Week 6 - Biotechnology Flashcards by Gabriella Smith

What are the 4 colours of different biotechnologies ?

White
Red
Grey
Green

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

What type of biotechnology is white?

Industrial - the use of living organisms in industry
E.g. chemicals, enzymes, vitamins, amino acids

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Give an example of a chemical produced by white biotechnology

Citric acid- calcium citrate was produced from lemons and converted to citric acid chemically

Lactic acid - made by microbes, used as a preservative in plastic

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Give some examples of enzymes traditionally extracted from animals/plants:

Amylase
Pepsin
Protease

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Which 2 ways can enzymes be produced from fungi ?

Emersed culture = growing fungus on a bed of straw and use liquids from that - produce amylase & protease
Submerged culture = fungus grown in liquid
- much cheaper, higher yield and more continuous

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

What is meant by immobilised enzymes ?

Enzymes that are fixed in some way e.g. in gel or to a membrane

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Why might immobilised enzymes be used in manufacturing give an example of an immobilised enzyme?

During enzyme recycling, some enzymes are expensive or need to be removed from the end product
For example : Glucose isomerase was immobilised so it could remain in place to keep converting glucose to fructose (as glucose is expensive to make) to form fructose sweetener

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

What type of biotechnology is red?

Using vaccines and recombinant proteins

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

What are recombinant proteins and there main uses?

Proteins that are produced by genetically modified organisms.
Used as replacements for missing or defective proteins
Used to inhibit infectious agents

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

What is the most important/common recombinant protein?

Insulin

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Where was insulin originally taken from?

Pigs or cows - but allergic reactions where happening

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

How is recombinant insulin produced more recently ?

By inserting insulin gene into E.coli and then harvesting it
- We had to tweak the sequence to modify the protein and prevent clumping when being injected

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

What was the first infectious disease to be eradicated worldwide due to vaccines?

Small pox (1977)

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

What are the 3 types of vaccines?

Subunit vaccines
Inactive vaccines
Attenuated vaccines

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

What is a subunit vaccine ?

A section/fragment of a pathogen e.g. viral coat protein

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

What is an inactive vaccine?

Pathogen itself is no longer functional (heat treated)

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

What is an attenuated vaccine?

A live pathogen that’s been weakened - not able to cause disease
- but risk it may revert back to pathogenic strain

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

How can new vaccines be developed ?

-Sequence genomes to find antigens:
Sequence pathogenic genome, Identify
genes and proteins responsible for immune
responses
-Use viral genomes:
Use vaccinia virus to make new vaccines
-DNA-based vaccines
-mRNA vaccines
Dendritic cells take up mRNA delivered in a
lipid nanoparticle and produce the antigen
protein. E.g. covid P fizer

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Which type of biotechnology do stem cells fit into?

Red biotechnology

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

What are the 3 different potencies of stem cells?

Totipotent = can differentiate into ALL cells

Pluripotent = can differentiate into all cells but
not extra-embryonic ones

Multipotent = differentiate into SOME - not all

What is a hematopoietic stem cell?

It is a type of multipotent stem cell found in the bone marrow, that produces all blood cells (red and white).

Which 2 cell lines do hematopoietic stem cells develop into to make different cell types?

Lymphoid progenitors
Myeloid progenitors

Where are intestinal epithelial stem cells (ISCs) found?

Small intestine

Which 4 cell types can intestinal epithelial stem cells differentiate into?

- Absorptive epithelial cells - Goblet cells - Enteroendocrine cells - Paneth cells

What is an embryonic stem cell (ESC) ?

A pluripotent stem cell, derived from the blastocyst

What are induced pluripotent stem cells?

Where changes in gene expression allow the reversion of adult cells into stem cells

What is the most commonly used stem cell in therapy?

Hematopoietic cells ( bone marrow transplant)

When blood typing what i the difference between A, B and O ?

Different alleles of the same gene for the terminal carbohydrate are what changes the different blood groups

Which blood group is the universal donor ?

What is the process of DNA fingerprinting?

1. DNA was extracted, cut with restriction enzymes and run on gel 2. A Southern blot was used, where DNA was transferred to a nylon filter 3. Radiolabelled DNA probes were used, which bind to complementary DNA 4. autoradiograph was generated, where radiation-sensitive film is placed over the blot and DNA bound to the probes appear as bands on the film. 5. The restriction pattern is matched to the victim’s

What is the difference between mini and micro satellites?

mini = 10-100 bp micro = 2-5 bp

What method can be used to identify species and what could this be used for (real world) ?

DNA barcoding : Uses conserved regions of genome Horse meat scandal

What is grey biotechnology used for?

Bioremediation and biofuels

What is bioremediation?

The use of living organisms or their products to break down waste and pollutants in the environment

Which microbe can neutralise heavy metal pollutants?

E.coli can use metallothioneins to neutralise heavy metal pollutants such as cadmium and mercury. Metallothioneins are found on cell surface and bind to heavy metals, reducing their bioavailability

Which microbe can degrade toxic chemicals?

Fungi

What type of fungi can degrade lignin?

White rot fungi

What does Phytoremediation mean?

Using plants for bioremediation of soil, water and air

How did sunflower plants help improve Ukraine?

They removed radio active cesium and strontium at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine.

What are biofuels?

Fuel produced through biological processes e.g. from agriculture

What is bioethanol produced from?

Sugarcane or maize - microbes convert sugars into ethanol

What are the first generation biofuels called?

Biogas Bioethanol Biodiesel

What is the second gen biofuel ?

Lignocellulose biomass (Agricultural waste products)

What is the third gen of biofuels ?

Biofuels from algae

What is green biotechnology?

Agriculture, the use of crop plants and agricultural systems - uses genetic modifications

What are some plant transformation methods?

- Agrobacterium tumefaciens - Gene gun or particle bombardment

How is Agrobacterium tumefaciens used as a molecular tool?

Normally it is a plant pathogen that causes Crown Gall. 1. Remove the disease-causing genes from the plasmid 2. Insert desired gene 3. Produces excess of the thing, e.g. auxin

How do gene guns work?

Gold particles are coated in the DNA construct to be introduced, they then are fired at target cells - cells are then regenerated into whole plant

Name one of the 4 GM crops dominating global production

Soybean Maize Cotton Oilseed rape

What are the 2 main traits of GM plants?

- Herbicide tolerance - Insect resistance