Biotechnology, etc Flashcards
What is industrial microbiology?
large-scale production by micro-organism that can already produce desired product
-generally low value products, want high yields
What is microbial biotechnology?
engineering of micro-organisms to produce products they wouldn’t produce otherwise
-high value products
What products can be produced by micro-organisms?
-antibiotics (eg. penicillin)
-terpenes (eg. carotenoids)
-food additives (eg. amino acids, vitamins)
-chemicals (eg. bioethanol, citric acid)
-enzymes (eg.lipase, amylase, lactase)
-alcoholic drinks (eg. wine, beer)
What is batch fermentation?
culture method were nutrients are initially provided and when they are used up, microbial growth and fermentation ends
What is continuous fermentation?
culture method where fresh medium is continually supplied, as the same quantity is removed
-steady state
What is fed-batch fermentation?
culture method where nutrients are initially provided and when they are used up, more is added
-most common fermentation method
eg. penicillin production
What are desirable characteristics of micro-organisms for biotechnology?
-produce product in high yield
-rapid growth and quick production
-simple and cheap growth reqs
-metabolically flexible and adaptible
-non-toxic and non-pathogenic
-can be stored
-genetically stable and can be engineered
-secrete product or easy to handle
How can yield be improved in biotechnology?
-mutating and selecting micro-organisms
-optimising fermentation conditions
-altering nutrients
-metabolic engineering
What is metabolic engineering?
redesigning cellular biochemical pathways to enhance production of a product or cause a new product to be produced
-by engineering transport systems
-redirecting existing pathways
-engineering transport systems
eg. Lys production
