Types of Biotechnology

History of biotechnology

1) Fermentation: use of microbes to produce beverages and food items, like, wine, beer, bread and so on. 2) Selective breeding (Artificial selection): Humans use plant breeding and animal breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits by choosing which typically animal or plant males and females will sexually reproduce and have offspring together. eg: cows that produce a lot of milk+ chickens that produce large eggs. 3) Model organisms: non-human species that has been widely studied, usually because it is easy to maintain and breed in a laboratory setting and has particular experimental advantages. 4) Antibiotics: drugs used to prevent bacterial infection. 5) Recombinant DNA technology: joining together of DNA molecules from two different species that are inserted into a host organism to produce new genetic combinations that are of value to science, medicine, agriculture, and industry. Recombinant human insulin was the first FDA approved drug based on rDNA technology. It was first produced in a laboratory in 1978 by research sponsored by Genentech, Inc. It was FDA approved in 1982. 6) Human Genome Project: The goal was to determine the sequence of nucleotide base pairs that make up human DNA, and identify and map all of the genes of the human genome.

Types of biotechnology

1) Microbial biotechnology: beer, wine and vaccines 2) Agricultural biotechnology: plant biotech and molecular pharming 3) Animal Biotechnology: MAB, transgenic animals and model organisms 4) Forensic Biotechnology: DNA Fingerprinting 5) Bioremediation: waste management technique that involves the use of organisms to neutralize pollutants from a contaminated site (Environmental clean-up). 6) Aquatic Biotechnology: Aquaculture, vaccines and bioprospecting (the process of discovery and commercialization of new products based on biological resources). eg: zebrafish (Danio rerio) is also an important and widely used vertebrate model organism in scientific research, and was among the first vertebrates to be cloned. It is particularly notable for its regenerative abilities and has been modified by researchers to produce many transgenic strains.Its genome has been fully sequenced, and it has well-understood, easily observable and testable developmental behaviors. Its embryonic development is very rapid, and its embryos are relatively large, robust, and transparent, and able to develop outside their mother. Furthermore, well-characterized mutant strains are readily available. 7) Medical Biotechnology: Gene therapy and stem cells Disadvantage of stem cells: Can't control what they will be formed into- can also become tumors.

Some of the disciplines of biotechnology

1) Microbiology 2) Healthcare 3) Diagnostics 4) Immunology 5) Energy & Environment Management 6) Food Processing

Biotechnology regulations

1) Regulatory approval/oversight: a) FDA (Food and Drug Association): regulates every aspect of biotechnology; ensures that the products of biotechnology doesn't harm people. b) EPA (Environmental Protection Agency): Makes sure that the environment is not harmed. c) USDA (United States Department of Agriculture): Is responsible for developing and executing federal laws relating to farming, agriculture, forestry and food. It aims to meet the needs of farmers and ranchers, promote agricultural trade and production, work to assure food safety, protect natural resources, foster rural communities and end hunger in the United States and internationally. d) OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration): Ensures that the work environment is safe and cares about the workers. 2) Quality Assurance: The maintenance of a desired level of quality in a service or product, especially by means of attention to every stage of the process of delivery or production-Management stuff. Is a way of preventing mistakes or defects in manufactured products and avoiding problems when delivering solutions or services to customers. record keeping and speeds up the release of drug batches, ensuring batch release is not held up by paperwork processing. Also, by providing high quality batches from a well-managed manufacturing process, the manufacturer can operate with the confidence that there will be less batch wastage and rework leading to higher margins and profitability for the organization. Brand and reputational risk is reduced, while process and quality improvements are significant.. 3) Quality Control: A system of maintaining standards in manufactured products by testing a sample of the output against the specification. It's a process by which entities review the quality of all factors involved in production. Covers testing of biotechnology products to verify that their structure meets predefined criteria related to safety, stability and efficacy in the final product formulation. Supports GMP production by environmental monitoring and process control. The entire process of lab testing, diagnostic testing and so on. eg: if the temp. is apt. or microbiological stuff, etc.

Products of modern biotechnology

Recombinant proteins: a) Gene of interest is inserted into bacterial or mammalian cells b) Grow cells and scale-up c) Harvest, isolate and purify the protein of interest. eg: Blood factor VIII, EGF, GH, Insulin, etc.

Biotechnology

The science of using living organisms or the products of living organisms for human benefit. It includes: 1) Genetic engineering 2) In vitro cell culture 3) Protein engineering 4) Bioprocess technology