History of

Biotechnology

It is generally considered that

there have been 3 stages in the

history of Biotechnology:

Ancient

Classical

Modern

Ancient Biotechnology

Ancient Biotech It is not known exactly when it began, but

likely to have been with early civilizations.

Improvements in agriculture and food

production.

Few records exist. What we know comes

from:

Archeologists research.

Ancient carvings and sketches sources of

information.

Ancient Biotech. focused on having

food and other human needs available

when needed.

Useful plants brought from the wild, planted near caves where people lived.

As food became more available, the ability to store and preserve it emerged.

Food supplies often seasonal

Winter food supplies may get quite low.

Discoveries about food preservation

most likely came from unplanned events

such as a fire or freeze.

Domestication of animals and

plants: Likely began 15,000 years ago with large

animals that were hard to capture.

Likely Reasons: People only had meat when they found a dead

animal.

Came up with ways of capturing fish and small animals.

Oldest Domesticated Animal

14 – 30,000 ya

DomesticationDomestication is the adaptation of

organisms so they can be cultured.

It is seen by scientists as the beginning of biotech.

Plant DomesticationMost likely began around 14,000

years ago in the middle east.

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.

Plant Domestication Requires

that people understand:

Proper planting procedures;

Need for water;

Light requirements;

All other conditions for plant growth.

Earliest plants domesticated

were likely grains and other

seeds used for food.

Animal DomesticationRaising animals in captivity began about

the same time in history as plants.

Reason: it was easier to have an animal close by, than to hunt and capture a wild one.

Humans had to learn:

That animals have specific food & water.

About simple breeding processes.

How to raise young animals.

Cattle, goats and sheep were the

first domesticated food animals.

Farming:By about 10,000 years ago, people

had learned enough about plants

and animals to grow their own food.

This is the beginning of farming.

Food PreservationFarming resulted in food supplies

being greater at certain times of the

year than others.

Products were gathered and stored.

However

Some foods rotted.

Others changed form and were still

good to eat.

Food PreservationPeople learned that:

Foods stored in a cool cave did

not spoil as quickly.

Foods heated by fire also did

not spoil as quickly.

Immersing in sour liquids

prevented food decay.

Food Preservation Lessons Learned:

Use processes that prevent or slow

spoilage.

Heating, cooling, keeps micro-organisms

from growing.

Storage can be in bags of leather or jars of

clay.

Fermentation occurs if certain M.O.s are

present.

Creates an acid condition that slows or

prevents spoilage.

FermentationAn alternate metabolic pathway in the

Cellular respiration process.

Used by many micoorganisms to create

energy or APT.

Fermentation When sugar is converted

into energy, in the

absence of oxygen, the

first waste product

produced in ethyl alcohol.

Alcohol is converted to

acetic acid by additional

microbe activity.

Acetic acid is vinegar,

and has a sour taste.

Vinegar prevents growth

of some bacteria.

Waste products from the process are toxic

to microorganisms (even the ones that

produced them).

Helps prevent food from spoiling.

Fermented foods: Cheese

One of the first food products made through biotechnology.

Discovered about 4,000 years ago by nomadic tribes in Asia.

Strains of bacteria were

added to milk, resulting in

sour milk.

An enzyme called “rennet”

was added as well.

Rennet comes from the lining

of the stomachs of calves.

Fermented foods: CheeseRennet is genetically

engineered today.

Not all cheese is made

from produced rennet.

Important organism for fermentation:

Yeast

Species of fungi.

Single-celled

eukaryote.

Some are useful in

making or preserving

food.

Some may cause

diseases.

Yeast

Long used in food preparation and preservation.

In bread baking, yeast produces a gas in the dough causing the dough to rise.

Yeast: Fermentation Products Require the use of yeast in at least one stage

of production:

Vinegar

Pickles

Olives

Soy Sauce

Hot Sauce

Canned Meat

Sauerkraut

Wine

Beer

Cheese

6000 BCE – 4000 BCE 6000 BCE - Yeast was used to make beer by

Sumerians and Babylonians.

4000 BCE –

The Egyptians discovered how to bake leavened bread

using yeast.

China: The preservation of milk by lactic acid bacteria

resulted in yogurt.

Molds were used to produce cheese, and vinegar and

wine via fermentation.

