Transcript Environmental Biotechnology

Introduction
 Environmental
biotechnology is the
solving of environmental
problems through the
application of
biotechnology.
Why the need for environmental
biotechnology?
 It is needed to:
 eliminate the hazardous
wastes produced by our
other technologies.
 distinguish between
similar species and
ensure species are not at
risk of extinction.
 create alternative energy
sources (i.e. Biofuel).
1) Molecular Ecology
 Using biological techniques (i.e. DNA
fingerprinting) to better understand
aspects of nature.
 This examines biodiversity of
different populations to ensure they
are not at risk of going extinct
(cheetahs and polar bears currently).
 Could determine if a new species has
emerged and also better map the
evolutionary development of
different families of animals.
2) Bioremediation
 Bioremediation is the use of
bacteria (or fungi) to clean up
hazardous environmental
wastes.
 The bacteria essentially turn
the dangerous waste products
into less hazardous, easy to
dispose of, waste.
 Plants are also being tested in
some areas to do this job
(phytoremediation)

http://www.waterlooenvironmentalbiotec
hnology.com/gallery.html
2) Bioremediation
 In North America,
bioremediation has been
used to clean up Canada’s
DEW line sites in the arctic
and has been used to clean
up after oil spills off of
Alaska.
 Currently, this science can
“engineer” bacteria to break
down hazardous waste right
at the workplace to avoid
transport and storage.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkY6rTI5
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3) Biosensors
 A biosensor uses a
biological entity (i.e.
bacteria) to monitor
levels of certain
chemicals OR uses
chemicals to monitor
levels of certain
biological entities (i.e.
pathogens).
3) Biosensors
 Current uses of
biosensors include:
 Detecting levels of
toxins in an ecosystem
 Detecting airborne
pathogens (i.e. anthrax)
 Monitoring blood
glucose levels (uses
enzyme glucose oxidase
to break blood glucose
down)
4) Biofuels
 A biofuel is a plant derived fuel that is
deemed more environmentally
friendly than current fuel sources as
they all release less carbon dioxide
into the atmosphere. Examples:
 Ethanol from corn is placed in many
gasoline varieties in North America.
 Biodiesel is fuel made from used
cooking oil.
 Biogas is made from gases released by
compost or a landfill.
4) Biofuels
 The current project of many biofuel scientists is
creating a self-sustaining biofuel cell that gives
off no greenhouse gas emissions.
 Many different bacterial strains can produce
lots of hydrogen under anaerobic conditions.
 This hydrogen can be used as a fuel source
with the only waste product being water!
 This technology has not been perfected yet.