QUARTER 1 – LESSON 1

Traditional and Modern Biotechnology

The root words Biotechnology are ancient Greek:

• Bios: “Life”
• Technikos: “skillfully made”, “Tool”
• Logos: ‘Study of”, “word”, “essence”
Biotechnology – the manipulation or use of biological organism or system to convert organism
materials into products that benefit human like food, medicine and chemicals.
Traditional biotechnology – refers to the conventional technology which have been used for many
centuries. Beer, Wine, Cheese and many foods have been produced using traditional
biotechnology.
Modern Biotechnology – capability of science to change the genetic material for genetic new
products for specific requirement through recombinant DNA technology.
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Sub-fields of Biotechnology

There are numerous sub-fields of biotechnology. They are:

1. Red biotechnology is biotechnology applied to medical processes. Some examples are
the designing of organisms to produce antibiotics, and the engineering of genetic cures to
cure diseases through genomic manipulation.
2. White biotechnology, also known as grey biotechnology, is biotechnology applied to
industrial processes. An example is the designing of an organism to produce a useful
chemical. White biotechnology tends to consume less in resources than traditional
processes when used to produce industrial goods.
3. Green biotechnology is biotechnology applied to agricultural processes. An example is the
designing of an organism to grow under specific environmental conditions or in the
presence (or absence) of certain agricultural chemicals. One hope is that green
biotechnology might produce more environmentally friendly solutions than traditional
industrial agriculture. An example of this is the engineering of a plant to express a
pesticide, thereby eliminating the need for external application of pesticides. Whether or
not green biotechnology products such as this are ultimately more environmentally friendly
is a topic of considerable debate.
4. Blue biotechnology has also been used to describe the marine and aquatic applications
of biotechnology, but its use is relatively rare.

Historical Perspective
Biotechnology as a science is very new (about 200 years old) but as a technology it is very old.
The word biotechnology, first used in 1917, refers to a large-scale fermentation process for the
production of various types of industrial chemicals. But the roots of biotechnology can be traced
back to pre-historical civilizations, such as Egyptian and Indus valley civilizations, when man
learned to practice agriculture and animal domestication. Even before knowing about the
existence of microorganisms, they had learned to practice biotechnology.

Biotechnology in Prehistoric Times

Primitive man became domesticated enough to breed plants and animals; gather and process
herbs for medicine; make bread, wine and beer and create many fermented food products
including yogurt, cheese, and various soy products; create septic systems to deal with digestive
and excretory waste products; and to create vaccines to immunize themselves against diseases.
Archeologists keep discovering earlier examples of the uses of microorganisms by man.
Examples of most of these processes date back to 5000 BC. Ancient Indus people, for example,
prepared and used various types of fermented foods, beverages, and medicines. The ancient
Egyptians and Sumerians used yeast to brew wine and to bake bread as early as 4000 BC. People
in Mesopotamia used bacteria to convert wine into vinegar. Many ancient civilizations exploited
tiny organisms that live in the earth by rotating crops in the field to increase crop yields. The
Greeks used crop rotation to maximize crop yield and also practiced various methods of food
preservation such as drying, smoking, curing, salting, etc. All these techniques and processes
were practiced in the Middle East and South East Asia including ancient India. The Egyptian art
of mummification used the technique of dehydration using a mixture of salts.
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Uses of Biotechnology

Use of Genetic Resources

The ancient people were also aware of the role of natural genetic resources such as plants in
the economic growth of a land. The rulers at those time used to send plant-collectors to gather
prized exotic species of plants that produced valuable spices and medicines. Likewise, in
modern times, colonial powers mounted huge plant-collecting expeditions across Latin America,
Asia, and Africa, installing their findings in botanic gardens. These early ‘gene banks’ helped the
colonial powers to establish agricultural monocultures around the globe.

Microorganisms and Fermentation

Although baking bread, brewing beer, and making cheese has been going on for centuries, the
scientific study of these biochemical processes is less than 200 years old. Clues to
understanding fermentation emerged in the seventeenth century when Dutch experimentalist
Anton Van Leeuwenhoek discovered microorganisms using his microscope. He unraveled the
chemical basis of the process of fermentation using analytical techniques for the estimation of
carbon dioxide. Two centuries later, in 1857, a French scientist Louis Pasteur published his first
report on lactic acid formation from sugar by fermentation. He published a detailed report on
alcohol fermentation later in 1860. In this report, he revealed some of the complex physiological
processes that happen during fermentation. He proved that fermentation is the consequence of
anaerobic life and identified three types of fermentation: Fermentation, which generates gas;
Fermentation that results in alcohol; and Fermentation, which results in acids. At the end of the
nineteenth century, Eduard Buchner observed the formation of ethanol and carbon dioxide
when cell-free extract of yeast was added to an aqueous solution of sugars. Thus, he proved
that cells are not essential for the fermentation process and the components responsible for the
process are dissolved in the extract. He named that substance ‘Zymase’. The fermentation
process was modified in Germany during World War I to produce glycerine for making the
explosive nitroglycerine. Similarly, military armament programs discovered new technologies in
food and chemical industries, which helped them win battles in the First World War. For
example, they used the bacteria that converts corn or molasses into acetone for making the
explosive cordite. While biotechnology helped kill soldiers, it also cured them. Sir Alexander
Fleming’s discovery of penicillin, the first antibiotic, proved highly successful in treating wounded
soldiers.

