Introduction to Biotechnology

Introduction to Biotechnology

• Biotechnology is the manipulation of living organisms and organic material to meet human needs.

Colors of Biotechnology

• Red Biotechnology: Health, medical, and diagnostic applications.
• Green Biotechnology: Agricultural applications.
• White Biotechnology: Industrial applications.
• Brown Biotechnology: Food biotechnology, nutrition, bioinformatics, nanobiotechnology.
• Gold Biotechnology: Bioinformatics, nanobiotechnology, aquaculture, marine biotechnology.
• Violet Biotechnology: Legal aspects related to bio.
• Blue Biotechnology: Aquaculture, marine biotechnology.
• Grey Biotechnology: Environmental biotechnology.
• Dark Biotechnology: Bioterrorism, biowarfare.
• Purple Biotechnology: Patents, publications, inventions, and related areas.

Discoveries and Inventions

• Antony van Leeuwenhoek: Discovered cells using a simple microscope.
• Robert Hooke: Invented the compound light microscope; first to observe cells in cork.
• Louis Pasteur: Described the role of bacteria in spoilage and the scientific basis for fermentation; created the rabies vaccine.
• Ernst Ruska: Invented the electron microscope.
• Alexander Fleming: Discovered penicillin.
• Gregor Johan Mendel: Discovered genetics.

Gene Knockout

• Disrupting a gene in an animal to observe its function; researchers determine the role and function of the gene by observing the effects of the gene disruption, allowing for the study of the gene's influence on the organism.
• Bioremediation: Stimulated growth of bacteria to degrade components in crude oil from oil spills.
• Biotechnological research into aquatic organisms, and enzymes capable of degrading oil.

Genetic Engineering

• Vaccines against viruses which affect salmon.
• Transgenic salmon that produce growth hormone.
• Bio prospecting - searching for new genes and proteins for applications in human health and other fields.
• Marine plankton and snails are rich sources of antitumor and anticancer molecules.
• Using bacteria to produce insulin.
• Genetically modifying food crops (e.g., golden rice).

Forensic Biotechnology

• Fingerprinting for identifying people.
• DNA fingerprinting in forensic science:
  • Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP)
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
  • Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD)
  • Inter-Simple Sequence Repeats (ISSR)
  • Mitochondrial DNA Analysis (mtDNA)
  • 4 Chromosome markers analysis.
  • Alu repeats analysis.
• Identification of human remains, endangered species, and disease tracking.

Genetic Engineering Techniques

• Recombinant DNA Technology: techniques used to cut up and combine genetic material from different biological species using restriction enzymes. This allows scientists to combine genes and create new combinations of heritable genetic material.
• Plasmids: Small circular pieces of DNA which can replicate independently. They are ideal for inserting and replicating genes in bacteria or yeast.
• Transgenic biotechnology: Introducing foreign genes into an organism.
• Reproductive cloning: Creating genetically identical copies of organisms.
• Programming of cells.
• Forensic biotechnology: Using biotechnology techniques in legal settings.
• Determining the roles of particular genes, or gene pathways, in biological systems.
• Diagnosing diseases at an early stage using bio markers.

Restriction Enzymes

• Enzymes that bind to specific recognition sequences and cleave double-stranded DNA.
• Used for cutting out genes.

Insulin

• A peptide hormone that ensures glucose is absorbed by the cells for respiration, crucial for metabolic processes.
• Genetically engineered to produce insulin using bacteria and yeast.

Cloning

• "An exact genetic replica of another cell or organism".

The Central Dogma

• Replication: DNA to DNA.
• Transcription: DNA to RNA.
• Translation: RNA to protein.
• Genetic code is read from a specified starting point as triplet codons.
• Proteins that function as a polymer of amino acids that are synthesized from 20 amino acids.

Types of Proteins

• Structural organization, including primary, secondary, tertiary (3D structure), and quaternary (multiple polypeptide chains) protein structure.
• Chaperones are small proteins that help guide folding and prevent incorrect protein associations.
• Proteins can be folded spontaneous or by proteins called chaperones and the final folded shape is called conformation.

Complementary DNA (cDNA)

• Synthesized in the lab from mRNA.
• Not genomic DNA; lacks promoters and introns.
• Used to study gene expression.
• Reverse Transcriptase is used to make cDNA.

Enzymes and their industrial applications

• Enzymes are used in various industrial processes such as in food processing, textiles, leather goods, and treatment of heavy metals.

Biotechnology Drugs and other medical applications

• Produced through microbial fermentation or mammalian cell culture.
• Proteins, such as insulin, can be produced for therapeutic applications.
• Cell cultures provide specific conditions to produce proteins for various uses.
• Must strictly adhere to FDA regulations.

Microorganisms

• Microbiome: Genome of all microorganisms in a particular environment (e.g., gut).
• Microbes play vital roles in health and other aspects of wellness.
• Microbial genome sequencing and analysis are important.
• Microbial genomes studies and analysis to better understand microorganisms and their roles in health, disease, and the environment.
• Importance of identifying genes responsible for human and animal diseases.
• Microbial diagnosis helps detect and monitor microbes to prevent and control spread of infections.