Biotechnology Agriscience Applications What is Biotechnology The use

Biotechnology Agriscience Applications

What is Biotechnology? • The use of living organisms (microorganisms, animal cells, plant cells, or components of cells) to make new products or carry out processes (solve problems). • Bio: – Life or living • Biotechnology: – The application of living processes to technology.

Examples • When biotechnology was used to make a new product = Yogurt • When biotechnology was used to carry out a new process = Tissue culture in plants to rapidly multiply plants – Ex: Venus Flytraps

Time to take a trip • Organism • • Yeast Peas Hybrids BST Product How was it before? Makes bread soft/rise hard bread used to how traits are passed guess mix cool traits from dif breeds didn’t exist helps cows make more milk kept only best cows

Historic Applications • Organisms and organism processes have been utilized for centuries • Examples: – Use of yeast to make bread rise – Use of bacteria to produce various kinds of cheeses – Use of microorganisms to transform fruit/grains into alcoholic beverages

Historic applications (cont) – Use of bacteria to produce silage – E. coli bacteria is used to produce insulin. (One of the first commercial products produced by genetic engineering)

Background Information • All living things have cells and in those cells DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid). • Have you ever seen DNA? • No! It’s microscopic, so how did we ever figure out it was there?

Genetics • Gregor Mendel – Austrian monk – “Father of genetics” • Discovered the effect of genetics on plant characteristics with his experimentation with garden peas. • Published his work in 1866. – Verified in 1900

Terms • What is Genetics? – The science/biology of heredity.

Terms • What is Genetics? – The science/biology of heredity. • What is Heredity? – The transmission of characteristics from an organism to its offspring through genes in reproductive cells.

• What is Heredity? – The transmission of characteristics from an organism to its offspring through genes in reproductive cells. • What are Genes? – Segments of DNA (Components of cells) which determine the individual characteristics of living things. • Ex: Plant height at maturity, flower color, ears of corn per stalk, animal size, etc. Terms

Terms • What is Heredity? – The transmission of characteristics from an organism to its offspring through genes in reproductive cells. • What is a generation? – The offspring, or progeny, of common parents

Cells • Basis of all genetic activity. • Cell Fast Facts – Basic unit of life. – Microscopic in size. – All life begins as a single cell. – Genetic material held in the nucleus

Chromosomes • Structure made of tightly wound DNA that holds the genetic information of a cell.

DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) • Coded material in all cell nuclei that determines what the cell and its successive cells will become. • Structured like a twisted ladder (double helix)

DNA Structure • Bases: Rungs of the ladder that hold the two sides together. – Adenine couples only with Thymine – Thymine couples only with Adenine – Cytosine couples only with Guanine – Guanine couples only with Cytosine

DNA Structure • The sequence of bases between the DNA strands is the code by which a gene controls a specific trait – Baldness in humans – Tendency of female goats to have twins

Genes • Small section of DNA. • Thousands of genes on a strand of DNA.

Gene Mapping • The process of finding & recording the location of genes. – Matching of genes to certain traits.

Biotechnology Practices 1. Genetic engineering developed in the early 1980’s as the process of moving genetic information in the form of genes from one cell to another. • This has been termed Gene splicing or recombinant DNA technology • The process of removing genes from one organism and inserting them into the DNA of another organism.

Biotechnology Practices • Gene splicing or recombinant DNA technology – The process of removing genes from one organism and inserting them into the DNA of another organism. – Ex: Altering a plants susceptibility to disease, making a plant resistant to insects – Process is newer in animals so techniques are not as well developed

Biotechnology Practices 2. Cloning (also known as micropropagation or tissue culture in plants) • Creating an exact genetic duplicate of another organism

Biotechnology Practices 2. Cloning (also known as micropropagation or tissue culture in plants) • Creating an exact genetic duplicate of another organism • This has also been done in animals less often – Dolly the sheep was born in 1996 • World's first animal to be cloned from an adult somatic cell (body and not reproductive cells)

Biotechnology Practices 3. Indicator Species – – Uses plants, animals, and microbes to warn us about pollutants in the environment One of the world’s oldest methods of biological detection. Tufted evening-primrose (Oenothera caespitosa) is a common associate of uranium-indicator plants and occurs in calcium-rich soil. Photo courtesy of Wayne Padgett, Bureau of Land Management.

Biotechnology Practices 4. Bioremediation – A set of techniques that use living organisms to clean up toxic waste in water and soil. Can be done on site or once pollutants are removed to separate location

Biotechnology Practices 5. Phytoremediation – Type of bioremediation where plants absorb and immobilize pollutants. First actively tested in 1990 s.

