Lecture 9

BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR
HUMAN WELFARE
A. STEM CELLS
 What are stem cells?
 They are the foundation cells for every organ,
tissue and cell in the body

 Like blank microchips that can ultimately be

programmed to perform any number of
specialized tasks

 Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that do not

yet have a specific function
 What are stem cells?
 Stem cells (SCs) are unspecialized cells that have
two defining properties: the ability to
differentiate into other cells and the ability to
self-regenerate
 Differentiate – potential to develop into other
cell types
 Self-regeneration – is the ability of SCs to divide
and produce more SCs
 All cells in the body stem from this type of cell
 Types of stem cells
 Based on potential/plasticity

 Depending on the source

 Types of stem cells
 Based on potential/plasticity*:
 Totipotent
 Pluripotent
 Multipotent

*Potential – the ability to develop into particular

types of cell

Totipotent > Pluripotent > Multipotent

 Types of stem cells

 Depending on the source:

 Embryonic stem cells (SCs)
 Early embryonic SCs
 Blastocyst embryonic SCs

 Fetal SCs
 Umbilical Cord SCs
 Adult SCs
 Sources of stem cells

1. Early embryo
 newly fertilized egg produces a group of stem
cells called an embryo
 these early stem cells are totipotent
 Sources of stem cells

2. Blastocyst embryo
 seven days after fertilization, embryo forms a
hollow ball-like structure called a blastocyst
 embryonic stem cells in the blastocyst are
pluripotent
 Sources of stem cells

3. Fetus
 the embryo is referred to as a fetus after 8 weeks
of development
 like embryonic stem cells, fetal stem cells are
pluripotent
 Sources of stem cells

4. Umbilical cord
 blood from the umbilical cord contains stem
cells genetically identical to the newborn child
 umbilical cord stem cells are multipotent
 Sources of stem cells

5. Adults
 infants and children also have them
 like umbilical cord stem cells, adult stem cells
are multipotent
Sources of stem cells
 Research and clinical applications
of stem cells
 Replace diseased specialized cells with healthy
cells, called cell therapy (e.g., Parkinson's disease)
 Cell therapy – similar to organ transplantation,
except that the process consists of transplanting
cells instead of organs
 Study of biological processes
 development of the organism
 progress of cancer
 Drug discovery and development
Research and clinical applications of stem
cells
 Stem Cell Therapy
 Bone marrow (contains hematopoietic stem cells)
transplants
 Any disease in which there is tissue degeneration
can be a potential candidate for stem cell therapies
 Parkinson's disease
 Alzheimer's disease
 Spinal cord injury
 Stroke
 Burns
 Heart disease
 Type I diabetes
 References
 http://gslc.genetics.utah.edu/units/stemcells/
What is a Stem Cell? What are some different types of Stem
Cells?
 http://www.lifesciences.umich.edu/research/featured/tutorial.
html
Animation from the University of Michigan. Very thorough.
 Yu J and JA Thomson. 2006. Embryonic stem cells.
 http://www.isscr.org/public/faq_printversion.html
 http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/stemcell/overview.php
 B. Tissue
Engineering
Definition

Tissue Engineering is
the development and
manipulation of
laboratory-grown
molecules, cells, tissues
and organs to replace or
support the function of
defective or injured body
parts.
 In practice the term has
come to represent
applications that repair or
replace structural tissues
(i.e., bone, cartilage, blood
vessels, bladder, etc.),
tissues that function by
virtue of their mechanical
properties.

http://cjmems.seas.ucla.edu
 Final Direction

The ultimate goal is to develop powerful

new therapies – “biological substitutes” –
for structural and functional disorders of
human health that have proven difficult
or impossible to address successfully with
the existing tools of medicine.
 Uses
 Providing cellular replacement parts
Ex. The living skin equivalent that consisted of a dermal component with a fully
developed epidermis

 Providing formed acellular replacement parts capable

of inducing regeneration
Ex. Demineralized bones can induce regeneration of cartilage and bone tissues

 Providing tissue or organ-like model systems

populated with cells for basic research and for many
applied uses such as toxicity testing with normal cells
and the study of disease states using abberant cells.

