Biotechnology Introduction L1

Question 1

Define biotechnology. Or put more simply?

Answer 1

Biotechnology can be defined as the use of living organisms or the products of living organisms for human or animal benefit. Technology based on biology.

Question 2

Define medical biotechnology.

Answer 2

Medical Biotechnology is the use of living cells and cell materials to produce pharmaceutical and diagnostic products that help in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of human disease.

Question 3

Green biotechnology = ?

Red biotechnology = ?

White biotechnology = ?

Blue biotechnology = ?

Answer 3

G= Agricultural biotechnology

R = Biopharmaceuticals

W = Industrial Biotechnology

B = Aquatic biotechnology

Question 4

Describe agricultural biotechnology.

Answer 4

Agricultural biotechnology is a collection of techniques used to improve plants, animals and micro-organisms.

Question 5

Describe Industrial biotechnology.

Examples of used resources?

Answer 5

The use of biological resources for producing and processing materials, chemicals and bio-fuels.

Resources include plants, algae, marine life, fungi and micro-organisms.

Question 6

Aquatic biotechnology is simply the application of the wide range of biotechnological techniques to aquatic organisms or ecosystems. Name and briefly define the three main areas.

Answer 6

1. Aquaculture (fish health optimization)
2. Aquatic bioprocessing (obtaining valuable compounds from marine organisms)
3. Aquatic bioremediation (use of microorganisms to degrade toxic chemicals in the aquatic environment)

Question 7

Manipulation of microorganisms such as bacteria and yeast has created better enzymes and organisms for applications in what? (5)

Answer 7

1. Agriculture 2. Manufacturing 3. Production processes 4. Decontamination processes 5. Produce batch amounts of important proteins used in human medicine

Question 8

______, produced by E.coli is widely used to make animal food more digestible or to extract more material from a foodstuff.

Answer 8

Cellulase

Question 9

______ from Bacillus subtilis is used in detergents and degrades and removes protein stains.

Answer 9

Subtilisin

Question 10

______ are used to degrade starches to make corn syrup.

Answer 10

Amalyses

Question 11

Microbes are used to make many foods, such as breads, yogurt, cheese, saurkraut and beverages such as beer, wine, champagne and liquors.

Recombinant rennin (chymosin) is widely used to make ______. This was the first recombinant DNA food ingredient approved for use in humans food.

Answer 11

Cheese

Question 12

Define bioremediation.

Answer 12

The use of living organisms such as bacteria, fungi and plants to break down or degrade chemical compounds

Question 13

____1____ takes advantage of natural chemical reactions and processes through which ____2____ break down compounds to obtain nutrients and derive energy.

Answer 13

1. Bioremediation
2. Organisms

Question 14

In practice, bioremediation is the process of what?

Answer 14

Cleaning up environmental sites contaminated with chemical pollutants by using living organisms to degrade hazardous materials into less toxic substances.

Question 15

The first genetically altered microbes for use in bioremediation were created in the 1970s by ____1____. They were a strain of bacteria that contained a number of plasmids to degrade the chemical components of ____ 2 ____.

Answer 15

1. Chakrabarty
2. Crude oil

Question 16

Bioremediation: ____1____ metals including copper, lead, cadmium, chromium and mercury can critically harm humans and wildlife. ____2____ engineered bacteria have shown potential for cleaning up mercury and other ____1____ metals.

Answer 16

1. Heavy
2. Genetically

Question 17

Bioremediation: E.coli have been engineered to express ____1____ proteins that allow for the rapid uptake of mercury where the metal can bind to naturally occurring metal ____2____ proteins (metallothioneins).

Answer 17

1. Transport
2. Binding

Question 18

Bioremediation: Pseudomonas fluorescens in nature can degrade polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and other toxic compounds. Using recombinant ____1____ technology further PAH degradation repertoire has been added linked to the reporter lux genes from ____2____ bacteria. As PAHs are degraded bacteria release light and this can be monitored to measure biodegradation rates.

Answer 18

1. DNA
2. Bioluminescent

Question 19

Define biosensors.

What is the biological signal commonly generated by?

E.g. ?

Answer 19

A biosensor is an analytical device which converts a biological response into an electrical signal.

Commonly the biological signal is generated by an enzyme (glucose oxidase).

