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What is Biotechnology?. Definition. “……any technique that uses living organisms or substances from those organisms, to make or modify a product, to improve plants or animals, or to develop microorganisms for specific uses”. Origins of Biotechnology. Biotechnology Timeline
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Definition • “……any technique that uses living organisms or substances from those organisms, to make or modify a product, to improve plants or animals, or to develop microorganisms for specific uses”.
Origins of Biotechnology • Biotechnology Timeline • Archaeological clues of domestication and agriculture artificial selection of desirable traits creating new varieties.
Ancient Plant Germplasm • Nikolai I. Vavilov (1887-1943) - established Institute of Plant Industry in Leningrad. - first gene bank for long term storage of germplasm. • Germplasm collections: - economical value. - important to disease resistance to crop plants.
CGIAR • Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research: International consortium - ensures conservation of plant species in more than 90 countries - short term (30 years) and long term (100 years) storage. - research programs
Fermented Foods and Beverages Early biotechnology! • Fermentation: from the Latin fervere, “to boil”. • microbial process in which enzymatically controlled transformations of organic compounds occur.
Bread • Early bread made from emmer. • Fermented dough discovered by accident: Saccharomyces winlocki used as early as 1500BC. • Bakers yeast used today is Saccharomyces cervasiae.
Yogurt and Cheese • 4000BC: lactic acid producing bacteria used to make yogurt. • Milk cheese casein coagulates in presence of bacteria curd + whey Cheese flavoring:Penicillium cambemberti, Penicillium glaucum roqueforti.
Classical Biotechnology The development of fermentation from ancient times to present day! Modern fermentation chambers • Alcohol: top fermentation, bottom fermentation. • Vinegar: microorganisms oxidize wine. • Commercial products, eg. glycerol, acetone,butanol, lactic acid, citric acid, yeast biomass
Aseptic technique meant sterile fermenters called bioreactors. • Antibiotics • Hormones and “therapeutics” produced using biotransformation technology (microbial hydroxylation). • Pharmaceutical compounds • Enzymes, biomass, single cell protein (SCP) and amino acids produced by batch culturing.
Modern Biotechnology. • Compound microscope (Janssen, 1590) • Development of Cell Theory – “all cells arise from cells” • Biochemistry and Genetics • Nucleic acids from white blood cells (Meischer) • Ultracentrifugation • The Nature of the gene