 Providing vehicles for delivering engineered cells to

the organism
Apligraf :
® Bioengineered skin
 Bi-layered skin
substitute from human
neonatal foreskin tissue
 A two-layer wound
dressing that contains
live human skin cells
combined with bovine
collagen
 1998 – approved for
treatment of leg ulcers
Areas of studies that have contributed to
tissue engineering
 Cell and developmental biology
 Basic medical and veterinary sciences

 Transplantation science

 Biomaterials

 Biophysics and biomechanics

 Biomedical engineering
 References

National Science Foundation (U.S.A.) (2004). The

Emergence of Tissue Engineering as a Research
Field. URL accessed on July 2007
Bell, E. 1993. Tissue Engineering: Current Perspectives.
http://www.mediawiki.org/
http://www.jhu.edu/
C. Xenotransplantation
 What is xenotransplantation?

Xenotransplantation refers to the practice of

transplanting, implanting, or infusing
living cells, tissues, or organs from one
species to another, especially from animals
to humans, and is being studied as a
substitute for human organ donors.
 Why xenotransplantation?
 Provides an alternative for human organ and tissue
transplants.
 Xenotransplantation, if successful, can give some
people a new leash in life
 Although many human-to-human transplants are
successful, there is always a severe shortage of
good organs and tissues.

 Possibility of implanting organs resistant to the

immunological or infectious factors responsible for
the primary disease.
Animal donors
 Pigs
 Sheep
 Cattle
 Nonhuman
primates
 Chimpanzee
 Gibbon ape

 Baboon
 Pigs in xenotransplantation
Pigs are the animal of choice in xenotransplantation
research
 inexpensive to raise
Pig heart
 easy to breed

 have organs similar in

size to human organs

 can be genetically

engineered and cloned

 less threats to human

health compared to
baboons or monkeys
 pigs are closest to Human heart
humans after apes and
monkeys
 A very brief history
1682: The skull of an injured Russian
aristocrat was repaired with a bone
from a dog. Operation was a
success but angered the church.
1963-4: 12 patients received
chimpanzee kidney transplants in
New Orleans, US. Most failed
within two months but one
survived for nine months with no
sign of rejection.
1984: The Baby Fae case – A
newborn baby received a baboon
heart in Californina. Cyclosporine
(immunosuppressant) was used
and she lived for 20 days
1992: A four-drug cocktail assisted a
baboon liver transplant. The Baby Fae with hypoplastic left
patient died of a brain hemorrhage heart syndrome. Recipient of an
ABO-blood group mismatched
after 71 days. The type of rejection baboon heart
typical in cross-species
transplantation was not seen.
 Issues/Concerns

Medical concerns surrounding

xenotransplantation
 Immunological barriers

 Immune rejection
 Microbiological barriers
 Xenozoonoses
 Issues/Concerns
1. Immune rejection
 The transplanted organ is viewed as a foreign object
by the host's immune system, triggering a cascade of
immune reactions against the donor organ.
 Recipient’s blood harbors antibody molecules that
bind to donated tissues
 Attachment of these antibodies activates special
“complement” proteins in the blood, which triggers
the destruction of the graft.
 Capillaries are destroyed leading to massive
hemorrhage.
 Issues/Concerns
Immune rejection
 Issues/Concerns
PPL Therapeutics
Ltd.
 produced cloned pigs

(March 2000)
 introduced a foreign

gene into cloned pigs,

and in December 2001,
knockout pigs were
produced.
 produced genetically

engineered disease-
free pigs that have
modified cell surface
molecules to reduce
problems of rejection.
 Fostering tolerance / avoiding rejection
 administration of
immunosuppressive
drugs (e.g.,
cyclosporine), but risks
of toxicity, infections
and other
complications still
remain
 Modification of the
immune system with
bone marrow cells
from donor animal
 genetic modification of
pigs
 Issues/Concerns
2. Microbiological barriers
 25 known diseases can be
contracted from pigs to
humans
 Xenozoonoses
 Infection of humans with
an animal pathogen
transmitted by
transplantation of animal
tissues or cells.
 Pigs have PERVs, porcine
endogenous retroviruses
 PERVS are similar to

HIV
 shown to infect some

human cells in culture

 What does xenotransplantation has to
offer?
Xenotransplantation offers the chance of
treating diseases, such as diabetes and
Parkinson's disease, which are not considered
treatable through transplantation
 Diabetes  Chronic intractable

