What Biotech IS… Look at this stuff! These things are all products of biotechnology. Beer & Wine: Yeast is used in the fermentation process during the production of alcoholic beverages. Soft Drinks: Check the label! High fructose corn syrup can be found in everything from soft drinks to potato chips. Microorganisms and enzymes are used to make the very sweet substance. Flowers, seeds and popcorn: All plants are products of years of breeding for specific desired genetic traits. Vitamins: vitamins are produced from all sorts of living sources, including plants, fish and microorganisms. Yogurt: Ever notice the words “live yogurt cultures” on the yogurt containers? A bacterium helps turn milk into yogurt. Medicine: For years antibiotics and vaccines have been produced using microorganisms with modified genes.

What is Biotechnology? Biotechnology (by-o-tek-nawl-a-gee) Bio—short for biology—the study of living things Technology—another word for tools, engineering, science Biotechnology is a tool that uses biology to make new and better products Biotechnology is a tool to find solutions that improve the health of the Earth and its people Biotechnology is a big word, but is easy figure if you look closer. Bio—short for biology—the study of living things Technology—another word for tools, engineering and science Biotechnology is a tool that uses biology to make new and better products… Plants & living organisms (fungus, bacteria, animals) used to make something new. Plants and animals become more useful/beneficial Biotechnology will help us Grow more food Help the environment Grow more nutritious food that improves health

Three areas of Biotechnology What is Biotechnology? Three areas of Biotechnology Agriculture Developing plants and animals that can produce well in a variety of environments. Ex: Can produce during drought, cold, or heat. Resistant to disease, insects, herbicides. Use of less fertilizer, pesticide, and herbicide. Science Producing food that will: reduce spoilage rate taste better have an increased nutritional value have an improved texture or appearance Medicine Miracle drugs Antibiotics Vaccines What is agriculture? (Agri – land, Culture – to grow: Agriculture means growing crops or raising livestock on the land.) Biotechnology will help us Grow more food Help the environment Grow more nutritious food that improves health Careers Lesson

Traditional Plant Breeding Is Biotech New? Biotechnology is an extension of Traditional Plant Breeding

Cells and Organelles Cells are the building blocks that make up all living things Everyone is made of cells The construction instructions for cells came from other living things….every cell contains DNA—the substance that makes us unique Cells are very small….you can only see them under a microscope

Gene Discovery & Expression Genes tell how to build and manage a cell You can’t see genes since they are microscopic All people, plants and animals inherit traits from their parents through genes How an organism looks and functions is a result of the cumulative effect of all molecules Genes are a hereditary unit contained in DNA that carry and store information that we need to live Thousands of traits make you who you are….traits such as eye color, height and hair color are determined by your genes Parents have two units (genes) that carry traits that determine what their offspring will look like Each parent passes one of these traits to their offspring Chrosomes are DNA molecules coiled and bunched together Humans have 46 chromosomes that sort into 23 pairs One chromosome in each of the 23 pairs comes from the father…the other from the mother This information keeps its identity from generation to generation Gregor Mendel discovered the rules of genetics in the 1860s by experimenting with peas Genes tell how to build and manage a cell—you can’t see genes since they are microscopic Some genes are dominant and others are recessive Dominant genes are expressed in the offspring, recessive may or may not be expressed

TRADITIONAL PLANT BREEDING Desired Gene X Many genes are transferred Donor Plant Commercial Plant Variety New Plant Variety PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY + A single gene is transferred Desired Gene Commercial Plant Variety Improved Commercial Plant Variety DonorPlant Breeders select traits for animal performance or plant pest and disease resistance. Traditional methods rely on genes already present in the organism. Sometimes genes may not be available to solve a problem. Conventional breeding may introduce genes for undesirable traits Modern biotechnology enables breeders to pinpoint desirable genes and transfer then singly and in a controlled manner. This is a way to use genes from another species. Biotechnology is an additional tool in breeding. Marble Gene demonstration

