1. Types of companies involved in Biotechnology
Syed Abdullah Gilani

2. Generally recognized as the first biotechnology company
1976 – Genentech Inc. – small company near San Francisco, California was founded
Generally recognized as the first biotechnology company
Global industry – hundreds of products on the market, generating more than $63 billion in worldwide revenues, including $40 billion in sales of biological drugs
Enzymes, antibodies, growth factors, vaccines, hormones
Cancer, diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, AIDS and several other diseases
95% of biotechnology companies are in North America, Europe, and Japan
4900 companies in 54 countries (India and China – rapidly developing industry)

3. 1500 biotechnology companies in the United States
Closely associated with colleges and universities or located near major universities where basic science ideas for biotechnological applications are generated
Biotechnology Industry Organization – for biotechnology centers in the US
Large pharmaceutical companies are getting involved now in biotechnological research or product development
Range of companies – small to large size (30 – over 300 employees)

4. Top-Five Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Companies (Revenue-wise)
Biotech Companies Revenue ($Million)
Amgen ,022
Genentech 6,633
Genzyme 2,597
Biogen Idec 2,377
Chiron 1,921
Pfizer ,298
Johnson & Johnson 50,656
Merck & Co ,000
Bristol-Myers Squibb 19,207
Eli Lilly & Co 14,645

7. Applications of Biotechnology
Microbial Biotechnology
Microbes
Use of yeast
Manipulating microorganisms (bacteria and yeast), enzymes and products are produced for making many foods,
simplifying manufacturing and production processes, and
making decontamination processes for industrial waste product removal more efficient
Leaching of oil and minerals from the soil to increase mining efficiency
Microbes used to clone and produce batch amounts of important proteins used in human medicine including insulin and growth hormone

8. Applications of Biotechnology
Agricultural Biotechnology
Ag-biotech
Genetically engineered plants
Pest resistant plants – do not need to be sprayed with pesticides to foods with higher protein or vitamin content and drugs developed and grown as plant products
Drought tolerant, tolerance to cold temperature, greater food yields
Plants can be engineered to produce a wide range of pharmaceutical proteins in a broad array of crop species and tissues

9. Bt cotton
Bt cotton has been genetically modified by the insertion of one or more genes from a common soil bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis.
These genes encode for the production of insecticidal proteins, and thus, genetically transformed plants produce one or more toxins as they grow.
The genes that have been inserted into cotton produce toxins that are limited in activity almost exclusively to caterpillar pests (Lepidoptera).
However, other strains of Bacillus thuringiensis have genes that encode for toxins with insecticidal activity on some beetles (Coleoptera) and flies (Diptera).
Some of these genes are being used to control pests in other crops, such as corn.

10. US$ 7 billion business in US only
Biofuels – provide ethanol source other than corn
Future biofuel efficient sources of energy – agricultural wastes, prairie grasses, and other high cellulose sources
Molecular pharming – use of plants as sources of pharmaceutical products
Tobacco- engineered to produce recombinant proteins in their leaves as pharmaceutical products

11. Applications of Biotechnology
Animal Biotechnology
Bioreactors – animals are used to produce important products
Goats, sheep, cattle, chicken – antibodies production
Antibodies help in improving immune system and destroy any foreign material in body cells
Human therapeutic proteins are produced by animals
Needed in kilograms, therefore in future transgenic female animals may be produced that may express therapeutic proteins in their milk
Knockout experiments – to know about the functions of gene or genes because genes in mice or rats are also present in humans

12. 1997 – Roslin Institute, Scotland – cloned sheep, Dolly
Created by cell nuclear transfer process
Many other animals have been cloned since Dolly
Cloned animals may contain genetically engineered organs that can be transplanted into humans without fears of tissue rejection

13. Applications of Biotechnology
Forensic Biotechnology
Law enforcement agencies analyze DNA of the suspect whether he is culprit or innocent
DNA fingerprinting technique is used
Traces of tissues, hair, blood, body fluid
Crimes, paternity cases for pinpointing child’s father, identifying human remains
DNA fingerprinting is also used
on endangered species to stop poaching and convictions of criminals by analyzing the DNA of their “catch”
Escherichia coli in contaminated meat and to track diseases such as AIDS, meningitis, tuberculosis, Lyme disease, and the West Nile Virus
French company – gene expression test on expensive food products to identify cheap, substitute or mystery meats (cats, eels)

14. Applications of Biotechnology
Bioremediation
To process and degrade a variety of natural and manmade substances, particularly environmental pollutant
used to clean up environmental hazards that have been caused by industrial progress, industrial sewages
1970 – US patent of GMO – Ananda Chakrabarty
Developed strain of bacteria that was capable of degrading components in crude oil
1989 – Strains of bacteria Pseudomonas were used to clean Alaskan beaches following the Exxon Valdez oil spill
Applied nutrients that stimulated growth of Pseudomonas to help speed up the bioremediation process

15. Applications of Biotechnology
Aquatic Biotechnology
Water covers the majority of earth
Aquaculture – oldest application of biotechnology, raising finfish or shellfish in controlled conditions for use as food sources
Shellfish, salmon, catfish, trout
30% of all fish consumed by human all over the world are produced through aquaculture
Genetic engineering – disease-resistant oysters and vaccines against viruses that infect salmon and other finfish

16. Transgenic salmon – overproduce growth hormone leading to extraordinary growth rates over short growing periods – decreasing time and resources
Aquatic organisms – living under harshest conditions of the world – salt, cold, pressure from living at great depths, and other environmental constraints
Important or new genes, proteins, metabolic processes may have important applications for human benefits
Example: marine plankton and snails – rich sources of antitumor and anticancer molecules
Enzymes from the microorganisms living at extreme natural hot waters

17. Applications of Biotechnology
Medical Biotechnology
Drugs and recombinant proteins
Vast area in medicine is covered – preventive medicine to the diagnosis of health and illness to the treatment of human disease conditions
Over 325 million people worldwide used drugs and medicines produced through biotechnology
Human genome project – helping in diagnosis of hereditary diseases, identify defective genes and decipher the details of genetic diseases (sickle cell anemia, cystic fibrosis, cancer causes, forms of infertility etc)
Gene therapy – genetic disease conditions can be treated by inserting normal genes into a patient or replacing disease gene with normal genes

18. Stem cell technology – newest technology – controversial
Stem cells are immature cells that have the potential to develop and specialize into different types of human tissue that might be used in transplantations to replace damaged tissue
Complex legal, ethical and scientific issues