Unit 3Biotechnology

Examine elements of biotechnology.

Introduction

• Biotechnology– Application of living processes to technology– Use of microorganisms, animal cells, plant cells, or

components of cells to produce products or carry out processes with living organisms

Historic Applications of Biotechnology

• Yeast to make bread to rise• Bacteria to ferment sauerkraut• Bacteria to produce dozens of types of

cheeses and other dairy products• Microorganisms to transform fruit and

grains to alcoholic beverages• Bacteria to convert green grasses and grains

to silage

Improving Plant and Animal Performance

• Improvement by selection– Best plants or animals chosen to produce next

generation– Selective breeding: selecting parents to get desirable

offspring

Improving Plant and Animal Performance (cont’d.)

• Improvement by genetics– Gregor Johann Mendel discovered the effects of

genetics on plants and illustrated dominance• Heredity• Genes• Generation (progeny)

– Mendel’s recorded work provided foundation for the study of heredity

Agri-Profile

• Career area: genetic engineering– Specialists using genetic engineering: biologists,

microbiologists, plant breeders, animal physiologists, etc.

– Work settings: field, laboratory, classroom, and commercial operations

– Numerous and expanding opportunities

DNA—Genetic Code of Life

• Acronym for deoxyribonucleic acid• Transmitter of hereditary information

Science Connection

• Trait predictability– Characteristic of an organism– Punnett square– Alleles– Homozygous– Heterozygous

DNA—Genetic Code of Life (cont’d.)

• Friedrich Meischer: nucleic acid• DNA in all living cells

– Similar in structure, function, and composition– Transmitter of hereditary information

DNA—Genetic Code of Life (cont’d.)

• Genes: small sections of DNA responsible for traits– Chromosomes: rod-like structures– Occur in pairs of linked strands (twisted ladder)– Bases: chemicals that connect strands—adenine (A),

guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T)– Order of bases between the strands: controls genetic

traits

DNA—Genetic Code of Life (cont’d.)

• Mapping– Identifying a gene’s location on a chromosome

• Gene splicing (recombinant DNA technology)– Removing DNA segments and inserting new genes in a

sequence

• Gene mapping– Finding and recording the locations of genes

DNA—Genetic Code of Life (cont’d.)

• Cloning– Making an exact duplicate

• Genetic engineering– Moving genetic information from one cell to another

Improving Plants and Animals

• Life forms improved by manipulating cells’ genetic content

• Examples– Plants: ice-minus– Animals: Bovine Somatotropin (BST) and Porcine

Somatotropin (PST)– Humans or animals: disease resistance

Solving Problems with Microbes

• Microbes– Reproduce quickly and lend themselves to genetic

engineering– Escherichia coli: genetically engineered to produce

insulin for human use

Hot Topics in Agriscience

• Transgenic animals—a new kind of farming– New gene: inserted into the chromosomes– Products produced for human use, e.g., insulin and

growth hormone– Other products: Human Protein C, hemoglobin, and

Factors VIII and XI– “Living drug factory”

Waste Management

• Waste-management solutions: genetically altered bacteria– Feed on oil slicks and spills– Decompose or deactivate dioxin, PCB, insecticides,

herbicides, and other chemicals in waterways– Convert human and livestock solid waste to methane

fuel for electricity or heat

Safety in Biotechnology

• Monitoring by state/federal governments– Fear of genetically modified organisms– Many regulations developed by the Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA)– Discussion and interaction by scientists, government

agencies, and other authorities– Controlled product testing

Bio-Tech Connection

• Cloning of a mule– Idaho Gem: first clone from the horse family; first

clone of a hybrid animal incapable of reproduction– What is the significance of this and other cloning

events?

Safety in Biotechnology (cont’d.)

• Historic customer resistance to biotech products, though diminishing

Ethics in Biotechnology

• Ethics– System of moral principles that defines what is right

and wrong in a society

• Genetic manipulation: raises ethical questions

Ethics in Biotechnology (cont’d.)

• Ethics discussions as part of the biotechnology revolution– Help scientists and consumers decide how to handle

biotechnology issues– Basis for new laws and courtroom decisions

Science Connection

• “Fingerprinting” organisms– USDA microbiologists at the National Animal Disease

Center in Ames, Iowa– Food poisoning cases solved via DNA matching

(“fingerprinting”) by linking:1. Persons who became ill2. Contaminated food that caused the poisoning3. Place where the food was contaminated4. Materials from which the food poisoning organisms

originated and spread