Biotechnology and You Improvements in food production—especially in cheese making Chymosin has replaced rennet that was traditionally used in cheese production Biotechnology has produced recombinant Chymosin (rtChymosin) USDA Approved the enzyme in 1990 Chymosin has created an endless supply of a good quality product 75% of cheese is using a protein produced by biotechnoloy Rennet is a naturally occurring enzyme in the lining of calves’ stomachs that is traditionally used in cheese making. Rennet varies in purity form 60-100% The gene from the stomach cell is removed and inserted into a bacterial or yeast cell—resulting in the production of the rennin enzyme. This enzyme was named recombinant Chymosin (rtChymosin) and was appoved by USDA in 1990. Chymosin has created and end less supply of a good quality product because it is easier to obtain and is more plentiful that rennet.

How DNA Works DNA forms the genetic code Nearly every living thing has unique DNA DNA makes proteins DNA molecules are shaped like two long ladders twisted around and around There are 6 types of chemicals that make up DNA DNA is a microscopic material in cells that tells them how to operate and look DNA is found in the nucleus of cells In humans DNA is a very long molecule—if we stretched out the DNA from one cell it would be 6 feet long. DNA makes proteins, proteins make cells, cells make up lining things In 1953 James Watson and Frances Crick determined the structure of DNA. Because of their work, scientists have been able to learn many things about DNA and biotechnology Each strand of the ladder is composed of alternating sugar and phosphates The rungs of the ladder are made up of the other 4 chemiclas: adenine, thymine, cytosine & guanine (A T C G) Each rung is made up of 2 chemicals. Adenine always joins thymine to make a rung and cytosine always joins guanine ot make another rung Although DNA only uses 4 chemicals, it is almost impossible to count the potential combinations Do DNA Dance and DNA Extraction

Recombinant DNA Identify and cut the selected gene using restriction enzymes Restriction enzymes occur naturally in bacteria (as a protective mechanism against bacteriophage) and cut double-stranded DNA at specific restriction sites of 4 to 8 nucleotides in a palindromic arrangement. The cuts can be blunt or staggered so that when the two strands are separated, they have complementary cohesive or “sticky” ends that will easily bind to each other or to other complementary pieces of DNA. There are many different restriction enzymes, each of which cuts DNA only at a specific sequence. Methylation of nuceltides at the restriction site will interfere with restriction digestion.

Insert that gene into a plasmid (a plasmid is a circular piece of DNA used like a bus or shuttle…) The cut pieces are mixed, and the gene inserts itself into the plasmid, first by simple hydrogen bonding of the bases; then a DNA ligase is added to join the phosphonucleotides. Paper Plasmid Activity

Place the plasmid into a bacterial cell where the desired traits can be produced. Clone the plasmid. Then the recombinant plasmid is put into E. coli, which is grown on selective media (to select colonies with the plasmid, which also carries an antibiotic resistance gene). As the E. coli colonies grow, the plasmid replicates, often several times for each time the bacterial chromosome replicates itself. This gives us many copies of the plasmid and the inserted gene. Do Paper Plasmid Activity

Polymerase Chain Reaction To make many copies of specific pieces of DNA The polymerase chain reaction is the selective amplification, many thousand fold, of certain segments of DNA. Primers (short pieces of DNA complementary to the sequence at either end of the region you want to amplify) attach to either end of the region of interest, and DNA polymerase attaches and moves from along each strand, adding nucleotides to form a new complementary strain (note that DNA polymerase can only move in the 5’ to 3’ direction). PCR Activity

The Future of Biotechnology Land is a precious resource. The world’s population is growing but the amount of land we have for farming is not! It will become harder to grow food for everyone on Earth. Biotechnology is one method being used to help farmers grow more food. Someday, we could be able to grow food on land that was not good for farming—too dry, too rocky, etc. With a growing world population and shrinking farmlands how can we continue feeding ourselves? Biotechnology is one answer to this growing problem. Feed the Hungry world Lesson