Biotechnology Practices 6. Biostimulation – Adding nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous to stimulate the growth of naturally occurring beneficial microbes for faster more efficient work.

Biotechnology Practices 7. Animal Reproduction and Production – – The processes used to improve the efficiency of reproduction and production of animals. One of the more conventional uses of biotechnology.

Biotechnology Practices 8. Biofuels – Fuels composed of or produced from biological raw materials.

Recombinant DNA Importance Remember: Recombinant DNA is the process of removing genes from one organism and inserting them into the DNA of another organism. • Why is this important? What could we do with this technology? n

Recombinant DNA Importance n Improve plants’ and animals’ performance through the manipulation of genes. • Ex: Golden Rice • Alter characteristics or performance of microorganisms. – Ex: Improve bioremediation • Great potential for controlling disease, insects, weeds, and other pests. – Ex: Herbicide resistant crops • Less use of chemical pesticides. – Ex: Herbicide resistant crops • Potential for helping clean the environment – Ex: Bioremediation improvements

• Sounds great, right? What are some potential problems?

Concerns with the use of Biotechnology • Fall under two categories: – Safety Should we do These things? – Ethics – How far should Scientists be Allowed to take it

Concerns with the use of Biotechnology • Safety – State and Federal government monitor the development of newly developed biotech food products – Includes regulation by EPA, FDA, and USDA

Concerns with the use of Biotechnology • Safety – Consumer resistance to new biotech food products remains high due to safety of the environment and human health concerns. Most people do not understand the science behind it and it scares them.

Concerns with the use of Biotechnology • Safety – Biotechnology is a rapidly changing field, which when not fully understood, for some people can create a fear of the unknown

Concerns with the use of Biotechnology • Safety – Labeling of genetically modified foods – many people feel that genetically modified stuff should be labeled. this is not required by law.

Concerns with the use of Biotechnology • Safety – Concern has been expressed over the effect GMOs may have on biodiversity. When we create these new seeds, some of the variety of what we used to eat disappears.

Concerns with the use of Biotechnology Rick Hellmich, an entomologist with the Agricultural Research Service and co-author of the follow-up report, told National Geographic that “butterflies are safer in a Btcornfield than they are in a conventional cornfield, when they’re subjected to chemical pesticides that kill not just caterpillars but most insects in the field. ”

Concerns with the use of Biotechnology • Ethics: a system of moral principles that defines what is right and wrong in a society – In biotechnology: The ability to manipulate genetics of living organisms raises important ethical questions about how biotechnology should be used. We do not need a real life Jurassic World situation on our hands.

How do scientists come up with this stuff? • The scientific method is used to solve many problems, including those faced in biotechnology. – – – – Identify the problem Review literature Form a hypothesis Prepare a project proposal Design the experiment Collect the data Draw conclusions Prepare a written report

Biotechnology in the Plant Science Industry • Herbicide and Insect Resistant Crops – The product of genetic engineering • Herbicide Tolerance – Soybeans have been genetically engineered with a gene that provides resistance to one or two broad spectrum herbicides. – Several crops have this resistance including Canola, Corn, Cotton, Lettuce, Potatoes, Sugar Beets, Tomatoes, Alfalfa

Biotechnology in the Plant Science Industry • Herbicide and Insect Resistant Crops – The product of genetic engineering • Insect – Resistant Crops – Contains a built-in insecticidal protein from a naturally occurring soil microorganism (Bt – Bacillis thuringiensis) that gives season-long control of borers

Biotechnology in the Plant Science Industry • Herbicide and Insect Resistant Crops – The product of genetic engineering • Many other plants have been modified to tolerate herbicides and resist insects and diseases including alfalfa, canola, cotton, potatoes, rice and many others.

Biotechnology in the Plant Science Industry • Crops with better nutrition and longer shelf life are also product of genetic engineering – High Oleic Peanut – genetically modified to produce nuts with high oleic acid levels that result in longer shelf life for nuts, candy, and peanut butter

Biotechnology in the Plant Science Industry • Crops with better nutrition and longer shelf life are also product of genetic engineering – High Oleic Sunflower – genetically modified to produce sunflower oil that is low in trans-fatty acids

Biotechnology in the Plant Science Industry • Crops with better nutrition and longer shelf life are also product of genetic engineering – Delayed ripening tomato – the longer shelf life has commercial advantages in harvesting and shipping.

Biotechnology in the Plant Science Industry • Tissue culture (micropropagation) – the use of a very small actively growing part of the plant to produce a large number of new plants. – Ex: African Violets or Venus Fly Traps