Introduction to Biotechnology

Exploitation or application of biological systems (microbial, animal or plant cells or enzymes) to gain a useful product or service. It mainly depends upon the expertise of biological systems in recognition and catalysis.

Microorganism Biological system Substrate Raw materials Specific conditions Product

Multi-disciplinary
Microbiology Biochemistry Genetics

Electronics and Computer Sciences

Biotechnology

Food Technology

Biochemical Engineering

Chemical Engineering

Mechanical Engineering

It should be well recognized that the success in this art depends on economic criteria.

Historical background
Ancient Egyptians Louis Pasteur who in the late 19th century In the early decades of the 20th century, large scale processes of lactic acid, acetone, butanol, ethanol, amylases and proteases and riboflavin were also developed. In 1914 activated sludge was developed One of the early strategic examples of modern products was the production of glycerol,

Sugar (glucose)

Fructose 1,6 diphosphate

Dihydroxyacetone-P

3-Phosphoglyceraldehyde

Embeden-Meyerhoff pathway Glycerol NADH NAD Pyruvate

Ethanol Normal route

Acetaledehyde

Sodium bisulfite

Acetaldehyde bisulfite addition complex

In 1940 Antibiotics In 1980 Genetically engineered products or Rec DNA products And hence the word biotechnology

Recent developments in Biotechnology

Category 1- Medicine Examples - Production of antibiotics, steroids, monoclonal antibodies, vaccines, gene therapy, recombinant DNA technology drugs and improving diagnosis by enzymes and enzyme sensors. - Plant tissue culture, protoplast fusion, introduction of foreign genes into plants and nitrogen fixation. - Organic acids (citric, gluconic), mineral extraction. - Improvement of waste treatment, replacement of chemical insecticides by biological ones and biodegradation of xenobiotics. - Single cell protein (SCP), use of enzymes in food processing and food preservation. - Use of enzymes in detergent industry, textile and energy production

2- Agriculture 3- Chemicals 4- Environment

5- Food 6- Industry

Microorganism Biological system Substrate Raw materials Specific conditions Product

Cultures: (microbial, animal and plant) Microbial cultures

Microbial cultures are either obtained from culture collections e.g. American type culture collection (ATCC) or usually isolated (from soil, air .etc.) by enrichment technique (maintain conditions that favor isolation of the required microorganism). In industry, microorganisms act like chemical factories. Those ones intended to be used in industry should be: 1-Should be pure culture i.e. not contaminated with other species or low producing strains. 2-Produce a large amount of the required product. 3-Easily cultivated and maintained. 4-Be genetically stable (low rate of mutation). 5-Grow rapidly on inexpensive and readily available media. 6-Produce the desired product under workable conditions (pH, O2 temperature,.etc.).

Culture maintenance

Lyophilization (freeze drying): This is the best and most commonly used one. Storage under liquid nitrogen (at 150oC): kep in special tanks containing liquid nitrogen. Storage in glycerol at 70oC in deep freezers. Storage on agar slopes at 4oC Soil culture:

Raw materials (substrates) used for the growth and production in biotechnology Raw materials to be used for the cultivation of microorganisms in industry should be locally available (in nature or by-products from other industries). They must provide the required carbon, nitrogen, trace metals and energy source required by the microorganism. The raw materials should also provide the required precursor for the end product. The choice of the raw material for a given process depends on the process, production costs and availability of the raw material. In production of benzyl penicillin, the use of corn steep liquor has the advantage of providing the precursor of benzyl group side chain. If corn steep liquor is not used, a mixture of natural penicillins is produced.

Characters of raw materials

1. Produce maximum yield of the product per gram substrate used. 2. Cheap and available 1ocally throughout the year. 3. Causes minimal problems during the fermentation, product separation and waste disposal. 4. Of definite composition and easily processed. 5. Easily transported and sterilized. Starch and cellulose as substrate