Department of Microbiology

and Biotechnology

Introduction to Biotechnology

Dr. Mohamed El-Azizi

Lecture 1
Books:
1. Molecular Biotechnology: Principles and Applications of Recombinant
DNA, 3rd edition by Glick and Pasternak

2. Understanding Biotechnology, by George Acquaah

Online Material:
1. Lecture in PDF will be available in the intranet after the lecture @
Faculties/Pharmacy/Microbiology & Biotechnology/ Biotechnology/
Introduction to biotechnology (4th Semester)/lectures

2. A hard copy of the lecture will also be available in the copy center

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Instructor Office Hours: Thursday 1st to 4th slots

Room # B5.119

Lecture Schedule: 2h/biweekly

Sunday 2nd slot , H5
Wednesday 1st slot, H5

Course Type: Lectures

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 Course Contents

Topic 1: Introduction to biotechnology

- Definitions, benefits of biotechnology

Topic 2: Recombinant DNA technology

- Traditional breading Vs rDNA technology
- Tools in rDNA technology: Restriction endonucleases, vectors,
bacterial transformation, markers

Topic 3: rDNA technology applications/ Insulin production

- Cloning and expression of insulin gene in bacteria

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 Course Contents

Topic 4: rDNA technology /Environmental applications

- Bioremediation, and waste treatment.

Topic 5: rDNA technology /health and medical applications

- Gene therapy, Prodrugs, nucleic acid therapeutics,
nanotechnology…etc.

Topic 6: rDNA technology/Agricultural applications

- Microbial insecticides, Insect-resistant plants, Herbicide-resistant
plants, golden rice…etc.

Topic 7: Ethics in biotechnology- Biotechnology and bioterrorism

-Ethics and social issues in biotechnology, the impact of
biotechnology in bioterrorism and the concept of bioterrorism
preparedness 5
 Course Assessment

Examination dates:
exact dates will be announced later:

Midterm exams: 26/04-2/05-2009

Final exams: 13-25/06-2009

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 Course Weight

Midterm Exam 45%

Final Exam 55%

Teamwork project (3-5 students)

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 Course implementation plan

8/3 & 11/3-2009 Lecture 1 Introduction

15/3 & 18/3-2009 Lecture 2 Tools of rDNA technology
29/3 & 1/4-2009 Lecture 3 Insulin production by rDNA
technology
12/4 & 15/4-2009 Lecture 4 Agricultural applications of rDNA
Compensation for technology
Sunday lecture
26/4-2/5 /2009 Midterm Exam (Lectures 1-4)
3/5 & 6/5-2009 Lecture 5 Environmental applications of
rDNA technology
17/5 & 20/5-2009 Lecture 6 Applications of rDNA technology
in medicine
31/5 & 3/6-2009 Lecture 7 Biotechnology and bioterrorism
13-25/6/2009 Semester Final Exams (all
lectures) 8
Present Time The Future

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 What is Biotechnology?

Microorganism/
Biological system

Raw materials
(Substrates) Products

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 What is Biotechnology?

“The use of microorganisms, such as bacteria or yeasts, or

biological substances, such as enzymes, to perform specific
industrial or manufacturing processes.”

Source: THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY and others

English dictionaries”

e.g. Production of drugs, synthetic hormones, and bulk

foodstuffs

e.g. Bioconversion of organic waste and the use of bacteria in

the cleanup of oil spills

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 What is Biotechnology?
During the first World War,
Biotechnology was used to refer to “industrial fermentation
processes used to produce industrial feedstock”
e.g., acetone that was used as solvent in manufacturing of
explosives and cordites.

Microbial fermentation

Corn Sugars Acetone

Explosive

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 What is Biotechnology?

In 1917 Karl Ereky, Hungarian Engineer, used the

term to refer to “all the lines of work by which
products are produced from raw materials with
aid of living things”

- He used integrated process for large scale pig

production by feeding them with sugar beets.

Pigs

Sugar beets Meat

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 What is Biotechnology?

In 1941, a Danish microbiologist used the term to refer to “a

technique for precise selection of yeast strains.”

1. Yeast strains a, b, , c, d, ….etc

Screening

Best strain with high yield and better quality product

Selected strain-fermentation
2. Sugars Wine and food products 14
 What is Biotechnology

In the 60s, the term biotechnology was used to describe “the

industrial production of goods and services by processes
using organisms or biological processes.”

Based on genetic engineering

“ biotechnology is the manipulation of living organisms
or their components to produce useful usually
commercial products

e.g. Insect-resistant plants

e.g. Production of human insulin by bacteria
e.g. Production of edible vaccines such as banana vaccines
e.g. Production of human growth hormones in cow’s milk.
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 White
Biotech

Blue
Red BIOTECHNOLOGY Biotech
Biotech

Green
Biotech

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 White Biotechnology

It is a branch of industrial biotechnology which is devoted to

use living cells (bacteria, fungi) and enzymes to synthesize
products that are easily degradable i.e. friendly to
environment)

e.g. Production of bioplastics (degradable) from microbial

polymers (p-hydroxybutyric acids, PHBs) Vs plastic produced
from petrochemicals (non-degradable).

