Károly Ereky, a Hungarian agricultural engineer, first uses the
word biotechnology

1928
Alexander Fleming notices that a certain mould could stop the
duplication of bacteria, leading to the first antibiotic: penicillin.

1933
Hybrid corn is commercialized.
1942
Penicillin is mass-produced in microbes for the first time.
1950
The first synthetic antibiotic is created.
1951
Artificial insemination of livestock is accomplished using frozen semen.

1953
James D. Watson and Francis Crick describe the structure of DNA.
1958
The term bionics is coined by Jack E. Steele.
1973
Stanley Norman Cohen and Herbert Boyer perform the first successful
recombinant DNA experiment, using bacterial genes.
1975
Method for producing monoclonal antibodies developed by Köhler and
César Milstein.
1980
The U.S. patent for gene cloning is awarded to Cohen and Boyer.
1983
The Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) technique is conceived.
1997
British scientists, led by Ian Wilmut from the Roslin Institute, report
cloning Dolly the sheep using DNA from two adult sheep cells.

1999
Discovery of the gene responsible for developing cystic fibrosis.

2000
Completion of a "rough draft" of the human genome in the Human
Genome Project.
 TYPES OF
BIOTECHNOLOGY
MEDICAL BIOTECHNOLOGY
The use of living cells and other cell
materials to better the health of humans.
Primarily, it is used for finding cures as
well as getting rid of and preventing
diseases. Here, the technique is used to
produce pharmaceutical drugs as well as
other chemicals to combat diseases.
Examples
Vaccines - chemicals that stimulate the
body’s immune system to better fight
pathogens when they attack the body.
Antibiotics - Strides have been made in
the development of antibiotics that
combat pathogens for humans.
INDUSTRIAL
BIOTECHNOLOGY
The application of biotechnology for
industrial purposes that also include
industrial fermentation. Applying the
techniques of modern molecular biology, it
improves efficiency and reduces the
multifaceted environmental impacts of
industrial processes including paper and
pulp, chemical manufacturing, and textile.
Examples
Biocatalysts - Such as enzymes have
been developed by companies to
synthesize chemicals.
Fermentation - The crop’s sugar can be
fermented to acid, which can then be
used as an intermediate to produce other
chemical feedstocks for various
products.
Microorganisms - Microorganisms find
their use in chemical production for the
design and manufacture of new
plastics/textiles and the development of
new sustainable energy sources such as
biofuels.
AGRICULTURAL
BIOTECHNOLOGY
Focuses on developing genetically
modified plants to increase crop yields or
introduce characteristics to those plants
that provide them with an advantage
growing in regions that place some kind of
stress factor on the plant, namely weather,
and pests.
Examples
Pest Resistant Crops - Biotechnology has
provided techniques for the creation of
crops that express anti-pest
characteristics naturally.
Plant and Animal Breeding - involves
choosing the animals with the most
desirable characteristics to breed with
each other so that the resulting
offspring would also express these traits.
ENVIRONMENTAL
BIOTECHNOLOGY
The technology used in waste treatment
and pollution prevention that can more
efficiently clean up many wastes compared
to conventional methods and significantly
reduce our dependence on methods for
land-based disposal.
Examples
Bioremediation - refers to the
application of biotechnical methods
which help in developing enzyme
bioreactors that will not only pretreat
some industrial and food waste
components but also allow their efficient
removal via sewage system without
using solid waste disposal mechanisms.
 Color Classification of
Branches of Biotechnology
Gold
Gold Biotechnology
Biotechnology or
or
Bioinformatics
Bioinformatics
Referred to as computational
biology and can be defined as
“conceptualizing biology” to
address biological problems
using computational
techniques.
Yellow Biotechnology
Yellow
Yellow Biotechnology
Biotechnology
Relates to the use of
biotechnology in food
production, for example, in
making wine, cheese, and
beer by fermentation.
Blue Biotechnology
Based on the use of marine
resources to create products
and applications in the
potentially huge range of
sectors to benefit from the use
of this kind of biotechnology.
Red Biotechnology
(Biopharma)
industrial biotech to design more
Relates to medicine and
veterinary products.
Grey Biotechnology
Refers to environmental
applications to maintain
biodiversity and the removal of
pollutants or contaminants using
microorganisms and plants to
isolate and dispose of many kinds
of substances such as heavy
metals and hydrocarbons.
Violet Biotechnology
biological weapons and biowarfare
Deals with the law, ethical and
philosophical issues around
biotechnology.
White Biotechnology
Draws inspiration from
energy-efficient, less polluting,
and low resource-consuming
processes and products that can
beat traditional ones.
Green Biotechnology
Emphasizes on agriculture that
involves creating new plant
varieties of agricultural interest,
biopesticides, and biofertilizers.
This area of biotech is exclusively
based on transgenics (genetic
modification)
Dark Biotechnology
Associated with bioterrorism or
using microorganisms, and toxins
to cause diseases and death in
humans, domestic animals, and
crops.
APPLICATIONS OF
BIOTECHNOLOGY
1. Nutrient Supplementation
One of the most important uses of biotechnology is the
infusion of nutrients into food in situations such as aid.

2. Abiotic Stress Resistance

There is a need to develop crops that can handle abiotic
stresses such as salinity, drought, and frost from cold.
3. Industrial Biotechnology
The application of biotechnology that ranges from the
production of cellular structures to the production of
biological elements for numerous uses.
4. Biofuels
One of the biggest applications of biotechnology is in the
energy production sector. These fuels are good for the
environment as they do not produce greenhouse gases.
5. Healthcare
Applied in the healthcare sector in the development of
pharmaceuticals that have proven problematic to
produce through other conventional means.
6. Food Processing
The method of fermentation using the microbial organisms and their
derivatives is applied by which raw materials that are non-palatable
and easily perishable are converted to edible and potable foods and
beverages, which have a longer shelf life.

7. Wound Dressings
It is also applied to the use of wound dressings
coated with Chitosan, which is a sugar that is
typically obtained from shrimp and crab shells.
8. Detergent Proteases
These are essential components of modern detergents that remove
protein impurities and are used for breaking down starch, protein, and
fatty acids present on items being washed. The production of protease
results in biomass that yields a useful byproduct, an organic fertilizer.
9. Hi-Tech Finishing Fabrics
Biotechnology is used in the textile industry for the finishing of
fabrics and garments. It produces biotech-derived cotton,
which is warmer, stronger, wrinkle & shrink-resistant and has
improved dye uptake and retention, enhanced absorbency.