Question 20

A successful biosensor must possess at least some of the following features: ? (6)

Answer 20

1. The bio-recognition component must be highly specific for purpose
2. The reaction should be independent of such physical parameters as stirring, pH, temperature etc.
3. The response should be accurate and precise, reproducible and linear.
4. If the biosensor is to be used for invasive monitoring in clinical situations the probe must be tiny and biocompatible (non toxic and non antigenic)
5. The complete biosensor must be cheap, small and portable and be capable of being used by semi-skilled operators
6. There should be a market for the biosensor

Question 21

Agricultural/Medical Biotechnology

Includes genetically engineered, pest resistant plants that do not need to be sprayed with ____1____, development of plants/foods with higher protein content, and ____2____ developed and grown as plant products.

____3____ manipulation of plants has been used for over 20 years to produce plants with altered growth characteristics such as drought resistance, tolerance to cold and greater food ____4____.

The use of plants as sources of pharmaceuticals (molecular pharming), e.g. tobacco plants have been engineered to produce recombinant proteins in their leaves.

Answer 21

1. Pesticides
2. Drugs
3. Genetic
4. Yields

Question 22

Animal Biotechnology

Agricultural animals can be used as ‘bioreactors’ to produce a range of therapeutic ____1____.

Female transgenic animals have been developed to express therapeutic ____1____ in their milk.

An example of this was Bio-steel made by Nexia Biotechnologies.

Recombinant versions of either MaSpI or MaSpII dragline silk ____1____ are produced in goats milk and the purified silk fibres can be spun into microfibers with very high strengths. These goats have now reproduced, producing a flock of ‘silk-milk’ goats.

Answer 22

1. Proteins

Question 23

Aquatic Biotechnology

One of the oldest applications of aquatic biotechnology is aquaculture (raising finfish or shellfish in controlled conditions for food).

Biotechnologists have engineered a number of ____1____ into fish which can confer a commercial/societal advantage to aquaculture.

Anti-freeze protein ____1____ from arctic flatfish have been engineered into various salmon species

Chinook salmon growth hormone has been engineered into Atlantic salmon and Coho salmon.

In addition AFP has been engineered into strawberries and potatoes to increase cold tolerance.

Answer 23

1. Genes

Question 24

Forensic Biotechnology

Forensic biotechnology can lead to the inclusion or exclusion of a person from a crime based on DNA fingerprinting or STR profiling.

Genetic fingerprinting exploits highly variable ____1____ sequences of between 20 and 100 base pairs called variable number tandem repeats (VNTR). Every person has VNTR inherited from their father and mother and hence VNTR are ____2____ to an individual.

Answer 24

1. Repeating
2. Unique

Question 25

Medical Biotechnology

Many biotechnology products such as drugs and recombinant proteins are being manufactured for human medical applications. Examples include vaccines and therapeutic proteins such as ____1____ antibodies.

In addition medical biotechnology covers such areas as preventative medicine, the ____2____ and treatment of disease, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

Answer 25

1. Monoclonal
2. Diagnosis

Question 26

Medical Biotechnology

Biotechnology also includes such areas as gene therapy. In gene therapy a normal gene can be inserted into a patient or diseased genes can be replaced with normal genes. In gene therapy a new gene is inserted into a ____1____ which is used to introduce modified ____2____ into a human cell. If successful the cell will make a new protein.

Answer 26

1. Vector
2. DNA

Question 27

Medical Biotechnology

In stem cell therapy stem cells can be transferred directly to the recipient where they will develop to the appropriate lineage.

An example of this is a bone ____1____ transplant as used in the treatment of Leukaemia or several forms of SCID.

An alternative form is where stem cells are manipulated outside of the body such as they are programmed to develop to the cell of choice and then they are administered to the patient.

Answer 27

1. Marrow

Question 28

Regulation in biotechnology

A very important aspect of the biotechnology business involves the regulatory processes that govern the industry. There are a huge range of regulatory authorities involved in the regulation of the biotech industry and regulation covers the development and use of biotechnology products in plants, animals, food, the environment and humans.

It also covers procedures involved in quality assurance (all activities involved in regulating the final quality of a product) and quality control (part of the QA process that involves monitoring of processes and applications to ensure consistent product standards.

Regulations also cover issues surrounding the granting of patents, resolving legal issues and abiding by the regulatory processes required for clinical trials.

Answer 28

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