Intro to Biotechnologies Flashcards
What does biotechnology mean as defined by the CFIA?
- Biotechnology means the application of science and engineering in the direct or indirect use of living organisms, or parts or products of living organisms, in their natural or modified forms.
- This term is very broad and includes the use of traditional or conventional breeding, as well as more modern techniques such as genetic engineering.
- “Modern biotechnology” is used to distinguish newer applications of biotechnology, such as genetic engineering from more conventional methods such as breeding, or fermentation.
BIOS (alive) + TECHNIKOS (technical)
What does biotechnology mean per the American Chemical Society?
- Biotechnology is the application of biological organisms, systems, or processes by various industries to learning about the science of life and the improvement of the value of materials and organisms such as pharmaceuticals, crops, and livestock.
What does biotechnology mean per the European Federation of Biotechnology?
- Biotechnology is the integration of natural science and organisms, cells, parts thereof, and molecular analogues for products and services.
Define: bioengineering
- The application of the principles of engineering and natural sciences to tissues, cells and molecules.
- This can be considered as the use of knowledge from working with and manipulating biology to achieve a result that can improve functions in plants and animals.
What is transgenic biotechnology?
- A known gene is inserted/silenced/modified into an animal, plant, or microbial cell in order to achieve a desired trait.
A.K.A. Genetic engineering.
Describe the legislative responsibility for the regulation of biotechnology food and drug products.
- Health Canada
- Food and Drugs Act
Describe the legislative responsibility for the regulation of biotechnology plants, including plants with novel traits and trees.
- CFIA
- Seeds Act
Describe the legislative responsibility for the regulation of fish products of biotechnology.
- Environment Canada & Health Canada
- Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999
Describe critical dates for traditional biotechnologies. [10]
- 8000 BC - Biotech begins as humans begin choosing/altering plants & animals for domestication; potatoes are the first cultivated food.
- 4000 BC - Egyptians master the art of winemaking.
- 500 BC - Mouldy soy bean curds in China become the first antibiotics to treat infections and ailments.
- 1663 - Robert Hooke discovers the existence of the cell.
- 1859 - Darwin’s ‘The Origin of Species’ is published.
- 1865 - Gregor Mendel publishes on the rules governing how heriditary traits pass between generations, the foundation of modern genetics
- 1885 - Vaccine for Rabi’s disease discovered
- 1919 - The word ‘biotechnology’ is used for the first time.
- 1922 - Banting & Best discover insulin as a treatment for diabetes.
- 1928 - Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin.
Describe critical dates for modern biotechnologies. [12]
- 1941 - A. Justin coins the term ‘genetic engineering’.
- 1953 - Watson & Crick describe the structure of DNA.
- 1970 - Werner Arber discovers bacterial defense against viruses using restriction enzymes that cleave viral DNA.
- 1977 - Boyer uses E. coli to produce human insulin.
- 1986 - The first GE plants (tobacco) are grown outside in fields for the first time in the USA.
- 1997 - The first cloned animal (Dolly the sheep) is born. UNESCO adopts the Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights.
- 1998 - C. elegans (roundworm) becomes first multi-cellular organism to have its genome completely sequenced.
- 1999 - Golden rice is developed.
- 2003 - The Human Genome Project is completed.
- 2010 - J. Craig Venter Institute creates the first fully synthetic, self-replicating bacterial cell, which was named Synthia.
- 2012 - A programmable Dual-RNA-Guided DNA Endonuclease is discovered in Adaptive Bacterial Immunity
- 2013 - CRISPR-Cas9 system used for genome engineering
Who won the nobel prize in chemistry in 2020?
- Genetic scissors: a tool for rewriting the code of life
- Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna have discovered one of gene technology’s sharpest tools: the CRISPR/Cas9 genetic scissors.
- Using these, researchers can change the DNA of animals, plants and microorganisms with extremely high precision.
What is molecular biology?
- Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions.
- The discovery of DNA was the foundation for the development of this branch of biology
What is genomics?
- Genomics is the field of molecular biology that studies the genome of the living organisms.
- Genomics consider (1) the structure, (2) the content, (3) the function, and (4) the evolution of the genome.
What is genetic engineering?
- A process that uses lab-based technologies to alter the DNA makeup of an organism.
- Recombinant DNA technologies are widely used in modern biotechnologies.
An example: The bacteria Escherichia coli is used to produce insulin to treat diabetes. Human insulin gene is transferred to the bacteria so that it produces insulin in reactors. Insulin is then isolated and used as a drug for treating diabetes.
List a few sectors which widely use biotechnologies. [7]
- Biomedical
- Pharmaceutical
- Agricultural
- Food processing
- Industrial
- Terrestrial and marine environments (i.e., removable resources)
- Bioinformatics
What is food biotechnology?
The application of biotechnological techniques to the manufacture and processing of food.
Give 6 examples of food biotechnologies.
- Fermentation of food (traditional and modern).
- Yeast and bacteria genetic engineering.
- Protein engineering (e.g., food-processing enzymes such as amylases, proteases and lipases).
- Plant and animal genetic engineering.
- Food additives (e.g., Lactobacillus in yogurt)
- Diagnostic and biosensors
