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Biology extension edexcel > B3.3 Biotechnology > Flashcards

B3.3 Biotechnology Flashcards

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1
Q

What are most changes to food caused by?

A

Bacteria and microscopic fungi

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2
Q

How do microorganisms cause changes in food?

A

They produce enzymes that change the original molecules

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3
Q

What protein does bacteria act on when it turns milk into cheese?

A

Casein

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4
Q

What is biotechnology?

A

The alteration of natural biomolecules using science and engineering to produce goods and services

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5
Q

What is a biomolecule?

A

A substance made by living organisms

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6
Q

What are fermenters?

A

Big steel vessels in which microorganisms are grown

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7
Q

What fungus is used to produce the antibiotic penicillin?

A

Penicillium

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8
Q

What is used to sterilise fermenters?

A

High-pressure steam

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9
Q

Why is steam used to sterilise fermenters?

A

It is gas so it can reach gaps and corners easily

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10
Q

Why do some fermenters have water jackets?

A

To take away heat produced from the respiration of the microorganisms

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11
Q

Why is a fermenter sterilised before it’s used?

A

So that any microorganisms in it before don’t grow instead

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12
Q

What is sterilisation?

A

The destruction of bacteria, mould, pests and viruses on an object

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13
Q

What are aseptic precautions?

A

Any methods that ensure that living organisms do not come into contact with something

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14
Q

How do fermenters try to produce as much product as possible in the shortest amount of time?

A

By trying to supply the microorganism with optimal conditions

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15
Q

What factors are controlled to produce optimal conditions in a fermenter?

A
  • nutrients
  • temperature
  • pH
  • oxygen levels
  • agitation
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16
Q

Why is temperature controlled in a fermenter?

A

To make sure the enzymes in the microorganisms work at a fast rate but don’t get denatured

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17
Q

Why is oxygen provided in fermenters?

A

So the microorganism can respire aerobically

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18
Q

How is agitation achieved in a fermenter?

A

By using a stirrer

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19
Q

Why is agitation used in a fermenter?

A

To mix all the oxygen and nutrients into the culture broth

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20
Q

What could be used as nutrition in a fermenter?

A

Sources of carbohydrates and nitrogen such as sugar and ammonium ions

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21
Q

What is yeast used for?

A
  • making bread and alcoholic drinks

- in fermenters to produce enzymes and medicines

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22
Q

What happens if the pH of a yeast culture is too acidic or alkaline?

A

It doesn’t function properly and could die

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23
Q

How can you monitor the growth and activity of a yeast culture?

A

By measuring the amount of carbon dioxide it gives off

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24
Q

What is mycoprotein made from?

A

A fungus called Fusarium

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25
Q

Why is there no stirrer for the fermenter used for the production of mycoprotein?

A

It would tangle and break the hyphae fibres

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26
Q

What is mycoprotein used for?

A

Producing a protein rich food replacement for meat

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27
Q

Why is the Fusarium used to make meat substitutes?

A

It is made up of tiny fibres called hyphae that mimic meat’s texture

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28
Q

Why are the hyphae heated during the production of mycoprotein?

A

To remove a bitter tasting substance they contain

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29
Q

Why are hyphae dried, chilled and pressed during the production of mycoprotein?

A

To form a fibrous substance that is similar to the texture of meat

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30
Q

What are the advantages of producing food from microorganisms instead of growing crops and keeping animals?

A
  • they grow faster than crops or animals
  • easy to handle and manipulate
  • take up less space
  • can be grown in any part of the world
  • can often be grown by using waste materials from other processes as their food source
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31
Q

What does Fusarium use as its food source?

A

The waste material from the production of flour from wheat grains

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32
Q

What causes broth to move in the fermenter during the production of mycoprotein?

A

Rising bubbles

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33
Q

Why is it better for heart disease patients to eat mycoprotein instead of meat?

A

It contains no saturated fat

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34
Q

What does eating mycoprotein instead of meat reduce the risk of?

A
  • heart disease

- type II diabetes

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35
Q

Why does eating mycoprotein instead of meat reduce the risk of type II diabetes?

A

The high fibre content slows down the rate at which glucose is absorbed from it, which means the blood glucose concentration doesn’t rise rapidly after a meal. This means that insulin isn’t secreted so quickly or in such large amounts which is what is thought to contribute to increasing the risk of type II diabetes

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36
Q

What bacteria is yogurt made from?

A

Lactobacillus bulgaricus

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37
Q

What is lactose?

A

The sugar found in milk

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38
Q

What do the yogurt producing lactobacillus bulgaricus live on?

A

Sugars (lactose) in milk

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39
Q

What does lactobacillus bulgaricus convert lactose to?

A

Lactic acid

40
Q

What type of respiration does the lactobacillus bulgaricus undergo?

A

Anaerobic

41
Q

What factors affect the type and speed at which yogurt is produced?

A
  • type of bacteria used
  • type of milk used
  • levels of nutrients within the milk
  • temperature
  • pH
42
Q

What are enzymes?

A

A protein produced by living organisms that acts as a catalyst

43
Q

How do you produce invertase?

A

By cultivating a yeast called Saccharomyces cerevisae in fermenters

44
Q

What does invertase do?

A

Convert sucrose to glucose and fructose

45
Q

What is another name for invertase?

A

Sucrase

46
Q

Why is sucrose converted to glucose and fructose?

A
  • They are sweeter than sucrose so less is needed

- good for making soft-entered sweets

47
Q

What types of enzymes do biological washing powders contain?

A

Proteases and lipases

48
Q

What do proteases do?

