Intro to biotech Flashcards
Biotechnology is defined as…? (2 definitions)
- Use of living organisms & their products to enhance our lives & environment.
- Any technique using live organisms or their substances to make or modify products, improve animals/plants, or develop micro-organisms for specific uses.
T or F? Biotechnology has to include the use of recombinant DNA technology.
False - It often does, but does not have to.
Which sciences encompass biotech? (6)
- microbiology
- genetics
- physiology
- biochemistry
- engineering
- computer science
8 applications of biotech…?
- new/improved food
- industrial chemicals (AB’s)
- drugs (insulin)
- livestock & crops (modified or not)
- diagnostics (cancers, AIDS…)
- vaccines
- environmental protection (oil spills via bacteria)
- conservation (determining genetic diversity, breeding programs)
First evidence of biotech?
8000 BC - Crops grown in Middle East (Iran, Iraq, Syria, Jordan), 5000 BC Egypt, Far East, Europe
Origins of beer…?
Egypt - 5000 BC by adding bread (yeast) to malted barley
What years did Louis Pasteur produce 2 papers on yeast fermentation? What did they show?
1866 & 1876 showing it was sugars used by them to produce ethanol & CO2 or just CO2 in presence of O2
A bit about vinegar…?
Used to preserve food. Made by treatment of wine with Acetobacter bacteria converting ethanol -> acetic acid by oxidation in presence of O2
Classical biotech, early fermented products of bacteria & yeasts…? Years?
1900-1940ish
glycerol - WWI for explosives (nitro glycerine)
acetone - solvents
lactic acid
citric acid
Discovery of penicillium/penicillin by A. Flemming
A bit about penicillin…?
Alexander Flemming discovered Penicillium colonies inhibited growth of bacteria
First antibiotic produced but not widely available until 1950’s
Gave rise to growing organisms in fermentors & extracting AB’s
What happened in 5000 BC?
Pastoralist farmers roamed Sahara grazing
1st corn harvested
History of bread…?
1800 BC - Egyptians used yeast to make bread
What is a fermentor? What is it used for?
Large or small culture container that provides a controlled environment for growing micro-organisms, plant, fungal, or mammalian cells
Name some specific products from fermentation…?
- Single Cell Protein (SCP) - animal & human consumption
- Bakers yeast
- Enzymes - glucose isomerase (glucose -> fructose (sweeter))
A bit about modern biotech…?
1960’s onwards. Underpinned by rapidly advancing knowledge of composition of living animals, plants & micro-organisms, their organs, tissues, cells at molecular level. Stems from the 1940’s and understanding DNA & proteins it encodes
A bit on Fred Griffiths…?
British Physician who in 1928 showed that DNA is the inherited material thru experiments with mice injected with 2 different streptococcus strains
A bit on Avery, Macleod & McCarthy…?
Pufified parts of cell and repeated Griffiths’ experiments -> DNA carries heritable information
A bit on Hershey & Chase…?
Labelled viral bacteriophage T2 -> DNA carrier of heritable info
A bit about the first recombinant DNA experiment…?
Occurred in 1970. Plasmids discovered. DNA polymerase, DNA ligase, and first restriction endonucleases also discovered
What did Stanley Cohen’s lab show?
…that plasmids could be taken up by bacteria (E. coli) when cells treated with CaCl2. They demonstrated AB resistance was transferred via plasmids. Transformation
What is EcoRI & why is it important?
One of the first Restriction Endonucleases to be studied. EcoRI generates staggered ends so that they can be joined & recut.
What is electrophoresis?
A method by which DNA fragments are separated & recovered using agarose gel and a current.
First cloning experiment…?
1973 & 1974 Cohen’s plasmids pSC101 - Using tetracycline resistance gene & single EcoRI site. Also the plasmid streptomycin resistance gene with EcoRI. Used in frogs including DNA from other bacteria…
The contributions made by Watson, Crick, Wilkins & Franklin for our understanding of genetic material…?
Determined the structure of DNA and how their molecules are put together using x-ray diffraction by producing crystals and x-raying them. How a mechanism might work as to how DNA is replicated. How the info in DNA was transmitted into the cell & how the cell does what it does.
