History of Biotechnology Stages of Biotech Ancient Classical

History of Biotechnology

Stages of Biotech ®Ancient ®Classical ®Modern

Ancient Biotech ®Begins with early civilization ®Developments in ag and food production ®Few records exist

Ancient Biotech ®Archeologists research ®Ancient carvings and sketches sources of information

Classical Biotech ®Follows ancient ®Makes wide spread use of methods from ancient, especially fermentation ®Methods adapted to industrial production

Classical Biotech ®Produce large quantities of food products and other materials in short amount of time ®Meet demands of increasing population

Classical Biotech ®Many methods developed through classical biotech are widely used today.

Modern Biotech ®Manipulation of genetic material within organisms ®Based on genetics and the use of microscopy, biochemical methods, related sciences and technologies

Modern Biotech ®Often known as genetic engineering ®Roots involved the investigation of genes

Ancient Biotech ®Not known when biotech began exactly ®Focused on having food and other human needs

Ancient Biotech ®Useful plants brought from the wild, planted near caves where people lived ®As food was available, ability to store and preserve emerged

Ancient ®Food preservation most likely came from unplanned events such as a fire or freeze

Domestication ® 15, 000 years ago, large animals were hard to capture ®People only had meat when they found a dead animal ®Came up with ways of capturing fish and small animals

Domestication ®Food supplies often seasonal ®Winter food supplies may get quite low ®Domestication is seen by scientists as the beginning of biotech

Domestication ®Adaptation of organisms so they can be cultured ®Most likely began 11, 000 – 12, 000 years ago in the middle east

Domestication ®Involved the collecting of seed from useful plants and growing crude crops from that seed ®Involved the knowledge that the seed had to properly mature

Domestication ®Proper planting ®Need for water, light and other conditions for plant growth ®Earliest plants likely grains and other seeds used for food

Domestication ®Raising animals in captivity began about the same time in history ®Easier to have an animal close by that to hunt and capture a wild one

Domestication ®Learned that animals need food and water ®Learned about simple breeding ®How to raise young

Domestication ®Cattle, goats and sheep were the first domesticated food animals

Domestication ®About 10, 000 years ago, people had learned enough about plants and animals to grow their own food ®The beginning of farming.

Food ®Domestication resulted in food supplies being greater in certain times of the year ®Products were gathered and stored

Food ®Some foods rotted ®Others changed form and continued to be good to eat ®Foods stored in a cool cave did not spoil as quickly

Food ®Foods heated by fire also did not spoil as quickly ®Immersing in sour liquids prevented food decay

Food preservation ®Using processes that prevent or slow spoilage ®Heating, cooling, keeps microorganisms (mo’s) from growing

Food preservation ®Stored in bags of leather or jars of clay ®Fermentation occurs if certain mo’s are present ®Creates an acid condition that slows or prevents spoilage

Cheese ®One of the first food products made through biotechnology ®Began some 4, 000 years ago ®Nomadic tribes in Asia

Cheese ®Strains of bacteria were added to milk ®Caused acid to form ®Resulting in sour milk

Cheese ®Enzyme called “rennet” was added ®Rennet comes from the lining of the stomachs of calves

Cheese ®Rennet is genetically engineered today ®Not all cheese is made from produced rennet

Yeast ®Long used in food preparation and preservation ®Bread baking ®Yeast produces a gas in the dough causing the dough to rise

Yeast ®Fermented products ®Vinegar ®Require the use of yeast in at least one stage of production

Yeast ®Species of fungi ®Some are useful ®Some may cause diseases

Vinegar ®Ancient product used to preserve food ®Juices and extracts from fruits and grains can be fermented

Fermentation ®Process in which yeast enzymes chemically change compounds into alcohol ®In making vinegar the first product of fermentation is alcohol

Fermentation ®Alcohol is converted to acetic acid by additional microbe activity ®Acid gives vinegar a sour taste ®Vinegar prevents growth of some bacteria

Vinegar ®Keeps foods from spoiling ®Used in pickling ®Biblical references to wine indicate the use of fermentation some 3, 000 years ago

Fermentation control ®In ancient times, likely happened by accident ®Advancements occurred in the 1800’s and early 1900’s

Fermenters ®Used to advance fermentation process ®Specially designed chamber that promotes fermentation

Fermenters ®Allowed better control, especially with vinegar ®New products such as glycerol, acetone, and citric acid resulted

Development ®Of yeasts that were predictable and readily available led to modern baking industry

Antibiotics ®Use of fermentation hastened the development of antibiotics ®A drug used to combat bacterial infections

Antibiotics ®Penicillin ®Developed in the late 1920’s ®Introduced in the 1940’s ®First drug produced by microbes

Antibiotics ®Many kinds available today ®Limitations in their use keep disease producing organisms from developing immunity to antibiotics

Antibiotics ®Use antibiotics only when needed. ®Overuse may make the antibiotic ineffective when really needed later

Antibiotics ®Some disease organisms are now resistant to certain antibiotics ®Used in both human and vet medicine

