1. Introduction to Biotechnology

2. Contents
What Is Biotechnology and What Does It Mean to You?
Types of Biotechnology

3. What Is Biotechnology and What Does It Mean to You?

4. What Is Biotechnology and What Does It Mean to You?
Biotechnology – using living organisms, or the products of living organisms, for human benefit to make a product or solve a problem
Historical Examples
Fermentation
Selective breeding
Use of antibiotics

5. Example of Biotechnology – Selective Breeding
What feature of Casper makes it a "model organism" to study migration of cancer cells compared to wildtype fish?
(a)
(b)
Normal zebrafish
"Casper" zebrafish – made by selective breeding
Answer: Via selective breeding, by mating a zebrafish mutant that lacked reflective pigment with a zebrafish that lacked black pigment, Casper is transparent. This feature allows scientists to inject fluorescent cancer cells into Casper's abdominal cavity and then track the migration of those cells to specific locations in his body.

6. Based on this tree, can you become successful in the biotech industry only studying biology?
Answer: No, you need to take many science courses including biology, computer science, chemistry, math (especially statistics). If you are not broadly trained, you will not be able to obtain a job in this growing field!

7. What Is Biotechnology and What Does It Mean to You?
Examples of applications
development of disease-resistant plants
food crops that produce greater yields
"golden rice" engineered to be more nutritious
genetically engineered bacteria that can degrade environmental pollutants
Modern Examples
Gene cloning
Genetic engineering
Recombinant DNA technology
Started Modern Biotech as an industry
Human Genome Project
Work in groups to come up with more examples of applications

8. Types of Biotechnology

9. Types of Biotechnology
Microbial Biotechnology
Agricultural Biotechnology
Animal Biotechnology
Forensic Biotechnology
Bioremediation
Aquatic Biotechnology
Medical Biotechnology
Regulatory Biotechnology

10. Microbial Biotechnology
Microbial Biotechnology – manipulation of microorganisms such as yeast and bacteria
Create better enzymes
More efficient decontamination processes for industrial waste product removal
Used to clone and produce large amounts of important proteins used in human medicine

11. Agricultural Biotechnology
United Nations Food and Agricultural Org. predicts by 2050, we will need to feed a world population of 9.1 billion! This requires raising food production by approximately 70%!
Work in groups to brainstorm a few solutions to better feed the world by 2050.
Answer: This will vary, depending on what students come up with. Probably, most will discuss use of recombinant technology to genetically modify foods. For example, scientists can create better crops that are perhaps more drought resistant. They can create ways to better preserve fruits and vegetables so they don't quickly rot and get wasted. Perhaps create crops that are foul tasting to pests including bugs and animals so that the crops survive. Perhaps create ways to have crops grow even in the most extreme conditions. Students will probably discuss better ways to feed people without relying on being carnivores. A lot of the discussion will be ways to obtain proteins from other novel food sources.

12. Agricultural Biotechnology
Plants more environmentally friendly that yield more per acre (genetically engineered)
Resistance to diseases and insects
Foods with higher protein or vitamin content
Drugs developed and grown as plant products
These better plants ultimately reduce production costs to help feed the growing world population
How can you use this technology in a third world country to create a better corn crop?
Will improved crops that are created to satisfy world hunger reduce available land for biofuel crops?
Answer: This is an ethical question and should lead to some powerful discussions during class. Make sure to discuss what is meant by biofuel crops.

13. Animal Biotechnology
Animals as a source of medically valuable proteins
Antibodies
Transgenic animals
Animals as important models in basic research
Gene "knockout" experiments
Design and testing of drugs and genetic therapies
Animal cloning
Source of transplant organs

14. Transgenic Animal
transgenic animal: way to achieve large scale production of therapeutic proteins from animals for use in humans
Female transgenic animals express therapeutic proteins in milk (contains genes from another source)
Example: human genes coding for clotting proteins can be introduced into female goats for production of these proteins in their milk

15. Gene Knockout
Disrupt a gene in the animal and then look at what functions are affected in the animal as a result of the loss of the gene
This allows researchers to determine the role and function of the gene
Since humans are similar to rats and mice, gene knockout studies in rats and mice can lead to better understanding of gene function in humans.
Work in groups and give an example of a gene you would like to knockout in mice.
Answer: Will vary depending on the group's idea.
Perhaps, you want to study the role of insulin in preventing diabetes. By knocking out the gene coding for insulin, you can observe the animal's response (development of diabetes). Then scientists can inject recombinant insulin to the animal and again, study their responses to the treatment.

16. Forensic Biotechnology
DNA fingerprinting
Inclusion or exclusion of a person from suspicion
Paternity cases
Identification of human remains
Endangered species
Tracking and confirmation of the spread of disease
Based on DNA results from this gel, did the defendant commit this crime? Explain based on the gel results.
Answer: Based on the gel results, there is evidence that the defendant committed the crime. The position of the bands as well as number of bands on the gel match with the victim's blood. It is important to note, that though the bands are very light for the sample from the jeans, they also match the victim's blood.

17. Bioremediation
The use of biotechnology to process and degrade a variety of natural and manmade substances
Particularly those that contribute to environmental pollution
Example – stimulated growth of bacteria that degrade components in crude oil
1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska
2010 Deep Water Horizon spill promoted research into natural oil-degrading organisms and enzymes

18. Aquatic Biotechnology
Aquaculture – raising fish or shellfish in controlled conditions for use as food sources
50% of all fish consumed by humans worldwide
Genetic engineering
Disease-resistant strains of oysters
Vaccines against viruses that infect salmon and other fish
Transgenic salmon that overproduce growth hormone
Why create transgenic salmon overproducing growth hormone?
How does this modified salmon help humans?
Bioprospecting: rich and valuable sources of new genes, proteins and metabolic processes with important applications for human benefits
Marine plankton and snails found to be rich sources of antitumor and anticancer molecules
Answer 1. By creating transgenic salmon that overproduce Growth Hormone, it allows the salmon to have fast growth rates over a short period of time.

19. Medical Biotechnology
Involved with the whole spectrum of human medicine
Preventive medicine
Diagnosis of health and illness
Treatment of human diseases
New information from Human Genome Project
Gene therapy
Stem cell technologies
Stem cells – grown in lab and then treated with different chemicals to allow them to develop into specific kinds of tissues needed for transplant
Current use: stem cells are used for diabetes; spinal cord injuries
Work in groups to come up with a list of other diseases you have read about in the newspaper or heard on the news that scientists are testing with stem cells.
Answer: the answers will vary! Remember, most of these diseases are only be tested with stem cell therapy in animal models. They are not being used in the clinic yet!!!
Some possible answers:
Parkinson's
Alzheimer's
Leukemia
Other types of cancer
Eye diseases such as glaucoma, macular degeneration

20. Regulatory Biotechnology
Quality Assurance (QA)
All activities involved in regulating the final quality of a product
Quality Control (QC)
Part of QA process that involves lab testing and monitoring of processes and applications to ensure consistent product standards
Together QA and QC ensure that biotechnology products meet strict standards for purity and performance
Why as a consumer should you care about a product undergoing intense regulations?
Answer: You want to use a product that will be used only to do its specified job. If it is contaminated with some other source, it might not do its job! For example, when you buy a car at the dealer, you are ensured that the car will work because of high regulations within that industry. Now that biotech is a mainstay, it also needs tight regulations too!