 Multiple sclerosis pain syndromes

 Effects of strokes  Insulin-dependent

 Heart failure diabetes mellitus

 Parkinson’s
 Liver failure
 Huntington’s
 Epilepsy
 Hemophilia
 References

Lewis R. Pigs and humans. Frontiers in Biology

Patton C. Xenotransplantation. Retrieved online
August 2, 2007.
Salomon D. 2000. Infection risk associated with
xenotransplantation. The International Herpes
Management Forum.
Shankarkumar U. 2003. Xenotransplantation
ethics and immunological hurdles. Indian
Journal of Sciences, 57(7), 311-318.
D.
Organization of the Human Body

cells

tissues

organs

systems
Organization of the Human Body

cells

tissues

organs

systems
Cell types

Nerve cells

Blood cells
Cells of blood vessels

Cartilage and bone cells Muscle cells

DNA: The Molecule of Life

DNA - deoxyribonucleic
acid
gene – a specific sequence in the DNA that is
transcribed
Genetic diseases:
Type 1: Single locus (gene) is defective and
responsible for
the disease, 100% heritable.
examples: Sickle cell anemia
Hypercholesterolemia
Cystic fibrosis
Type 2: Polygenic traits, <100% heritable, may be
dependent on environmental factors and lifestyle.
examples: Heart disease
Cancer
Diabetes
Alcoholism
Schizophrenia
Criminal behavior
Definition of Gene Therapy

- transfer of genetic material (DNA) for the

purpose of treating human diseases

"normal" gene is inserted into the

genome to replace an "abnormal,"
disease-causing gene
Types of Gene Therapy
• somatic – most of the body cells
a. Ex vivo – cells are modified outside the body and
are transplanted back inside the body
Ex vivo gene therapy in humans

vivo

b. In vivo – genes are changed in cells inside the

body
• germline – sperm and egg cells
 Gene Transfer
Exogenous DNA
+ vector (viral)

Protein expression
Cytosol

Endosome
Transcription
Lysosome (nucleases)

Barriers that prevent transfer of exogenous DNA

Vectors in gene therapy

Viruses - a sub-microscopic particle (ranging in size from 20–

300 nm) that infect the cells of a biological organism
for them to reproduce

 retroviruses
 adenoviruses
Vectors in gene therapy
Viral vector
Non-viral DNA carriers:
Cationic liposomes:
- positively charged lipids interact with negatively
charged DNA
(lipid-DNA complex)
- traverse cell membranes
Advantages:
a. Stable complex
b. Can carry large-sized DNA
c. Can target to specific cells
d. Do not induce immunological reactions
Disadvantages:
a. Low transfection efficiency
b. Transient expression
c. Inhibited by serum
d. Some cell toxicity
E. Biopharmaceuticals
A Look at Recombinant Drugs
 What are biopharmaceuticals?
 Biopharmaceuticals are medical drugs produced
using biotechnology. They are proteins or
nucleic acids used for therapeutic or in vivo
diagnostic purposes.
 Produced by means other than direct extraction
from a native (non-engineered) biological source.
 Protein pharmaceuticals
 The first “protein vaccine” was cow pox (Jenner,
1796). The first protein pharmaceutical was
insulin (Banting and Best, 1922).

http://www.aapa.org/clinissues/images/v http://www.tqnyc.org/NYC051907/
accinia_vaccine.jpg Insulin.jpg
 Protein pharmaceuticals
Protein drug Animal Source
Insulin Pig or cattle
pancreas
Albumin Human blood
HGH (human growth Human brain
hormone)
Factor VIII Human blood
Calcitonin Salmon
Anti-venom Horse or goat
blood
 Protein pharmaceuticals
 Protein
pharmaceuticals from
blood
 The body contains 6
L of blood
 Blood is considered a
pharmaceutical
cornucopia

http://bloodbanker.com/images/Give-blood-
promotional-sign.jpg
 Protein pharmaceuticals
 Protein pharmaceuticals from blood
 The body contains 6 L of blood
 Blood is considered a pharmaceutical cornucopia
 Examples include:
 Factor VIII (for blood clotting-for hemophilia)
 Factor IX (for blood clotting-for hemophilia)

