Molecular & Agricultural

Biotechnology
An investigation into practical
applications within various areas
of biotechnology

Biotechnology defined
Biotechnology is defined as the
use of living organisms, or the
products of living organisms, for
human benefit in making a
product or solving a problem.

Introduction
Imagine life without variety.

We constantly attempt to diversify our surroundings in

order to increase our quality of life.

Need to understand
1. Living organisms & products
2. Problems that exist
3. Products that can be improved

Miscellaneous

The term biotechnology

has only been used since the
1970s.

Skills used in this field

include biology, chemistry,
physics, math, statistics, &
computers.

Products are most

commonly a plant, an
animal, an organ, or a
molecule.

History of Biotechnology
The ideas of biotechnology have been around since
nearly 2000 B.C. Examples: wine and bread making

B.C. Events
Domestication (taming)
of animals for use as
livestock
Sheep, goats, cattle,
pigs
Selective breeding
(controlled reproduction
with a focus on a certain
trait) in farming &
agriculture
Form of artificial
selection

Fermentation
Fermentation is the
process of a cell converting
sugar into energy in an
environment without
oxygen - to make bread,
cheese, yogurt, beer, wine,
etc (process used in B.C.
era).
The fermentation
properties of yeast were
not discovered until 1818.

Bacteria
In 1885, the bacterium
Escherichia coli was discovered
by Theodor Escherich
It is one of the main species
that lives in the mammalian gut
(coli is Latin derivative of colon)
It later became a major
research, development, and
production tool for
biotechnology

Biotechnology
The word biotechnology
was first used in print by a
Karl Ereky, a Hungarian
agricultural engineer, in
1919.
The term originally meant
all the lines of work by
which products are
produced from raw
materials with the aid of
living organisms.

Antibiotics
In 1928, Alexander
Fleming discovered that
Penicillium mold inhibited
the growth of
Staphylococcus aureus.
This was the first
antibiotic
Antibiotics are substances produced by microorganisms that
inhibit the growth of other microorganisms.
Scientists used batch processes to grow bacteria and other
cells in large quantities to harvest these useful products.

Genetic Engineering
Stanley Cohen (left) and
Herbert Boyer (right)
perform the first successful
recombinant DNA experiment
in 1973.
This technique became
known as genetic
engineering.
In 1980, a patent was
awarded to Cohen & Boyer for
the gene cloning technique
(used to identify and
reproduce genes of interest).

Genetic Engineering contd

Recombinant DNA technology (cutting and recombining
DNA molecules) produces many proteins of medical
importance.
MOLECULAR
AGRICULTURAL
Human growth
hormone (1977)
First monoclonal
antibodies
produced (1979)
Breast cancer
gene discovered
(1994)

Bacteria used to
degrade pollutants
(1989)
Disease-resistant
crops (1997)
More nutritious foods
(2000)

Gel Electrophoresis
1809 - Reuss discovered
that particles move farther
in a field with an electric
current
Current technique for
separating DNA created in
the late 1970s
Technique that uses
electricity to separate DNA
fragments by size as they
migrate through a gel
matrix

Polymerase Chain Reaction

PCR (1983)
Widely used molecular
biology technique developed
by Kary Mullis
PCR is a technique using heat
and enzymes (like DNA
polymerase) to amplify (make
unlimited copies of) genes and
gene fragments.
It became a major tool in
biotech research.

Human Genome Project

1990 - 2003

An international effort to identify

the genome (all of the genes)
contained in the DNA of human
cells and to map their locations to
each of the 24 different
chromosomes (1-22, X, Y)
Project coordinated by US
Department of Energy (DOE) and
National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Potential exists for new molecular approaches for treating

and curing human genetic diseases & new diagnostics (to
detect disease)

Genome Projects
In 1995, the first genome
sequence of an organism,
Haemophilus influenzae,
was determined

Researchers completed a rough

draft of the human genome in
2000, but it wasnt completed
until 2003.