BIOTECHNOLOGY & THE SOCIETY ■ 1861 Louis Pasteur

Welcome to the World of Biotechnology!
CHAPTER 1
Biotechnology around the World, Biotechnology in the Philippines
- Invented a process that destroys harmful bacteria in milk and
other products but does not affect the taste of the foods or its nutritional
value.
- This process is called PASTUERIZATION.
■1865 Gregor Mendel

WHAT IS BIOTECHNOLOGY?
Is simply defined as any biology-based technology which uses organisms or
their parts to make or modify products, or improve plants, animals and
microorganisms.
- A monk and scientist, studied the easily measured traits of peas
such as color, shape and length.
- He discovered that the basic laws of genetics but this was largely
unacknowledged until the following century when such laws were
rediscovered by other scientists.

BIOTECHNOLOGY through the YEARS… ■1879 William James Beal

■4000 BC - Developed THE WORLD’S FIRST HYBRID CORN by crossing white

and yellow corn plants which produced yellowish white corn.
- Egyptians discovered the use of yeast to make their bread rise
and to prepare wine. ■1944 Avery, MacLeod and McCarty

- YEAST break down sugar to carbon dioxide and water. The carbon
dioxide makes bread rise, and wine and beverages bubbly.
■ 3000 BC
- Peruvians started to improve the POTATO. They made it larger and
able to resist frost.
- They used different growing techniques and crossbreeding in
improving the potato. The Peruvians thus contributed to developing classic
biotechnology techniques.
■1763 BC
- Sumerians invented the process of brewing beer.
■1683 Antoine van Leeuwenhoek
- Invented the microscope.
- Established DNA as the hereditary material or the gene.
■ 1950 Barbara McClintock
- Discovered the “JUMPING GENES” in her studies of maize.
- Earlier, scientist thought that the gene would always stay in one
place but McClintock discovered that jumping genes naturally occur.
■ 1953 James Watson and Francis Crick
- Discovered the DOUBLE-HELICAL NATURE OF DNA.
- The double helix structure explains how the DNA could replicate or
produce identical copies of itself, and how the genetic information in the
gene is expressed.
- This discovery opened up many avenues of study and has affected
almost all aspects of the sciences.