 Albumin (osmotic balance-for kidney disease)

 Ig IV (for treating infections)

 Anti-thrombin III (for blood clotting)

 Alpha I-PI (for emphysema)

 Protein pharmaceuticals

 Monoclonal antibodies (MAb)

 Very specific for certain antigens or cell types and
can be used to target foreign toxins, viruses or
cancer cells.
 They are used for drug delivery to specific targets
and have a half-life often greater than one week
when “humanized”.
 Protein pharmaceuticals

 Peptide drugs
 Many hormones are actually small
peptides (2-40 amino acids) and as
such, peptides can be synthesized and
can be used as pharmaceuticals.
 Protein pharmaceuticals
 Peptide drugs
 Examples:
 Calcitonin, a thyroid hormone used to enhance
bone mass
 Oxytocin, a pituitary hormone used to stimulate

labor
 Vasopressin, also a pituitary hormone used as an

antidiuretic or for vasoconstriction

 Protein biopharmaceuticals
 These pharmaceuticals are generated by
recombinant methods. Recombinant human
insulin is the first commercial recombinant
product and was manufactured by Genentech.
The two general approaches for generating
biopharmaceuticals are:
 Expression in isolated cells
 Expression in transgenic plants/animal.
 Protein
biopharmaceuticals
 Protein biopharmaceuticals
 Recombinant proteins can be made in:
 Bacteria
 Yeast
 Insect cells
 Animal cells culture
 Plants and animals
 DNA biopharmaceuticals
 Vaccines help the body fight infectious
diseases. Traditional vaccines may be
 Attenuated form of the pathogen, that is,
live pathogen is weakened through chemical
or physical process (e.g. vaccines against
measles, mumps polio)
 Whole pathogen that is completely killed or
destroyed chemically (e.g. vaccines against
flu, cholera, etc).
 DNA biopharmaceuticals
 Recombinant DNA vaccines
 DNA coding for an antigen is incorporated
into a plasmid and the resulting
recombinant plasmid is administered into
the patient. The DNA vaccine will produce
the antigen of interest in the patient and will
elicit the appropriate immune response.
 DNA biopharmaceuticals
 Recombinant DNA vaccines
 Advantages include:
 Plasmids are easily manufactured in large
amounts.
 DNA is stable and it resists temperature

extremes so storage and transport are

straightforward.
 The plasmid does not replicate and encodes

only the proteins of interest.

 DNA biopharmaceuticals
 Recombinant DNA vaccines
 Advantages include:
 DNA sequence can be changed easily in the
laboratory. This means that we can respond
to changes in the infectious agent.
 Mixtures of plasmids could be used that

encode many protein fragments from

virus/viruses so that a broad-spectrum
vaccine could be produced.
DNA vaccines
 DNA biopharmaceuticals
 DNA vaccines
 Edible DNA vaccines may be prepared by
incorporation of the DNA encoding for a
viral subunit into plant products to serve as
a vaccine against the virus. Edible vaccine
research is currently directed at human
diseases, with a special emphasis in the
developing world. The technology also has
immediate value for the production of
inexpensive vaccines as feed additives for
agricultural animals.
Edible vaccines
 References
 Images:
 http://www.healthcentral.com/common/images/n/NOV0

3110_102260_5.JPG
 http://www.appdrugs.com/ProdJPGs/OxytocinLg.jpg

 http://carnegieinstitution.org/first_light_case/horn/lesso

ns/images/bacteria.jpg
 http://www.utoronto.ca/greenblattlab/images/a/yeast%20

1.jpg
 http://www.bscb.org/softcell/images/mp_tripple.gif

 http://www.molecularfarming.com/ediblevaccine.html
F. Bioremediation
biodiversity conservation

environmental monitoring

bioremediation
 Bioremediation

Three approaches to reducing

environmental risks:
cleanup
isolation
prevention
 Bioremediation

- natural or managed biological degradation

of environmental pollution
- biological removal of contaminants from
contaminated sites
- process of using biological agents to
remove toxic wastes from environment
 Bioremediation

Cleanup
involves “altering the availability
of nutrients, organisms, O2 and other
components in order to…
accelerate the natural process of
biodegradation”
 Bioremediation

