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Discover the origins of biotechnology, from ancient agricultural practices to modern fermentation techniques. Explore how living organisms have been used to improve crops, produce fermented foods, and create pharmaceutical compounds. Learn about the historical timeline of biotechnology and its significant impact on various industries.
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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