- This invention allowed scientists to study tiny objects, micro-

organisms and even molecules which our naked eyes cannot see.
■ 1973 Stanley Cohen and Herbert Boyer
- They demonstrated that DNA molecules can be cut with one type
of enzyme.
- They can be joined together using another enzyme and introduced
into the bacteria E. coli where the re-joined DNA can be multiplied.
- This is the start of the recombinant DNA technology or genetic
engineering.
■ 1982
- HUMAN INSULIN produced by bacteria as a result of genetic
engineering became the first product of modern biotechnology to be
commercially released.
■ 1987
- A crime suspect in the UK was convicted on the evidence of
genetic DNA fingerprinting.
- Individuals have specific DNA pattern which can differentiate them
form others although they will share common patterns with close relatives.
■1990
- RECOMBINANT CHYMOSIN produced in E. coli was released
commercially. This enzyme is used to coagulate milk to produce cheese.
■ 1991
- The first transgenic animal, TRACEY, a sheep, was born.
- Tracey had human genes which enable her to produce human
therapeutic proteins in her milk.
■1994
- The FLAVRSAVR™ tomato with delayed ripening trait and higher
solids was the first genetically modified crop to be commercially released.
■1996
- Several genetically modified or biotech crops were introduced into
the market – herbicide tolerant soybean, corn, rapeseed and cotton, and
insect-protected corn and cotton.
■1997
- DOLLY the sheep, the FIRST CLONED SHEEP, was born. Produced
by Ian Wilmut and his colleagues at Roslin Institute near Edinburgh,
England.
- Dolly was cloned from an udder cell of an adult sheep, the DNA
from the udder cell was transferred into an egg whose nucleus had been
removed. The egg was then implanted into a different sheep.
■2002
- The human genome was successfully sequenced.
■2004
- The area planted with genetically modified crops (herbicide
tolerant soybean. Bt corn and Bt cotton, herbicide tolerant rapeseed)
increased to 81 million ha in 17 countries in the world.
■2005
- Many biotech products to diagnose and treat various diseases and
to help protect the environment, make crops with better nutritional and
special qualities, are in various stages of development.
BIOTECHNOLOGY IN THE PHILIPPINES
∞ FISH SAUCE or PATIS – the excess fishes were stored in great pots
(clay pots) and added with lots of salt and left it for a while.
∞ FISH PASTE or BAGOONG – they used small shrimps (as well as some
type of small fish in other regions) and store in great pots (clay pots)
and also added with lots of salt and left for a while.
∞ LAMBANOG – stored coconut water could turn into a warming and
intoxicating drink. When this turned sour, it makes vinegar or suka.
∞ TUBA – a common practice of our ancestors before, is to tap the
flower buds or inflorescence of the coconut tree or the nipa palm
tree to collect the fresh sap in a bamboo tube and store the
product.
Did you know?
PIGAFETTA, the writer Magellan brought along in his trip in the 16th century,
recorded that Magellan was gifted with a jarful of ARAK, or distilled liquor
when he landed in Homonhon in the Visayas.
TRADITIONAL BIOTECHNOLOGY
When microorganisms breakdown the sugars in the coconut water or sap,
ALCOHOL is produced.
Some microorganisms which can withstand high salt condition can break
down the proteins in the fish muscles it results into a tasty (and salty) liquid!
This process we have described fall under the technology called
FERMENTATION.
Word Vocabulary in BIOTECNOLOGY
ANTIBODIES – The globulin proteins (also called immunoglobulin) produced
in the blood of an animal in response to foreign substances.
BIOSAFETY – The assessment of the impact and safety of products of
modern biotechnology or recombinant DNA technology and the
development of policies and procedures and to ensure this.
CHROMOSOME – Rod-like structure composed of a very long DNA molecule
and associated proteins, usually in pairs, that carries part (or all) of the
hereditary information of an organism.
CLONE – A group or population of genetically identical cells or organisms
formed by repeated (asexual) division from a common cell or organism. Also
applied to the production of genetically identical genes. When used as a
verb, “to clone” means to produce many copies of genetically identified
genes, cells or organisms.
CLONING VECTOR – Usually a bacteriophage or plasmid that is used to carry
a gene or pieces of DNA into a recipient cell for the purpose of gene cloning
or gene transfer.
COMPLEMENTARY BASE PAIRING – refers to the precise bonding of
nitrogenous bases in opposing strands of nucleic acids; in DNA, adenine
always pairs with thymine, cytosine with guanine; when RNA is transcribed
from DNA, uracil (rather than thymine) in growing RNA chain pairs with
adenine on the opposing DNA.
COMPLEMENTARY DNA (cDNA) – DNA molecule made as a copy of mRNA;
it therefore lacks the introns that are present in genomic DNA. The amino
acid sequence of a protein can be deduced from its cDNA sequence.
COMPLEMENTARY NUCLEOTIDE SEQUENCE – Two nucleic acid strands are
said to be complementary if their sequences form perfect base pairs with
each other resulting in a double helix.
DEOXYRIBONUCLEIC ACID (DNA) – A long molecule composed of two chains
of nucleotides containing the deoxyribose sugar; the hereditary material in
all organisms except for some viruses.
DNA LIBRARY – A collection of bacterial cultures which have incorporated
different pieces of DNA.
DNA FINGERPRINTING – Identification of individuals through unique DNA
patterns.
DNA SEQUENCING – Determination of the sequence of the bases in a strand
