case study 3 Flashcards
Biotechnology
is the use of living systems and organisms to develop or make useful products, or “any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use
genetic modification (GM)
the manipulation (as through genetic engineering) of living organisms or their components to produce useful usually commercial products (as pest resistant crops, new bacterial strains, or novel pharmaceuticals)
Evolution
is Life’s GM. Chances are that solutions to biotechnology problems already exist – one just needs to find them. selective environments can expedite the evolutionary process for us rather than going into gm.
Extremophiles
are organisms that have been discovered on Earth that survive in environments that were once thought not to be able to sustain life. These extreme environments include intense heat, highly acidic environments, extreme pressure and extreme cold.
Extremophiles types
Acidophiles, Neutrophiles, Alkaliphiles Hyperthermophiles Thermophiles Mesophiles Pyschrophiles
Why are extremophiles important?
environmental selection processes have generally sorted out
solutions to our technology needs
• technological value lies in greater efficiency, faster rates, greater stability
• Extremophiles / extremozymes are adapted to non- conventional physicochemical conditions – competitive advantage
extremophile biotechnology
Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) - Thermus aquaticus DNA polymerase pivotal to success can withstand the high temp cycles
why does temperature increase enzyme reaction rates
Temperature has a significant kinetic effect on enzyme catalyzed reactions. We need to look for enzymes which can survive at high temp to benefit from theses kinetic advantages.
Kinetics of Enzyme deactivation
deactivation of the enzyme (denaturation) will occur if the temperature gets too hot as Enzymes are protein molecules that can be destabilized (denatured) by relatively weak forces. The inactivation of an enzyme is typically first order