The Genesis of Genetics

In 1906, biotechnology took a leap forward when Gregor John Mendel announced the findings
of his experiments as the ‘laws of genetics’. He predicted the presence of ‘units of heredity’—
later called genes—which did not change their identity from generation to generation but only
recombined. The science of genetics derived from the term ‘genesis’, which relates to the origin
of something, tried to explain how organisms both resemble their parents and differ from them.
It was believed that every gene directly corresponds to a specific trait. By the 1920s, genetics
was helping plant breeders improve their crops. By the 1940s, genetics had transformed the
agriculture sector, which led to the Green Revolution in the 1960s.

DNA and Genetic Engineering—The Beginning of Modern Biotechnology

The science of genetics was transformed by the discovery of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid),
which carries the hereditary information in the cells. The chemical DNA had already been
discovered in 1869 by Friederich Miescher but was not taken seriously as the chemical basis of
genes until the early 1950s. Two scientists, Francis Crick and James Watson along with
Rosalind Franklin, in 1953, discovered that the DNA structure was a double helix: two strands
twisted around each other like a spiral staircase with bars across like rings. The structure,
function, and composition of DNA are virtually identical in all living organisms—from a blade of
grass to an elephant. What differs— and makes each creature unique—is the precise ordering
of the chemical base in the DNA molecule. This gave scientists the idea that they might change
this ordering and so modify lifeforms. Marshall Nirenberg and H. Gobind Khorana carried out the
deciphering of the genetic code in 1961. Soon scientists and industrialists were seeking to alter
the genetic make-up of living things by transferring specific genes from one organism to
another. They could now modify lifeforms by altering the hereditary material at the molecular
level. Walter Gilbert carried out the first recombinant DNA experiments in 1973, and the first
hybridomas created in 1975.

The production of monoclonal antibodies for diagnostics was carried out in 1982, and the first
recombinant human therapeutic protein, insulin (humulin), was produced in 1982. In 1976, the
U.S. company Genentech became the first biotech company to develop technologies to
rearrange DNA. Commercial uses of recombinant-DNA-assisted biotechnology include the
development of interferon, insulin, and a number of genetically-modified crop plants such as the
high-solids-processing tomato that has 20% less water. Transgenic animals have been created
such as the unfortunate onco-mouse designed to develop cancer ten months after birth to study
cancer.

Importance of Biotechnology
Biotechnology plays vital role in human welfare and has revolutionized mankind since its
existence. It contributes much towards the human’s welfare and their health needs.
Few of them are listed below:
Biotechnology In Agriculture
The application of biotechnology in agriculture field helps in improving food quality, quantity, and
processing. Bio-fertilizers and Bio-pesticides are eco-friendly sources for agriculture, which
contains the living microorganisms that help in promoting growth by increasing the supply or
availability of primary nutrients. Farmers choose biotech crops to increase the yield and in lower
production costs.

Biotechnology in Medicine
In the field of medicines, Biotechnology is widely used in the development of several innovative
techniques for diagnosing, treating and preventing diseases. It helps in providing effective
treatments and prevention measures for different disease by its inventions of novel drugs and
recombinant vaccines. The Therapeutic proteins have a greater effect against a variety of non-
communicable diseases, which was responsible for over 50-60% of deaths in developing
countries. With the help of modern biotechnology, many diagnostic tools have been introduced
for the detection of diseases in a quick and accurate manner.

Biotechnology in Flora and Fauna

Biotechnology develops the process of micropropagation system, a new method of plant
breeding for producing many new plant species and of new varieties with highly desirable
characteristics.

Productions of genetically engineered plants with highly desirable characteristics have been
very effective. These crops result from the alteration in the genetic makeup of the crops and this
modification leads to a number of potential advantages including the production of crops, quality
of crops, increased nutritional qualities of food crops, improved taste, texture or appearance of
food, reduced dependence on fertilizers, pesticides and other agrochemicals and lot more.
Biotechnology has a wide application in animal husbandry. Several transgenic animals were
produced to transfer the growth hormones, improve the efficiency of egg, meat and milk
production.

Biotechnology in Environment
Biotechnology is also involved in controlling the environmental pollution through biodegradation
of potential pollutants, recycling of wastes and other waste treatment technologies.

Biotechnology plays a major role in monitoring and controlling the environmental pollutions
through the biological applications including bioremediation, biomonitoring, biotreatment and
biodegradation of all the solid, liquid and gaseous wastes. Apart from these, there are many
other biotechnological treatments applied to monitor the different components of the
environment.

Biotechnology in human health and their welfare

Biotechnology has been playing a dynamic role in improving the challenges regarding human
health and their welfare. There are many more research and investigation processes carried out
for improving the future technologies. Biotechnology has played a significant role in improving
human health by producing enriched nutrients food products such as Golden Rice, potato,
maize, groundnuts, and soybean etc.
QUARTER 1 – LESSON 4
Cells