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.