of DNA.
EXON – Part of a eukaryotic gene that consists of DNA coding for a
sequence of nucleotides in mRNA; thus, an exon can encode the sequence
of amino acids in a polypeptide or protein.
GENE – A region of DNA that encodes or ha the information for a discrete
hereditary characteristics, usually corresponding to a single protein or RNA.
This definition includes the complete functional unit – the coding DNA
sequences, noncoding regulatory DNA sequences and introns.
GENETIC ENGINEERING – Deliberate alterations of individual genotypes;
techniques that allow the introduction of specific gene(s) from the same or
another organism to produce new trait(s).
GENOME – The totality of genetic information or all of the genes belonging
to a cell or an organism.
GENOMIC DNA – DNA that carries the genetic information of a cell or an
organism. In contrast, cDNA is prepared by reverse transcription from
messenger RNA.
HUMAN REPRODUCTIVE CLONING – Assisted reproductive technology
involving the creation of a human being that is genetically identical to
another human being.
HUMAN THERAPEUTIC CLONING – Refers to the generation of human
embryos by somatic cell nuclear transfer, growing the embryo in the culture
to derive the stem cells that can be used for various therapeutic purposes.
INTRON – Noncoding region of a eukaryotic gene that is transcribed into an
RNA molecule but is then excised by RNA splicing when mRNA is produced.
mRNA (MESSENGER RNA) – RNA molecule transcribed from DNA which
specifies the amino acid sequence of a protein. In eukaryotes, mRNA is
produced by splicing RNA from a larger molecule made by RNA polymerase
as a complimentary copy of DNA. mRNA is translated into protein.
NUCLEIC ACID – RNA or DNA; long chain of nucleotides joined together by
phosphodiester bonds.
NUCLEOSIDES – Compound composed of a purine or pyrimidine base linked
to either a ribose or a deoxyribose sugar.
NUCLEOTIDE – Building blocks of DNA or RNA, consisting of a nitrogenous
base, a five-carbon sugar and a phosphate. Or a nucleoside with one or
more phosphate groups joined in ester linkages to the sugar moiety. DNA
and RNA are polymers of nucleotides.
PROMOTER – A nucleotide sequence in DNA to which RNA polymerase
binds to begin transcription. With the promoter region are regulatory
elements which determine where and when the gene will be expressed.
(PCR) POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION – Technique for amplifying specific
segments or parts of DNA by multiple cycles of DNA polymerization, each
followed by a brief heat treatment to separate complementary strands.
RECOMBINANT DNA – Any DNA molecule formed by joining DNA segments
from different sources.
RECOMBINATION – The process in which chromosomes or DNA molecules
are broken or cut and the fragments are re-joined to form new
combinations. This can occur in the living cell, for example, during crossing
over in meiosis, or in the test tube using purified DNA and enzymes that
break and join or ligate DNA strands.
REVERSE TRANSCRIPTASE – Enzyme, present in retroviruses, which makes a
double-stranded DNA copy from a single-stranded RNA template molecule.
REVERSE TRANSCRIPTION – Synthesis of a DNA from RNA.
RISK ASSESSMENT – A process by which hazards to health and environment
which can be brought about by the release of a product are identified and
the magnitude and the probabilities of its possible adverse effects
determined.
RNA POLYMERASE – Enzyme that catalyses the synthesis of an RNA
molecule on a DNA template from nucleoside triphosphate.
SOMATIC CELL NUCLEAR TRANSFER – A procedure of cloning which involves
the fusion of the cell from DNA donor (the one to be cloned) with an
enucleated by electricity to create an embryo which is then implanted into a
surrogate mother through in vitro fertilization. Used in the creation of
DOLLY the sheep.
STRUCTURAL GENE – Region of DNA that codes for a protein or for an RNA
molecule; as distinct from regions of DNA that regulate gene expression.
STEM CELLS – Cells from embryo and other adult cell sources which are
capable of differentiating into different cell types: have the ability to divide,
renew and regenerate.
TRANSFORMATION – The process of incorporation or integration of DNA
into a cell’s genome. Stable transformation indicates that the DNA can be
passes on to successive generations. Also refers to the change of normal
cells into cancerous ones.
TRANSGENIC – Describes a plant or an animal that has stably incorporated
one or more genes from another cell or organisms and can pass them on to
successive generations.
VACCINE – A preparation, usually consisting of weakened microorganisms of
a particular disease, use to inoculate a person to prevent or decrease the
effects of that disease.
VECTOR – An agent (virus or plasmid) used to transmit genetic material to a
cell or organism.
 CHAPTER 2 can result in the propagation of thousands of identical plantlets from a
Advancing the Frontiers of Biotechnology single piece.
- Propagating a plant to produce AN EXACT COPY is called CLONING.
VACCINES and ANTIBODIES
- Both asexual propagation such as grafting and tissue culture are
 VACCINES Cloning Techniques.
- A preparation, usually consisting of weakened microorganism of a Examples of Cloning Techniques
particular disease, used to inoculate a person to prevent or decrease the
effect of that disease.
- Are made of heat-treated (dead) pathogens or mild strains such as
pathogens that cause the disease.
- Now, modern vaccines are made of only parts of the organisms
like the cell wall, or even specific proteins on the cell wall which can
stimulate production of specific antibodies.