Modern Biotech ®Deals with manipulating genetic info ®Microscopy and advanced computer technology are used ®In-depth knowledge of science

Modern Biotech ®Based on genetics research from the mid 1800’s

Genetics ®Study of heredity ®Most work has focused on animal and plant genetics ®Genes – determiners of heredity

Genes ®Carry the genetic code ®Understanding genetic structure essential for genetic engineering

Heredity ®How traits are passed from parents to offspring ®Members of the same species pass the characteristics of that species

Heredity ®Differences exist within each species. ®Differences are known as variability

Heredity &variability ®Are used in modern biotechnology

Modern Biotech ®Use of biotech to produce new life forms ®Emerged in mid 1900’s ®Made possible by r. DNA technology

r. DNA ®Recombinant DNA Process ®Genetic material is moved from one organism to another ®Materials involved are quite small

r. DNA ®Challenging and often controversial ®Many have opposing or negative views of biotechnolgy

People in Biotech ®Zacharias Janssen ®Discovered the principle of the compound microscope in 1590 ®Dutch eye glass maker

Anton Van Leeuwenhoek ®Developed single lens microscope in 1670’s ®First to observe tiny organisms and document observations

Anton V. L. ®Work led to modern microscopes ®Electron microscope developed in 1931 by group of German scientists

Gregor Mendel ®Formulated basic laws of heredity during mid 1800’s ®Austrian Botanist and monk ®Experimented with peas

Mendel ®Studied inheritance of seven pairs of traits ®Bred and crossbred thousands of plants ®Determined that some traits were dominant and other recessive

Mendel ®Findings were published in 1866 ®Largely ignored for 34 years

Johan Friedrich Miescher ®Swiss Biologist ®Isolated nuclei of white blood cells in 1869 ®Led to identification of nucleic acid by Walter Flemming

Walter Sutton ®Determined in 1903 that chromosomes carried units of heredity identified by Mendel ®Named “genes” in 1909 by Wilhelm Johannsen, Danish Botanist

Thomas Hunt Morgan ®Studied genetics of fruit flies ®Early 1900’s ®Experimented with eye color ®His work contributed to the knowledge of X and Y chromosomes

Thomas Hunt Morgan ®Nobel Peace Prize in 1933 for research in gene theory

Ernst Ruska ®Build the first electron microscope in 1932 ®German electrical engineer ®Microscope offered 400 X magnification

Alexander Fleming ®Discovered penicillin in 1928 ®First antibiotic drug used in treating human disease ®Observed growth of molds (Penicillium genus) in a dish that also contracted bacteria

Alexander Fleming ®Bacteria close to the molds were dead ®Extracting and purifying the molds took a decade of research ®Penicillin first used in 1941

Alexander Fleming ®Penicillin credited with saving many lives during WWII when wounded soldiers developed infections.

Rosalind Elsie Franklin ®Research in France and England in mid 1900’s ®Led to discovery of structure of DNA ®Her early research was used to produce an atomic bomb

Rosalind Franklin ®Set up X ray diffraction lab ®Photographs of DNA showed that it could have a double helix structure

Rosalind Franklin ®Some questions surround theft of her work in 1952 ®Including x ray photographs

Watson and Crick ®James Watson ®Francis Crick ®Collaborated to produce the first model of DNA structure in 1953

Watson and Crick ®Described DNA dimensions and spacing of base pairs ®Had major impact on genetic engineering carried out today

Watson ®Born in the US ®Crick – born in England ®Collaborative research at Cambridge University in England

Norman E. Borlaug ® Developed wheat varieties producing high yields ® Research in Mexico ® Semi dwarf varieties ® Developed wheat variety that would grow in climates where other varieties would not

Borlaug ®Nobel Peace Prize in 1971 ®Credited with helping relieve widespread hunger in some nations

Mary Clare King ®Research into nature of DNA during late 1900’s ®Determined that 99% of human DNA is identical to chimpanzee

Mary Clare King ® 1975 found similar gene pools between humans and chimpanzee made it possible to research hereditary causes of breast cancer

Ian Wilmut ®Cloning of a sheep named Dolly in 1997 ®Produced from tissue of an adult sheep ®Previous cloning efforts had been from early embryos

Research ®Use of systematic methods to answer questions. ®Problems may be basic or applied

Basic ®Require generating new info to gain understanding ®Applied – involve use of knowledge already acquired.

Research ®Supplies facts that can be used to improve a process or product ®Settings range from elaborate labs to field plots

Field Plot ®Small area of land that is used to test questions or hypothesis ®Belief is that same result would be obtained if carried out on larger scale

Field Plots ®Often tested several times ®Known as replication

Research ®Done by agencies, universities, private companies, individuals ®Biotech research in ag is carried out by ag experiment stations and large corporations

Development ®Creation of new products or methods based on findings of research ®Carefully studied before being put into full scale use

Development ®New products tested before approval ®Government agencies such as the FDA are involved ®Prototype is developed – research model that is carefully tested

Prototype ®Becomes a pattern for the production of similar products ®After being fully tested, full scale production begins.