Ralstonia eutropha
Glucose PHBs (bioplastics)

e.g. Production of biofuel such as bioethanol from starch and lignocelluloses

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 White Biotechnology
Biodegradable materials
Describes any material that can be broken down by biological action
e.g. by microorganisms (bacteria, fungus, etc.).

Bioremediation
The use of organisms (e.g., plants, bacteria, fungi, etc.) to consume
or otherwise help remove materials (e.g., toxic chemical wastes,
metals, etc.) from a contaminated site.
Xenobiotics
Synthetic materials which do not exist naturally in the environment.
e.g. DDT, synthetic plastic

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An example of xenobiotic compound is…….
A. Carbohydrate
B. Proteins
C. Enzymes
D. Lipids
E. DDT

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In digging somewhere in Cairo for water pipes replacement, the
workers found a 60 years old intact piece of plastic. So
plastic is considered as………….

A. Biodegradable material
B. Non biodegradable material
C. Water soluble material
D. Natural product

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 Key Stages in Industrial Biotechnology

An industrial biotechnology process has three

key stages:

Upstream processing:
preparation of a raw material so that it can be
used as a food source for the target
microorganism.

Biotransformation process:
growth (fermentation) of the target
microorganism in a large bioreactor with the
production of a desired compound

Downstream processing:
purification of the desired compound from either
the cell medium or the cell mass. 21
 Blue Biotechnology
Blue biotechnology involves the use and manipulation of marine
and aquatic products.

e.g. Use of marine plants and products to produce drugs

e.g. Use of genes from marine plants to engineer plants so

become resistant to environmental conditions (wheat plants
which resist high salinity).

Salinity-resistant genes
(from marines plants)
Wheat plants Genetically engineered plant
(can’t grow on salty water) (grow on salty water) 22
 Green Biotechnology

It involves the use of environment-friendly solutions as an

alternative to traditional agricultural techniques and animal
breeding processes.

e.g. Engineered insect-resistant plants such as BT cottons

e.g. Golden rice
e.g. Engineered herbicide-resistant plants
e.g. Engineered frost-resistant plants

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 Red Biotechnology

Red biotechnology involves the use of living organisms for

improvement of medical processes.

e.g. Production of human insulin in bacteria

e.g. Production of interferon and other human products in

bacteria

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 Benefits of biotechnology in agriculture
1. Biotechnology provides a more efficient means
of crop and animal improvement.

2. Biotechnology is used to improve the yield of

crop and animal products, their quality, the
flavor of foods, and also the shelf life of Better food
products.

3. Biotechnology reduces the need for

agrochemical through disease resistance
breeding, thereby reducing environmental Better for the
pollution from chemical runoff. environment

4. Increased yields and higher food quality

reduce world hunger and malnutrition.
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More food
 Benefits of Biotechnology: Industry

1. Production biofuels. e.g. cornstarch is converted by yeast into

ethanol.

2. Bacteria are used in waste treatment to clean the environment

and to produce natural gas fuel (methane).

3. Organisms are used as pharmaceutical factories for producing

chemical compounds that are extracted from their products
and processed as drugs and other products.

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 Benefits of Biotechnology: Health and Medicine

1. 1. Developing diagnostic tools.

2. 2. Identifying heritable diseases

3. 3. Gene therapy, scientists are taking a crack

at curing genetic diseases by attempting to Potato to protect against
replace defective genes with healthy ones. E. coli and Cholera

4. 4. Foods such as potatoes and bananas are

used as delivery vehicles for vaccines to
facilitate the immunization of people in low
socioeconomic communities.

Banana to deliver
hepatitis vaccine 27
 Benefits of Biotechnology:Environment

1. Developing and using alternative

environmentally safe fuels to improves air
quality by reducing pollution of the
environment.

• 2. Microorganisms are used to decompose

and clean up contaminated sites by the
technology of bioremediation (e.g crude oil
and pesticide). Reduce agrochemical
use

• 3. The use of disease resistant plants makes

crop production less environmentally
intrusive by reducing, the use of
agrochemicals.

• 4. Increasing production on existing land Preserve forests

preserves forests, enhancing biodiversity 28
 Benefits of Biotechnology: Forensic

DNA Profiling
1. Forensic application of biotechnology has
entered deliberations in the judicial system in
many Countries. e.g. O.J. Simpson murder trial
in the 1990.

2. DNA evidence is used in cases involving

paternity disputes and family relationships.

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