 ANTIBODIES
- The globulin proteins (also called immunoglobulins) produced in
the blood of an animal in response to foreign substances.

- Plant breeders now use molecular markers (DNA or protein

PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY patterns) which increase their efficiency and accuracy in their selection of
 SEXUAL PROPAGATION superior quality materials as well as identify and characterized genotypes.

- Plants are easily propagated by planting their seeds. Plants coming - These are similar to the DNA fingerprinting. Breeding also uses
from seeds may be similar or even different from the source or mother recombinant DNA technology as a tool to introduce new desirable trait(s)
plant. into crops.

 ASEXUAL PROPAGATION
- Some plants can also be grown by just using such as stems ANIMAL BIOTECHNOLOGY
resulting into plants which are exactly the same as the source or the mother ► EMBRYO TRANSFER (ET)
plant.
- is a widely utilized technology for large animals such as cattle,
 TISSUE CULTURE buffaloes or carabaos and goats.
- Cutting of the source of the plant into smaller parts even down to PHILIPPINE CARABAO CENTER-Biotechnology Research Team
the tiny size of the cells, and growing them on nutrients in a flask or bottle
- Nueva Ecija, has successfully produced healthy elite breeds of water
buffaloes (carabao) from the vitro-produced-frozen-thawed embryos.
- Animal cells can be cultured from tissues of specific organs like skin, liver,
etc. Some types of mammalian cells have been utilized as bioreactors which
produce various health products such as antibodies, and antiviral and
anticancer interferon through the technique of recombinant DNA
technology or genetic engineering.
RECOMBINANT DNA TECHNOLOGY OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
► RECOMBINANT DNA TECHNOLOGY
- Any DNA molecule formed by joining DNA segments from
different sources.
► GENETIC ENGINEERING
- Deliberate alterations of individual genotypes; techniques
that allow the introduction of specific gene(s) from the same or
another organism to produce new trait(s).
► Early 1970 – laboratory which allow the cutting of DNA at specific
sites, joining the DNA pieces together, and introducing the rejoined
DNA in bacteria to be multiplied became available Recombinant
DNA Technology orgenetic engineeringwas launched!
► The new technologies also brought about the ultimate diagnostic
tool to identify human individuals through DNA fingerprinting.
► Genetic engineering has also introduced improved traits in crops
that help the farmer and consumer. This technology will also enable
the use of animal and crops as factories to produce important
health and industrial products.
HUMAN THERAPEUTIC CLONING and STEM CELLS for THERAPHY
► HUMAN REPRODUCTIVE CLONING
- Assisted reproductive technology involving the creation of a
human being that is genetically identical to another human being.
► HUMAN THERAPEUTIC CLONING
- Refers to the generation of human embryos by somatic cell
nuclear transfer, growing the embryo in culture to derive stem cells that can
be used for various therapeutic purposes.
 CHAPTER 3
The DNA
WHAT IS DNA?
 The DNA is like a string of notes in specific order. This string of notes
become a melody when expressed vocally be a singer or a musical
instruments.
 A DNA consists of a strand (string) of chemical components called
bases joined together by a sugar phosphate background. The double
strands are held together by hydrogen bonds linking specific bases.

► STEM CELLS
- Cells from embryo and other adult cell sources which are capable
of differentiating into different cell types: have the ability to divide, renew
and regenerate.
- Are unprogrammed cells in the human body which have the ability
to change into 220 types of cells. Also described as pluripotent and also
used as human repair kit.
They have the potential to become:
 Bone, Muscle, Cartilage and other special types of cell.
Replacements for organs such as:  DNA strands in the double helix are complementary to each other.
 ADENINE (A) bonds with THYMINE (T).
 Heart, Liver and Skin
 CYTOSINE (C) bonds with GUANINE (G).
These stem cells can also be transplanted back to the donor to
treat diseases which as this time do not have cures such as:  The pairing of the bases is specific and complementary. Thus, one
strand of a DNA is said to be complementary to its partner strand in
 Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, heart failures, spinal cord injury, etc.
the double helix and both strands will actually bear the same
Another important potential use of stem cells is for testing genetic information.
new medications for safety and effectiveness.  The resulting daughter DNA molecules are identical to the parental
DNA helix.
EXAMPLE: An anti-tumor drug can be tested on a cancer stem cell
line to test if the drug can stop the cancer cells from growing.  The letters A, T, G and C form the code of life. In the human
genome, there are about 2.9 billion base pairs which are wound into
They are using adult stem cells that can be derived from: 24 bundles called chromosomes.
 About 30000 – 40000 genes are written in the human DNA which
 Umbilical cord, Peripheral blood or bone marrow.
code for the many proteins that help build and maintain our bodies.
  The location of the DNA in the nucleus of a typical cell. Unicellular
cells do not have a distinct nuclear body.
 The double helical DNA in a cell when stretched measures about 2
meters. Genes are portions of the DNA which carry information that
can be carried from generation to generations.
Specific enzymes produce the pigment that gives the color of our
eyes or the keratin of our hair and nails.
Enzymes catalyze specific reactions which contribute to the creation of a
trait.

