MBB 1 lecture

April 18, 2013

3rd century BC Manufacture of beer in Babylonia and Egypt

1150 Production of spirits of wine

1300 Vinegar manufacturing

1818 Discovery of the fermentation properties of yeast

1857 Description of lactic acid fermentation by Pasteur

1897 Detection of fermentation enzymes in yeast

1928-29 Discovery of penicillin by Fleming

1945 >
Discovery of many other antibiotics
• Fermentation
• Crop and livestock improvement

• Antibiotics

• Traditional vaccines
 Products of
Traditional
Biotechnology
Glucose – starting material
Types:
Lactic acid fermentation
Alcoholic fermentation
• Fermented food products
– Produced by a microbial process
– Enzymes produced by microorganisms
– Catalyze transformation of substrates or
organic compounds to desirable components
in food products

• Examples:
– beer and wine – alcohol is a product of yeast
metabolism
– fermented vegetables – lactic acid is produced
by lactic acid bacteria and gives the desirable
flavour and acidity
• Fermented food products
– Vinegar – acetic acid is a product of
fermentation by acetic acid bacteria

– Cheese – flavor formation or aging

of cheese is mediated by certain
species of molds

– In bread making using yeast, the

bread dough rises because of the
carbon dioxide produced by yeast
Penicillum Streptomyces
 Alexander Fleming
St. Mary's Hospital, London

Nobelprize.org
 streptococcus

Control Treated
Control Treated
Alexander Fleming Ernst Chain Howard Florey

“For the discovery of penicillin and its curative effect in various

infectious diseases”
Antibiotics Producing Microorganism

Penicillin Penicillium chrysogenum (fungi)

Chloramphenicol Streptomyces venezuelae (bacteria)

Kanamycin Streptomyces kanomyceticus (bacteria)

Cephalosporin Cephalosporium acremonium (fungi)

Streptomycin Streptomyces griseus (bacteria)

Erythromycin Streptomyces eryhtreus (bacteria)

• Farmers collected seeds of plants with most
desirable traits.

• Bred only the most prized animals and good

varieties of plants, thus illustrating the practice of
artificial selection or selective breeding.
 PLANT 1
Plant with good growth
but poor color is self
pollinated until
confirmed as a pure line
that gives same plants
each time.
PLANT 2
Plant with poor growth but
good color is self pollinated
until confirmed as a pure line
that gives same plants each
time.

CROSS POLLINATION

F1 HYBRIDS WITH
COMBINED DESIRABLE
TRAIT OF GOOD GROWTH
AND GOOD COLOR
• A completely pure line can sometimes take seven to
eight years to achieve.
• Seeds are more expensive since it took a long time
to produce and is expensive to maintain.
• Farmer may need to buy hybrids each year since
performance of F1 may not be maintained.
• In the late 1920’s researchers discovered that the number of
variations or mutations in plants can be increased by exposing
plants to radiation, and chemicals.

• There is an FAO mutant Variety Database which

(http://mvgs.iaea.org/AboutMutantVarities.aspx) shows
variants in specific crops produced by mutation
How plant and animal diseases are recognized:
• Visual examination for symptoms (but sometimes
symptoms do not appear until enough damage has been
done)‫‏‬
• Microscopic observation

• Biochemical tests

• Culture and growth of microorganisms

How the diseases were addressed and are still
currently addressed:
Plant pest Animal disease
Bioinsecticides Use of antibiotics
Chemicals Vaccination
Pesticide
Antimicrobial
formulations
1796: Edward Jenner inoculated a smallpox-infected boy with pus
from cowpox lesion Nobelprize.org
• Inactivated whole vaccines are made from disease-
causing organisms or pathogens.

• Live attenuated vaccines are live but weakened

derivatives of pathogenic organisms.
 BASIS OF LIVE- KILLED
COMPARISON ATTENUATED
Production Relatively simple More complex
How it is used Injection Injection
Dose Low, often single High, multiple
Heat sensitivity Sensitive Not sensitive
Need to refrigerate Yes Yes
Duration of immunity Many years Often less
Safety:
Reversion to Rarely No
Virulence
Low levels No
Side effects
1-2 for every 106
 Live attenuated vaccine Killed vaccines

polio (oral) polio (injected)

measles cholera
mumps Hepa A / Hepa B
chicken pox Influenza
rubella Rabies
yellow fever Toxoids (diphtheria and tetanus)
Typhoid fever
Bacillus-Calmette-Guerin
(BCG)