• What is biodiversity?

varieties of life on earth / assotment of all living things

• What causes extinction of organisms?

Pollution

Habitat loss (contruction of subdivisions in wetlands, etc)

Climate change

Natural disasters

Introduction of alien species

• What are the ways to preserve biodiversity?

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

not littering

minimize consumption (fuel, water, electricity, products)

Biotechnology

• A Brave New World

• What is Biotechnology?

• Biotechnology is the manipulation of living organisms and organic material to serve human
needs.

• Examples:

– Yeast in bread making and alcohol production

– Use of beneficial bacteria (penicillin) to kill harmful organisms

– Cloning of plants and animals

– Artificial insemination

Antony van Leeuwenhoek

• 1675

• Discovers bacteria using a simple microscope

Gregor Mendel

• 1863

• Austrian monk who conducted the first genetics experiments using pea plants in the mid 1800s.
 • Often considered the founder of genetics.

Louis Pasteur

• 1870’s

• Disproved the notion of spontaneous generation, describing the role of bacteria in spoilage and
the scientific basis for fermentation

• Created the rabies vaccine

Robert Hooke

• 1665

• Invented the compound light microscope

• First to observe cells in cork

James Watson & Francis Crick

• 1953

• Englishmen responsible for the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA using X-ray
photographs

Paul Berg

• 1972

• Stanford University scientist who first developed recombinant DNA technology, a method for
insertion of genetic material from one organism into another.

Historical Development of Biotechnolgoy

1750 B.C.

• Origins of “biotechnology” emerge in methods of food production and plant and animal
breeding

– Use of bacteria to produce cheese (food preservation)

– Use of natural enzymes in yogurt

– Use of yeast to produce bread

– Use of fermentation for producing wine and beer

1869

• DNA is discovered in trout sperm by German Miescher

1919

• The word “biotechnology” is first used by a Hungarian agricultural engineer.

1940’s-1950’s

• Widespread work is undertaken to investigate the structure and function of DNA

1980

• The U.S. Supreme Court approves the patenting of genetically altered organisms.

1980’s-1990’s

• A variety of GMO’s and biotechnology techniques are introduced in fields from agriculture to
medicine

– Recombinant DNA technology-extracts DNA from one organism for use in another,
allowing more rapid and specific improvements in plants and animals

– Plant Tissue Culture-gains widespread acceptance as a method to quickly and cheaply

produce genetically identical plants

Biotechnology today

• Genetic Engineering

– technique that allows genes and DNA to be transferred from one source to another

– manipulation of DNA

– used to enhance or modify the characteristics of an individual organism.

– Can be applied to any organisms, from virus to large organisms

Bacteria

• Bacteria review

– one-celled prokaryotes

– reproduce by mitosis

• binary fission

– rapid growth

• generation every ~20 minutes

• 108 (100 million) colony overnight!

– dominant form of life on Earth

– incredibly diverse

– Have the necessary requirements for being regarded as living organisms. Most
importantly they have DNA genome which is required for genetic engineering

How can plasmids help us?

 • A way to get genes into bacteria easily

– insert new gene into plasmid

– insert plasmid into bacteria

– bacteria now expresses new gene

• bacteria make new protein

• Genetically modified insulin

How do we cut DNA?

• Restriction enzymes

– restriction endonucleases

– discovered in 1960s

– evolved in bacteria to cut up foreign DNA

• “restrict” the action of the attacking organism

• protection against viruses

& other bacteria

GMO versus normal

Pros

• More nutrients Cons

• Grow quicker • Anti-biotic resistance

• Increase crop yields • Affect those with allegies in

unpredictable way
• Reduce cost
• Affect our health
• Reduce needs of pesticides
• Affect our environment
• Enhance nutrients composition and
food quality

• Resistance to pests and disease

Environmental Science

• Use of biotechnology techniques in environmental science for cleaning contaminants and

protecting endangered species

– Bioremediation-use of natural organisms to clean contaminants

 • Immunoassay tests are used to test for the presence of contaminants in soil, water and even
blood

• Installation of biological barriers to prevent the transfer of harmful microorganisms between

production facilities

– Example: Tire wash channels

Health/Agri-medicine

• Pharming-the creation of plants and animals capable of producing medical substances

• The use of biological barriers to prevent the spread of harmful microorganisms that could
contaminate food sources

• Health/Agri-medicine

• DNA analysis/paternity testing has emerged as a technique to test the genetic ancestry of
animals

Problems with Biotechnology

• Transfer of genes found in transgenic organisms to natural populations.

– Terminator genes have been used to minimize this risk

• Unexpected impacts of genetically modified organisms and biotechnology processes on other

organisms and the environment

• Expense of the utilization of many biotechnology techniques

– Cost of producing transgenic animals (There are transgenic fish, but no livestock yet.)

• Concerns over the safety and ethics of incorporating GMO’s into food for human consumption

– Allergens

– Example: The use of Starlink corn in taco shells not approved for human consumption

• Lack of education among both consumers and producers concerning biotechnology processes
and products

Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety

• International agreement

• Aims to ensure the safe handling, transport, and use of living modified organisms

• countries are provided with the data necessary to make informed decisions before agreeing to
the import