Biosorption
Microbial Degradation
Phytoremediation
 Biosorption

- adsorption of metals by biological

materials
- uptake can be passive or active
 Microbial Degradation

- degradation of xenobiotic
compounds and petro chemicals by
bacteria or fungi
- microbes utilize these compounds as
source of energy and carbon
compounds for cell synthesis
Degradation of polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs)
 Some bacteria that can degrade PCBs

- Flavobacterium
- Pseudomonas
- Arthrobacter
- Rhodococcus
- Clavibacter
 Phytoremediation

- use of plants to remove

contaminants and metals from soil
- certain plants are able to take up
metals and accumulate them in their
leaves and stems
 DETOXIFICATION

SEQUESTRATION

Hyper-accumulating plants to remove metals from the soil

 Phytoremediation

phytoextraction
hyperaccumulation
phytovolatilization
phytostabilization
 Hyperaccumulators

(50-100 times more than normal

plants)
Cardaminopsis
accumulates cadmium
Allysum
accumulates nickel
G. BIOTERRORISM
 AND WHAT ABOUT
BIOTERRORISM & BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS?
Bioterrorism
 a type of warfare that makes use of biological agents
(biological weapons) to inflict harm to the enemy

Biological weapon
 infectious agents such as bacteria, virus, protozoa, or
fungi that are intentionally used to inflict harm to others
 use of toxins or chemicals produced by microorganisms,
plants, or animals
 invisible, microscopic, yet deadly
 BIOTERRORISM: PAST, PRESENT,
AND FUTURE
 4TH B.C. - Throw earthen pots with
serpents to enemies
 6TH century B.C. –Poisons from plants to
contaminate wells of enemies

 1346 – Hurl plague-ridden dead over the

walls of the city

 15th century –To conquer South America,

natives given gifts and clothing laden with
virus
 BIOTERRORISM: PAST, PRESENT,
AND FUTURE
 1763 – Presented native Americans with
blankets and handkerchiefs contaminated
with smallpox

 1860-1865 Infecting ponds with carcasses

of dead animals

1914-1917 – Alleged cholera spread in Italy

by Germans

BIOTERRORISM: PAST, PRESENT,
AND FUTURE
 1925- Geneva protocol to ban biological
weapons, Japan refuses to accept the ban

1932- Japanese troops invade Manchuria and

a physician and army officer began
experiments on biological warfare

 Field testing of biowarfare on Chinese

soldiers and civilians, cholera, anthrax
etc.
1940 – 1941 - Releases plague bacteria in
Chuhsien and Ninpo, Chinhua
BIOTERRORISM: PAST, PRESENT,
AND FUTURE
 1941 – British experimenting with anthrax
off Scottish coast

 1941-1943 – US studies on the defense from

biological warfare with camps in Maryland,
Mississippi, and later in Utah

 1946– the US announced its involvement in

biological weapon research
BIOTERRORISM: PAST, PRESENT,
AND FUTURE
 1960s - Vietcongs used fecally contaminated
spear traps during the Vietnam war
 1964 – A virus and rickettsiae production
plant was constructed

 1969 –1970 - US President Nixon

renounced biological warfare and
limited the research to defense
measures only

 1970 – Present - anti BW advocates

BIOTERRORISM: PAST, PRESENT,
AND FUTURE

1995 – Iraqui authorities ALLEGED TO HAVE

100 botulinum toxin
50 anthrax,
16 aflatoxin bombs
13 botulinum toxin
10 anthrax, and
122-mm rockets filled with anthrax,
botulinum, and aflatoxin
 BIOTERRORISM: PAST, PRESENT,
AND FUTURE
- There are 17 countries suspected of manufacturing
biological weapons

Iran Iraq Libya Syria

North Korea Taiwan Israel Egypt
Vietnam Laos Cuba Bulgaria
India China Russia
South Africa South Korea
BIOTERRORISM: PAST, PRESENT,
ND FUTURE