Food preservative: Vinegar

Used in ancient biotech to preserve

food.

Juices and extracts from fruits and

grains can be fermented into alcohol.

These can then be processed into

vinegar, which is used in pickling.

It keeps foods from spoiling.

Biblical references to wine indicate the use of fermentation over 3,000 years ago.

1000 BCE – 300 BCE 1000 BCE - Babylonians

celebrated pollination of date

palm trees with religious

rituals.

420 BCE - Socrates (Greek

philosopher) speculated why

children don't always

resemble their parents by

remarking that the sons of

great statesmen were

usually lazy.

1000 BCE – 300 BCE 400 BCE - Hippocrates determined

that the male contribution to a child's

heredity is carried in the semen. He

also reasoned there was a similar

fluid in women, since children have

traits from both parents.

320 BCE - Aristotle chose to reject

Hippocrates. He said all inheritance

comes from the father. While the

mother merely provides the material

from which the baby is made.

100 AD – 1000 AD Romans speculated that

mares were fertilized by the

wind.

Hindu philosophers first

pondered the nature of

reproduction and inheritance.

Later Hindus observed that

certain diseases may "run in

the family."

Moreover, children inherit all

their parents' characteristics.

Law of Manu - "A man of base

descents can never escape his

origins."

1100 - 1700 AD Spontaneous Generation is the

dominant explanation that

organisms arise from non-living

matter. Maggots, for example,

were supposed to arise from

horsehair.

1300 AD - The Aztecs in

Mexico harvested algae from

lakes as a food source.

Classical Biotechnology

Classical Biotech:Follows ancient.

Makes wide spread use of ancient methods, especially fermentation.

Methods are adapted to industrial production to make large quantities of food, etc. in a short amount of time.

Meet demands of growing populations.

Many methods developed through classical biotech are still widely used today.

Fermentation Control Advancements occurred in the 1800’s and early

1900’s which advanced the control over the

fermentation process.

Fermenter - Specially designed chamber that

promotes fermentation.

Allowed better control and created new products

such as glycerol, acetone, and citric acid.

Baking:

The development of yeasts that were

predictable and readily available led to

modern baking industry.

1630 AD – 1675 AD 1630 - William Harvey concluded that both

plants & animals reproduce in a sexual

manner: males contribute sperm; females

contribute eggs.

1665 - Robert Hooke observed the cellular

structure of cork. He named the very small

compartments he saw “cells”.

1668 - Francesco Redi attempted an

experiment to disprove spontaneous

generation. He testes to see if maggots arise

on rotting meat.

1630 AD – 1675 AD 1673 - Anton van Leeuwenhoek a Dutch

merchant, ground glass lenses as a hobby.

Improving on the microscope. He used it to

make discoveries in microbiology. He was

the first scientist to describe protozoa and

bacteria and to recognize that such

microorganisms might play a role in

fermentation.

Use of fermentation hastened the

development of Antibiotics

Antibiotic - drug used to combat bacterial

infections.

Penicillin:

Developed in the late1920’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

specific antibiotics:

Use antibiotics only when needed.

Overuse may make the antibiotic

ineffective when really needed later.

Some disease organisms are now

resistant to certain antibiotics.

Used in both human and vet

medicine.

Modern Biotechnology

Modern BiotechProgressed to the

manipulation of genetic material within organisms.

Based on genetics.

Emerged in mid 1900’s.

Often called genetic

engineering, it was

made possible by

rDNA technology.

Modern Biotech

Deals with manipulating genetic info.

Microscopy and advanced computer

technology are used.

In-depth knowledge of science.

Based on genetics research from the mid

1800’s.

Genetics:

Study of heredity.

Genes – determiners of heredity.

Carry the genetic code.

Understanding genetic structure

essential for genetic engineering.

Most work has focused on non –human

animal and plant genetics.

Heredity is How traits are passed

from parents to offspring.

Members of the same species pass the characteristics of that species.

Differences exist within each species.

Differences are known as variability.

Heredity & Variability are used in modern biotechnology.

rDNA – Recombinant DNAGenetic material is moved from one

organism to another.

Material amounts involved are quite small.

Challenging and often controversial.

Many have opposing or negative views of

biotechnology.