The information in the gene is transferred or transcribed to a

complementary single strand called messenger RNA (mRNA). For mRNA, the
base U (Uracil) is used instead of T. This process is called transcription.
The mRNA travels from the nucleus to the cytoplasm of the cell and
is translated to protein. This is called translation.

The information in the DNA is transcribed to the messenger RNA and then
translated into protein.

The information for a trait is encoded in the DNA called GENE.

 The information for a trait (like the color or pigment of your eyes) is
encoded in the molecule called DNA or deoxyricucleic acid and is
called a gene.
 In a cell, the information for a gene, is expressed into a protein
through a messenger molecule called messenger ribonucleic acid or The information in the DNA is transcribed to the messenger RNA and then
mRNA. translated into protein.
 We call protein the primary gene product.
 Thus, gene s contain instruction for the production of proteins that While a simple trait may be encoded in a single gene, several genes
are involved in different types of activities that make our bodies contribute to and affect complex traits such as human intelligence and crop
function. yield.
Proteins have several types of functions like:
 Providing structure – Muscles
 Facilitating or catalyzing chemical reactions – as Enzymes
 Transporting materials and in communicating with other cells –
Hormones

You familiar with hemoglobin, the protein carrier of oxygen in the

blood.
 CHAPTER 4
TECHNIQUES in BIOTECHNOLOGY
TISSUE CULTURE
-(Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
The process or technique of making body tissue grow in a culture medium
outside the organism.
- Apart from mass multiplication of elites, it also provides the means to
multiply and regenerate novel plants from genetically engineered cells.
TISSUE CULTURE is widely used in:
o Obtaining disease free plants.
o Rapid propagation of plants those are difficult to propagate.
o Somatic hybridization.
o Genetics improvement of commercial plants.
o Obtaining androgenic and gynogenic haploid plants for breeding
programmes.
Importance of Tissue Culture
 Maximizes the use of space and shortens time
 Does not harm mother plant (source plant)
 It is easy to select desirable traits directly from the culture setup (in
vitro)
 Plant tissue culture line can give continuous supply throughout the
year
 Time required is shortened
 Plants usually are disease (bacterial, fungal,viral diseases)
 Plant tissue banks can be frozen and then regenerated through
tissue culture
TYPES of TISSUE CULTURE
• CALLUS CULTURE – defined as production and maintenance of an
unorganized mass of proliferative cell from isolated plant cell, tissue
or organ by growing them on artificial nutrient medium in glass vials
under controlled aseptic conditions.
• ORGAN CULTURE – refers to the in vitro culture and maintenance of
an excised organ primordial or whole part of an organ in way and
function.
• SINGLE CELL CULTURE – is a method of growing isolated single cell
aseptically on nutrient medium under controlled condition.
• SUSPENSION CULTURE – is a type of culture in which single cell or
small aggregates of cell multiply while suspended in agitated liquid
medium. Used in induction of somatic embryos and shoots,
production of secondary metabolites, in vitro culture mutagenesis,
selection of mutants and genetic transformation studies.
• POLLEN CULTURE – is the in vitro technique by which the pollen-
grains (preferably at the microscope stages) are squeezed from the
intact anther and then cultured on nutrient medium where the
microspores without producing male gametes.
• SOMATIC EMBRYOGENESIS – is the process of a single or group of
cells initiating the development pathway that leads to reproducible
regeneration of non zygotic embryos capable of germinating to
form complete plants.
• POLLEN CULTURE – is the in vitro technique by which the pollen-
grains (preferably at the microscope stages) are squeezed from the
intact anther and then cultured on nutrient medium where the
microspores without producing male gametes.
• SOMATIC EMBRYOGENESIS – is the process of a single or group of
cells initiating the development pathway that leads to reproducible
regeneration of non zygotic embryos capable of germinating to
form complete plants.
• PROTOPLAST CULTURE – it is the culture of isolated protoplasts
which are naked plants cells surrounded by plasma membrane
which is potentially capable of cell wall regeneration, cell division,
growth and plant regeneration on suitable medium under aseptic
condition.
• SHOOT TIP AND MERISTEM CULTURE – the tips of shoots (which
contain the shoot apical meristem) can be culture in vitro producing
clumps of shoots from either axillary or adventitious buds. This
method can be used for clonal propagation.
• EXPLANT CULTURE
– There are variety of forms of seed plants, trees, herbs,
grasses, which exhibit the basic morphology units i.e. root, stem
and leaves
– Parenchyma is the most versatile of all types of tissues.
They are capable of division and growth.