- attemptsof Aum Shinrikyo cult to disperse

anthrax, botulinum toxin, etc in Japan but no reported
infections occur

- a lab tech from Ohio (later found to be a member of the

White Supremacist Organization) ordered plague
bacterium Yersinia pestis from ATCC (American Type
Culture Collection)
BIOTERRORISM: PAST, PRESENT,
AND FUTURE
 1999 - In Nayok China, a widow of a man who died of AIDS
tried to infect people with HIV, syringe scare of HIV
contaminated needles, use for hold ups

September 11, 2001

WORLD TRADE
CENTER
TWIN TOWER
ATTACK
Terrorist Attacks on the WTC Twin Towers
 ANTHRAX -TAINTED LETTERS

 Sept 18, 2001 – letters containing powder that causes

cutaneous anthrax
 ANTHRAX TAINTED LETTERS

 October 2001 – cases of inhalation anthrax with casualties

7 cutaneous , 8 inhalation (3 died)

 October 29, 2001- Anthrax toll from

mail
 November 2 2001 – CDC reports 21 anthrax cases
(16 confirmed, 5 suspected)
BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS THAT
TERRORISTS COULD POTENTIALLY USE
 Anthrax
 Cryptococcosis
 Escherichia coli
 Haemophilus influenzae
 Brucellosis (UNDULANT FEVER)
 Coccidiodomycosis (SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY / DESERT FEVER)
 Psittacosis (PARROT FEVER)
 Yersinia pestis (The Black Death of the 14th centrury)
 Tularemia (rabbit fever)
 Malaria
 Cholera
 Typhoid
 Bubonic plague
 Cobra venom
BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS THAT
TERRORISTS COULD POTENTIALLY USE
 Shellfish toxin
 Botuilinal toxin
 Saxitoxin
 Ricin
 Smallpox
 Shigella flexneri
 S. dysenteriae
 Salmonella
 Staphylococcus enterotoxin B
 Hemorrhagic fever
 Venezuelan equine encephalitis
 Histoplasma capsulatum
 pneumonic plague
 Rocky Mountain Spotted fever
BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS THAT
TERRORISTS COULD POTENTIALLY USE
 Dengue fever
 Rift Valley fever
 Diptheria
 Meliodosis
 Glanders
 Tubercolosis
 Infectious hepatitis
 Encephalitides
 Blastomycosis
 Nocardiosis
 Yellow fever
 Typhus, tricothecene mycotoxin
 Aflatoxin
 Q fever
WHY USE BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS ?

 INVISIBLE OR MICROSCOPIC
 SIMPLE LAB TECHNIQUES REQUIRED
 MAY NOT REQUIRE SOPHISTICATED APPARATUS
 EASY TO MULTIPLY AND MAINTAIN
 DIFFICULT TO TRACE
 VERY DEADLY
DISADVANTAGES OF BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS
(FOR TERRORISTS)
 HIGH RISK OF WORKER BEING CONTAMINATED
 LIVING ORGANISM MAY BE DESTROYED WHEN
INCORPORATED INTO BOMBS AND MISSLES (BY HEAT)
 PROBLEM OF DISPERSAL AND ATTACK, difficult to deploy
 REQUIRES CONFIRMATION THAT STRAINS ARE
PATHOGENIC OR DISEASE CAUSING
 PROBLEMS OF ACQUISITION FOR HIGHLY
RESTRICTED MICROBES
 AND WHAT ABOUT ANTHRAX ?
 Usually affects livestock
 CAUSED BY A BACTERIUM , Bacillus anthracis

 Bacterium produces spores

that produces a toxin which can be
fatal to man and animals
 AND WHAT ABOUT ANTHRAX ?

 Spores are invisible, odorless, and tasteless,

takes less than a speck of dust to make a
person ill
Spores are resistant to heat, cold, radiation,
desiccation, and disinfectants, needs oxygen to
sporulate

Produces a polypeptide capsule (polyglutamic

acid), which protects the bacterium from host
defenses and phagocytosis
Anthrax as a Dangerous Bioweapon
Advantage of Use

 estimated to cause 95,000 deaths and

125,000 casualties
Source: Newsweek (22 October 2001)

 tough spores survive delivery via bombs

 easy to obtain

Source: Newsweek (22 October 2001)

 AND WHAT ABOUT ANTHRAX ?
 CUTANEOUS ANTHRAX –
enters a cut in the skin, results to
skinsores with characteristic
black center
 INTESTINAL ANTHRAX – bacterium is ingested
from meat of infected animal causes inflammation of
the intestines, vomiting of blood and severe diarrhea

 INHALATION ANTHRAX - infects the lungs, cold

or flu-like initially , with fatigue, low grade fever and
dry cough - later develop high fever and pneumonia
 AND WHAT ABOUT ANTHRAX ?