A

Break down proteins

49
Q

What do lipases do?

A

Break down fats

50
Q

Where is chymosin found?

A

Calves’ stomachs

51
Q

What enzyme causes milk to separate into curds and liquid whey?

A

Chymosin

52
Q

What are curds?

A

A semi solid mix of protein and fat

53
Q

What happens to curds in order to produce cheese?

A

They are pressed

54
Q

Why is most chymosin produced from genetically modified yeast?

A
  • it’s easier and cheaper to produce in large quantities

- makes a lot of cheese suitable for vegetarians

55
Q

What is genetic modification?

A

The addition of a gene from one organism to another so that the second organism gets the same characteristic

56
Q

What is recombinant DNA technology used for?

A

Making a genetically modified organism

57
Q

What is a restriction enzyme?

A

An enzyme that cuts DNA molecules into pieces

58
Q

What are sticky ends?

A

A few unpaired bases left over from the staggered cuts of restriction enzymes on double stranded DNA

59
Q

What is DNA ligase?

A

An enzyme that joins two molecules together

60
Q

How is insulin making bacteria produced?

A
  • DNA from a human cell that produces insulin is cut into pieces using restriction enzymes to leave sticky ends
  • the same thing happens to plasmids found in the bacterial cell
  • the sticky ends from the human DNA and the plasmid are linked together in a continuous circle by an enzyme called DNA ligase
  • the plasmid is reinserted into the bacteria where it can reproduce in a fermenter
61
Q

What enzyme breaks down lactose into glucose?

A

Lactase

62
Q

What happens when people stop producing lactase?

A

They become lactose intolerant

63
Q

What does it mean when an enzyme is immobilised?

A

It is trapped on or in an inert material

64
Q

How can you produce beads of immobilised enzymes?

A

You mix it with sodium alginate, and then add drops of this solution to calcium chloride solution

65
Q

Why are enzymes immobilised?

A

So that they can be reused multiple times

66
Q

What food products are enzymes used in the production of?

A
  • vegetarian cheese
  • sweets
  • baby food
  • fruit juice
67
Q

What enzymes are used in the manufacture of fruit juice?

A

Cellulose and pectinase

68
Q

What are the advantages of using enzymes in the production of food?

A
  • speeds up the production

- makes it cheaper to buy

69
Q

What does pectinase do?

A

Separate plant cells from each other

70
Q

What does cellulase do?

A

Break down cell walls

71
Q

Why is pectinase and cellulase used in the production of fruit juice?

A

Because it means more juice can be extracted

72
Q

What produces cellulase?

A

Microorganisms found in the digestive systems of cows

73
Q

Why do cows produce cellulose?

A

To digest the cell walls of grass

74
Q

What is developed to help the global food security crisis?

A

New varieties of crops with higher yields

75
Q

What is global food security?

A

The ability to produce enough food in the future to feed everyone in the world

76
Q

What is conventional breeding?

A

The production of offspring by using the natural technique of cross-breeding

77
Q

How is a very high-yielding crop produced from conventional breeding?

A
  • one high-yielding crop is crossed with another
  • all the seeds are sown and allowed to turn into plants
  • the plants producing the most grain are selected and cross bred together again
  • this is repeated for at least 20 generations
78
Q

What can crops be lost to?

A

Pests and fungal diseases

79
Q

What system is used to combat pests when growing plants?

A

Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

80
Q

What are two ways of combating pests during the production of crops?

A
  • developing more resistant plants

- IPM

81
Q

What transfers viruses to plants?

A

Aphids

82
Q

Why is crop rotation used?

A

It helps prevent the build-up of soil pests for each crop

83
Q

What are biofuels?

A

Fuels made by or from living organisms

84
Q

What does it mean when a fuel is renewable?

A

It can be made again and again

85
Q

How is biofuel carbon neutral?

A

The carbon dioxide released when the fuels are burned balance out because the plants took in carbon dioxide for photosynthesis

86
Q

How can you get rid of pests?

A
  • you make the environment more attractive to their predators
  • chemicals produced from the plant are put into traps to lure the pests into a soap solution, killing them
  • pesticides
87
Q

What are flavonoids?

A

Pigments found in plants

88
Q

Why aren’t seeds from GM plants used outside of the country they were developed in?

A
  • they’re expensive
  • might not be adapted to climate
  • might not be adapted to soil
89
Q

What is a transgenic organism?

A

An organism that has had genes transferred from another organism

90
Q

What is the name of the vector commonly used to produce transgenic plants?

A

Agrobacterium tumefaciens

91
Q

How are transgenic plants created from the agrobacterium tumefaciens?

A
  • a gene for the required characteristic is inserted into the plasmid
  • the plasmid is reinserted back into the agrobacterium tumefaciens
  • plant leaf discs are infected with the bacteria so that the gene is inserted into the plant’s DNA
  • the leaf discs will then grow into whole new plants containing that gene
92
Q

What bacterium produces Bt toxin?

A

Bacillus thuringiensis

93
Q

What is Bt toxin?

A

A substance which is poisonous to insects

94
Q

Where are bacillus thuringiensis normally found?

A

Soil

95
Q

What are the benefits of making plants produce Bt toxin?

A
  • less insecticide has to be sprayed on the crop which reduces damage to the environment
  • higher yields are produced as less of the crop is lost to pests
96
Q

What are the disadvantages of making plants produce Bt toxin?

A
  • it kills other harmless insects such as butterflies and bees needed for pollination
  • might cross-pollinate wild plant species
  • many insect populations have developed a resistance to the toxin

Biology extension edexcel (3 decks)

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