H1 Glick
H1
The Emergence of Molecular Biotechnology
In a broad sense, biotechnology is concerned with the production of commercial products generated
by the metabolic action of microorganisms. Biotechnology may be defined as “the application of
scientific and engineering principles to the processing of material by biological agents to provide
goods and services.” The term “biotechnology” was first used in 1917 by a Hungarian engineer, Karl
Ereky, to describe an integrated process for the large-scale production of pigs by using sugar beets as
the source of food. According to Ereky, biotechnology was “all lines of work by which products are
produced from raw materials with the aid of living
Raw things.” For a number of years, the term biotechnology was used to describe two very
material different engineering disciplines. 1, industrial biological organisms, systems, and processes,”
An industrial biotechnology process that uses microorganisms for producing a commercial
product typically has three key stages (Fig. 1.1):
Upstream
processing 1. Upstream processing: preparation of the microorganism and the raw materials.
2. Fermentation and transformation: growth (fermentation) of the target
Fermentation and
microorganism in a large bioreactor (usually >100 liters) with the consequent production
biotransformation (biotransformation) of a desired compound.
3. Downstream processing: purification of the desired compound.
Downstream The biotransformation component of the overall process was the most difficult phase to
processing
manipulate. focused on creating variants (mutants) by using chemical mutagens or
ultraviolet radiation to induce changes in the genetic constitution of existing strains.
By the late 1970s, effective processes for the mass production of a wide range of commercial
Pure
product products had been perfected.
Today, we have acquired sufficient knowledge of the biochemistry, genetics, and molecular
biology of microorganisms to accelerate the development of useful and improved biological products
and processes and to create new products that would not otherwise occur. Distinct from traditional
biotechnology, the modern methods require knowledge of all the aspects in the biotechnology. DNA
technology began as a lunchtime conversation between two scientists working in different fields who
met at a scientific conference in 1973, Stanley Cohen(plasmid transport) and Herbert
Boyer(restriction enzymes).
Recombinant DNA Technology
The first commercial product produced using recombinant DNA technology was human insulin. DNA
sequence synthesized-> transplanted into a plasmid-> placed in E. coli-> production two peptide
chains -> purified -> medicine.
Molecular biotechnology has become the standard method for developing living systems with novel
functions and capabilities for the synthesis of important commercial products.
Most new scientific disciplines do not arise on their own but are formed by the knowledge from
different areas of research. Molecular biotechnology draws on knowledge from a diverse set of
H1
The Emergence of Molecular Biotechnology
In a broad sense, biotechnology is concerned with the production of commercial products generated
by the metabolic action of microorganisms. Biotechnology may be defined as “the application of
scientific and engineering principles to the processing of material by biological agents to provide
goods and services.” The term “biotechnology” was first used in 1917 by a Hungarian engineer, Karl
Ereky, to describe an integrated process for the large-scale production of pigs by using sugar beets as
the source of food. According to Ereky, biotechnology was “all lines of work by which products are
produced from raw materials with the aid of living
Raw things.” For a number of years, the term biotechnology was used to describe two very
material different engineering disciplines. 1, industrial biological organisms, systems, and processes,”
An industrial biotechnology process that uses microorganisms for producing a commercial
product typically has three key stages (Fig. 1.1):
Upstream
processing 1. Upstream processing: preparation of the microorganism and the raw materials.
2. Fermentation and transformation: growth (fermentation) of the target
Fermentation and
microorganism in a large bioreactor (usually >100 liters) with the consequent production
biotransformation (biotransformation) of a desired compound.
3. Downstream processing: purification of the desired compound.
Downstream The biotransformation component of the overall process was the most difficult phase to
processing
manipulate. focused on creating variants (mutants) by using chemical mutagens or
ultraviolet radiation to induce changes in the genetic constitution of existing strains.
By the late 1970s, effective processes for the mass production of a wide range of commercial
Pure
product products had been perfected.
Today, we have acquired sufficient knowledge of the biochemistry, genetics, and molecular
biology of microorganisms to accelerate the development of useful and improved biological products
and processes and to create new products that would not otherwise occur. Distinct from traditional
biotechnology, the modern methods require knowledge of all the aspects in the biotechnology. DNA
technology began as a lunchtime conversation between two scientists working in different fields who
met at a scientific conference in 1973, Stanley Cohen(plasmid transport) and Herbert
Boyer(restriction enzymes).
Recombinant DNA Technology
The first commercial product produced using recombinant DNA technology was human insulin. DNA
sequence synthesized-> transplanted into a plasmid-> placed in E. coli-> production two peptide
chains -> purified -> medicine.
Molecular biotechnology has become the standard method for developing living systems with novel
functions and capabilities for the synthesis of important commercial products.
Most new scientific disciplines do not arise on their own but are formed by the knowledge from
different areas of research. Molecular biotechnology draws on knowledge from a diverse set of
