Transcript Chapter 2: The Historical Development of Biotechnology

Chapter 2:
The Historical Development of Biotechnology
BIOTECHNOLOGY: AN AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION
BY: RAY V. HERREN
MOST OF THIS CONTENT IS TAKEN FROM DELMAR CENGAGE LEARNING
Biotechnology
 According to Biotechnology in the Realm of History
Biotechnology
 Derived from biology and technology
 Technology which makes our life convenient and
comfortable with the employment of biological
resources
Present
 Biotechnology = a buzz word nowadays
 As time goes by and the way our way of life is
heading it seems as if biotechnology has become an
essential component of our life
 Became important in the last 2 decades
 Touched our lives in many if not all aspects

food, health and animal life
Various stages of development
 Developed on observations
 Divided into 3 stages
 Ancient
Biotechnology (Pre 1800)
 Classical Biotechnology
 Modern Biotechnology
Ancient Biotechnology
PRE 1800
Pre 1800
 Most developments can be describes as discoveries
or developments prior to 1800
 Many were common observations about nature
 Initial period of


evolution of farming
development of food preservation and storage

clay jars etc.
 Then moved to observations of
 cheese, vinegar, and yeast
 Finally crossbreeding
 mule = male donkey and a female horse
 used for transportation, carrying loads and farming
Beginnings of Biotechnology
 Transitioned to permanent settlements and learned
to:


Contain/maintain plants and animals
Create more reliable food sources
 Biotechnology began with this transition
approximately 7,000 to 12,000 years ago
First Biotechnology Processes
 Crop production genesis
 Selection and storage of best plants and seeds
 Identified animals most adaptable to domestication
 With animal taming came multiple uses for not only
its meat but also its parts

E.g., sinews as strings for tying tools, hooves boiled to make
glue
Start of Society
 Produced enough food to be stationary
 Had more time to create labor-saving tools
 Needing fewer people to produce food
 Allowed some people to specialize
Developed new technologies
 Gathered and recorded knowledge
 Produced specialty goods

 Developed into villages and cities
Start of Financial Systems
 Society’s development paved the way to plant and
animal profitability by:


Producing food to eat
Gaining something of value others wanted
 Excess food traded to accumulate items
 Barter systems gave way to financial ones
 Money was more portable than traded items
History of Food Preservation
 Travel necessitated food preservation
 Cured animal stomachs used for storage
 Legend of milk stored in calf’s stomach
 Heat and sloshing caused coagulation
 Milk turned to cheese by journey’s end
 Settlements prompted year-round preservation and
storage methods
 Early method:

Fruit-juice storage
Basics of Bread Making
 Began early in civilization
 Found grass seeds good to eat
 Ground wheat seed produced flour
 Yeast gave volume and taste
 New types of breads developed
 Each new development involved biotechnology
 This weeks lab!!! Bread making
Start of the Science of Genetics
 Planted seeds from crops that produced foods that:
 They desired most
 Yielded largest quantity and highest quality
 Identified plants and animals with superior offspring
 Bred those with superior traits to create hybrids
 Much progress with new varieties in 1700s
Discovery of Cells
 Microscope invented in 1600s
 Earliest biotechnology milestone
 Hooke examined thin slice of cork
 Coined term “cells” because tiny spaces looked like
prison cells
 Research began

Many cell theories followed
 Opened door to cell manipulation
Classical Biotechnology
1 8 0 0 T O T H E M I D D L E O F T H E 2 0 TH C E N T U R Y
Theory of Heredity
 Mendel developed theory in mid-1800s
 Explained how traits passed to offspring
 Theory arose from his observations of garden peas
 Differences in appearances and texture from generation to
generation
 Led to breeding research and other laws
Advancements of Disease Prevention
and Treatment
 19th century
 Discovered germs cause diseases
 Louis Pasteur
 Learned to prevent disease in sheep by using survivor’s
blood for injections into healthy sheep

Led to many new vaccines for animals and humans
Discovery of Penicillin
 Fleming studied bacteria in 1920s
 Saw Penicillium inhibited bacteria growth
 Extracts became first antibiotic penicillin
 Many “miracle drugs” followed
 Saved millions of human lives
 Eradicated many animal diseases
Artificial Insemination
 Great boost to animal agriculture
 In Middle Ages, Arabs first used to breed stallions
 Used large scale in United States (U.S.) in 1930s
 Freezing technique perfected in 1950s
 Allowed global semen shipping and storage
 Made superior sires more available
Embryo Transfer
 From one female to another
 Became widespread in 1970s
 Superior females could produce multiple offspring
 Combined with artificial insemination, allowed rapid
production of superior animals
In Vitro Process
 Capability of cells’ genes long known
 New organism made from one cell in 1950
 Used in vitro process to grow plant from single cell
 In vitro means “in glass”
 Started plant not from seed but in petri dish with single cell
Gene Transfer
 Parents transfer genetic information to offspring
 Methods were mystery until 1950s
 Watson and Crick published model of DNA
 Key to gene transfer contained in double-helix shape
Basics of DNA
 Genetic material in cell’s nucleus
 Alternating units of phosphoric acid and
deoxyribose
 Form of double helix that contains number, order,
and type of nucleotides
 Helix structure determines code transmitted from
one generation to the next
Basics of Genetic Engineering
 Genetics’ knowledge applied in 1980s
 Genetic engineering
 Transfer genes to express traits
 Microbes are natural “genetic engineers”
 Gene splicing
 Transplant gene from one organism into another organism