 All 3 forms are treatable with antibiotics

 Not transmitted from an infected person to another

 Can be prevented with a vaccine (in limited supply at

present) both for man and animals

 Can be produced in the lab

 Spores + liquid or spores + powder

AND WHAT ABOUT THE SMALL POX VIRUS?

 Highly contagious viral disease

caused by virus variola
 An ancient killer

 Has been eradicated through worldwide

vaccination
 Known stocks of virus exist in two world health
organization labs, but may be in the hands of
terrorists?
AND WHAT ABOUT THE SMALL POX VIRUS?
 SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS
High fever, tiny pus-filled blisters on the face, arms and legs

 No proven
treatment
 CAN KILL WITHIN WEEKS, FATAL IN ABOUT 30 %
OF CASES
 Vaccine is available which can lessen severity of
disease
 AND HOW ABOUT THE PLAGUE ?

 Also known as the black death in the middle ages or

pestilence spread across Asia and Europe and killed a third of
the world’s inhabitants at that time, about 20-30 million
people

 CAUSED BY Yersinia pestis,

a bacterium found in rats, squirrels
and wild dogs
 AND HOW ABOUT THE PLAGUE ?

 Most common is the bubonic plague, kills within 4-6 days

 Second form is pneumonic plague where infection moves to

the lungs

 Third form is septicemic plague, most deadly

 Now antibiotics (not available before) can be used to

prevent it
 AND WHAT ABOUT BOTULISM ?
 Muscle - paralyzing disease

 Caused by toxin made by the bacterium Clostridium

botulinum

 Can kill within 24 hours

 AND WHAT ABOUT BOTULISM ?

 Can be obtained from improperly canned foods or fish

 Abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, double

vision, difficulty to swallow

 CDC keeps an antidote to botulinum toxin in

storage
 Penicillin treatment

 An experimental vaccine exist but since the disease is

too rare, immunization is not done
 AND WHAT ABOUT TULAREMIA ?

 Caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis

 AND WHAT ABOUT TULAREMIA ?
 Acquired by coming in contact with blood or body
fluids from infected animals rabbits and squirrels
mostly, and from the bite of a fly or tick that carries
blood of an infected animal or from contaminated
food. Could also be inhaled.

 Cause fever, headache, chills, weakness, and ulcerated

sore when bitten by the tick , enlarged and tender nodes

 Can be obtained in contaminated water resulting to mouth

and throat sores, vomiting and diarrhea, can affect lungs
leading to pneumonia
 WHAT IS RICIN ?

 Ricin is a poison derived from castor bean plants, the same

beans used to make castor oil. Castor bean plants are grown
worldwide.

 Can be ingested from poisoned food or contaminated water

supply and can cause intestinal bleeding and organ damage

 Can be turned into an aerosol and can contaminate by inhalation

causing severe respiratory problems, damaged lungs
 No anti-ricin vaccine or antidote exists, therefore possess a
serious threat as a biological weapon
 HOW PREPARED ARE WE ?

NEED TO ADDRESS THE FOLLOWING:

 To be aware that an act of bioterrorism can happen. It

should not be a cause for panic, we should not be afraid but we
should be aware. Educating the people in all forms of
advertisements, scientific, formal and popular.

 Once we are aware, we should then be prepared to prevent

or combat ill effects of bioterrorism.
 HOW PREPARED ARE WE ?
 Vaccination (not yet necessary, limited quantity)
 Antibiotics
 Gas masks (Could these do any good?)
 Clean up or neutralize agents
 Research on high tech sensors for detection
 Be observant of suspicious activities
 Report to proper authorities
 Leave contaminated area
 BUDGET?????
 BIOTECHNOLOGY VS BIOTERROR

The Biotechnology Industry

Organization recently formed a
biodefense task force with the goal of
developing biodefense vaccines and
therapeutics.
Thank You….