Biotechnology Tools Overview

Study Notes

Biotechnology is the use of living organisms or substances from living organisms to create agricultural, medicinal, or environmental products or processes.

Restriction endonucleases: Enzymes that cut DNA at specific sequences. Insertion of a new sequence does not typically happen, unlike the CRISPR process.
Methylases: Enzymes that protect DNA from cleavage or damage.
DNA ligases: Enzymes that join DNA fragments together.
Gel electrophoresis: Separates DNA molecules by size. Useful for DNA analysis, fingerprinting, and paternity cases.

Plasmids: Circular DNA in bacteria. Scientists use them to study antibiotic resistance and gene expression.
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR): Amplifies DNA sequences to create multiple copies. This allows for more extensive testing and research.
DNA sequencing: Used in large-scale projects like the Human Genome Project and the Barcode of Life project. Also used for detailed analysis of DNA sequences.

Red Biotechnology: Medical uses like producing antibiotics, vaccines, and pharmaceuticals. Also used in genetic screening, diagnostic testing (like prenatal testing), gene therapy, and cloning.
Green Biotechnology: Agricultural applications such as creating transgenic plants. This involves introducing genes from other organisms, often to improve crop yields, nutritional value, pest resistance, and environmental stress tolerance.
White Biotechnology: Industrial processes, including bioremediation (cleaning contaminated soil or water with microorganisms) and using enzymes as catalysts to create valuable chemicals or destroy hazardous materials.
Blue Biotechnology: Applications related to marine and aquatic processes. Includes increasing seafood supply, controlling harmful aquatic organisms, and developing new drugs.

Artificial selection: Selecting desirable traits in organisms via breeding.
Artificial insemination: Introducing sperm into an animal's reproductive tract.
Brewing and fermentation: Using microorganisms to produce alcoholic beverages or food.
Medicine and pharmaceuticals: Creating drugs and treatments using biological processes.
Gene splicing: Combining DNA from different organisms.
Stem cells and tissue regeneration: Using stem cells to repair or regenerate tissues.
Cloning: Creating identical copies of an organism.
DNA testing and genomic sequencing: Identifying individuals through their unique DNA profiles.
Protein purification: Isolating and refining specific proteins.
Microbial synthetic biology: Engineering new genomes.

Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP): Used to compare DNA fragment differences between individuals to identify disease markers.
A smaller blood sample is needed for Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) compared to Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP).