What is biotechnology in chemistry. Advanced Research in Biotechnology

Possible methods of using mass culture of algae

Structure of transfer RNA

Biotechnology- a discipline that studies the possibilities of using living organisms, their systems or products of their vital activity to solve technological problems, as well as the possibility of creating living organisms with the necessary properties using genetic engineering.

Biotechnology is often referred to as the application of genetic engineering in the 21st century, but the term also refers to a broader set of processes for modifying biological organisms to meet human needs, starting with the modification of plants and animals through artificial selection and hybridization. With the help of modern methods, traditional biotechnological production has the opportunity to improve the quality of food products and increase the productivity of living organisms.

Before 1971, the term "biotechnology" was used primarily in the food and agricultural industries. Since the 1970s, scientists have used the term to refer to laboratory techniques, such as the use of recombinant DNA and cell cultures grown in vitro.

Biotechnology is based on genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry, embryology and cell biology, as well as applied disciplines - chemical and information technologies and robotics.

History of biotechnology

The term “biotechnology” was first used by the Hungarian engineer Karl Ereky in 1917.

The use of microorganisms or their enzymes in industrial production, which ensure the technological process, has been known since ancient times, however, systematic scientific research has significantly expanded the arsenal of methods and means of biotechnology.

Nanomedicine

Computer image of insulin

Monitoring, correcting, engineering and controlling human biological systems at the molecular level using nanodevices and nanostructures. A number of technologies for the nanomedicine industry have already been created in the world. These include targeted delivery of drugs to diseased cells, laboratories on a chip, and new bactericidal agents.

Biopharmacology

Bionics

Artificial selection

Educational Biotechnology

Orange biotechnology or educational biotechnology is used for the dissemination of biotechnology and training in this field. She develops interdisciplinary materials and educational strategies related to biotechnology (eg, recombinant protein production) accessible to the entire community, including people with special needs such as hearing impairment and/or visual impairment.

Hybridization

The process of forming or producing hybrids, which is based on the combination of genetic material from different cells in one cell. It can be carried out within one species (intraspecific hybridization) and between different systematic groups (distant hybridization, in which different genomes are combined). The first generation of hybrids is often characterized by heterosis, which is expressed in better adaptability, greater fertility and viability of organisms. With distant hybridization, the hybrids are often sterile.

Genetic engineering

Substrates for obtaining unicellular protein for different classes of microorganisms

Green glowing pigs are transgenic pigs bred by a group of researchers from the National Taiwan University by introducing into the DNA of the embryo a green fluorescent protein gene borrowed from a fluorescent jellyfish. Aequorea victoria. The embryo was then implanted into the uterus of a female pig. Piglets glow green in the dark and have a greenish tint to their skin and eyes in daylight. The main purpose of breeding such pigs, according to the researchers, is the ability to visually monitor tissue development during stem cell transplantation.

Moral aspect

Many modern religious leaders and some scientists warn the scientific community against excessive enthusiasm for such biotechnologies (in particular, biomedical technologies) as genetic engineering, cloning, and various methods of artificial reproduction (such as IVF).

Man in the face of the latest biomedical technologies, article by senior researcher V. N. Filyanova:

The problem of biotechnology is only part of the problem of scientific technology, which is rooted in the orientation of European man towards the transformation of the world, the conquest of nature, which began in the modern era. Biotechnologies, rapidly developing in recent decades, at first glance, bring a person closer to the realization of a long-standing dream of overcoming diseases, eliminating physical problems, and achieving earthly immortality through human experience. But on the other hand, they give rise to completely new and unexpected problems that are not limited to the consequences of long-term use of genetically modified products, the deterioration of the human gene pool due to the birth of a mass of people born only thanks to the intervention of doctors and the latest technologies. In the future, the problem of transforming social structures arises, the specter of “medical fascism” and eugenics, condemned at the Nuremberg trials, is being resurrected.

Biotechnology, its objects and main directions.Biotechnology - is the production of human products and biologically active compounds using living organisms, cultured cells and biological processes.

Since time immemorial, biotechnology has been used mainly in the food and light industries, namely in winemaking, baking, fermentation of dairy products, processing of flax, leather, etc., i.e. in processes based on the use of microorganisms. In recent decades, the possibilities of biotechnology have expanded enormously.

Biotechnology objects These include viruses, bacteria, protists, yeast, as well as plants, animals, or isolated cells and subcellular structures (organelles).

Main areas of biotechnology are: 1) production with the help of microorganisms and cultured eukaryotic cells of biologically active compounds (enzymes, vitamins, hormones), medications (antibiotics, vaccines, serums, highly specific antibodies, etc.), as well as valuable compounds (feed additives, for example essential amino acids , feed proteins; 2) the use of biological methods of combating environmental pollution (biological treatment of wastewater, soil pollution) and protecting plants from pests and diseases; 3) creation of new useful strains of microorganisms, plant varieties, animal breeds, etc.

Objectives, methods and achievements of biotechnology. The main task of breeders in our time has become the solution to the problem of creating new forms of plants, animals and microorganisms that are well adapted to industrial production methods, can withstand unfavorable conditions, effectively use solar energy and, most importantly, allow obtaining biologically pure products without excessive environmental pollution . Fundamentally new approaches to solving this fundamental problem are the use of genetic and cellular engineering in breeding.

Genetic engineering is a branch of molecular genetics associated with the targeted creation of new DNA molecules capable of replicating in a host cell and controlling the synthesis of necessary metabolites. Genetic engineering deals with decoding the structure of genes, their synthesis and cloning, and the insertion of genes isolated from the cells of living organisms or newly synthesized genes into plant and animal cells in order to specifically change their hereditary properties.

To carry out gene transfer (or transgenesis) from one species of organism to another, often very distant in origin, it is necessary to perform several complex operations:

isolating genes (individual DNA fragments) from bacterial, plant or animal cells. In some cases, this operation is replaced by artificial synthesis of the necessary genes;

connection (stitching) of individual DNA fragments of any origin into a single molecule as part of a plasmid;

introduction of hybrid plasmid DNA containing the desired gene into host cells;

copying (cloning) of this gene in a new host to ensure its operation (Fig. 8.11).

The cloned gene is microinjected into a mammalian egg or plant protoplast (an isolated cell without a cell wall) and grown into a whole animal or plant. Plants and animals whose genome has been changed through genetic engineering operations are called transgenic plants and transgenic animals.

Transgenic mice, rabbits, pigs, sheep have already been obtained, in the genome of which foreign genes of various origins operate, including genes of bacteria, yeast, mammals, humans, as well as transgenic plants with genes of other, unrelated species.

Today, genetic engineering methods have made it possible to synthesize in industrial quantities hormones such as insulin, interferon and somatotropin (growth hormone), which are necessary for the treatment of human genetic diseases - diabetes, some types of malignant tumors and dwarfism, respectively.

Cell engineering - a method that allows you to construct a new type of cell. The method consists of cultivating isolated cells and tissues on an artificial nutrient medium under controlled conditions, which became possible due to the ability of plant cells to form a whole plant from a single cell as a result of regeneration. Regeneration conditions have been developed for many cultivated plants, such as potatoes, wheat, barley, corn, tomato, etc. Working with these objects makes it possible to use non-traditional methods of cell engineering in breeding, such as somatic hybridization, haploidy, cell selection, overcoming uncrossability in culture etc.

Somatic hybridization is the fusion of two different cells in tissue culture. Different types of cells of the same organism and cells of different, sometimes very distant species, for example, mice and rats, cats and dogs, humans and mice, can merge.

Cultivation of plant cells became possible when they learned to use enzymes to get rid of a thick cell wall and obtain an isolated protoplast. Protoplasts can be cultivated in the same way as animal cells, they can be fused with protoplasts of other plant species, and new hybrid plants can be obtained under appropriate conditions.

An important area of ​​cell engineering is associated with the early stages of embryogenesis. For example, in vitro fertilization of eggs can already overcome some common forms of infertility in humans. In farm animals, with the help of hormone injections, it is possible to obtain dozens of eggs from one record-breaking cow, fertilize them in vitro with the sperm of a purebred bull, and then implant them into the uterus of other cows and in this way obtain from one valuable specimen 10 times more offspring than would otherwise be the case perhaps in the usual way.

It is advantageous to use a plant cell culture for the rapid propagation of slowly growing plants - ginseng, oil palm, raspberries, peach, etc. Thus, with normal propagation, a raspberry bush can produce no more than 50 shoots per year, while with the help of a cell culture it is possible to obtain more 50 thousand plants. This type of breeding sometimes produces plants that are more productive than the original variety.

Biotechnology, genetic and cell engineering have promising prospects. The introduction of the necessary genes into the cells of plants, animals and humans will make it possible to gradually get rid of many hereditary human diseases, force the cells to synthesize the necessary drugs and biologically active compounds, and then directly proteins and essential amino acids used in food. Using methods already mastered by nature, biotechnologists hope to obtain hydrogen through photosynthesis - the most environmentally friendly fuel of the future, electricity, and convert atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia under normal conditions.

Biotechnology is the production of human products and materials using living organisms, cultured cells and biological processes. The main areas of biotechnology are: the production of biologically active compounds (vitamins, hormones, enzymes), medicines and other valuable compounds, the development and use of biological methods for combating environmental pollution, the creation of new useful strains of microorganisms, plant varieties, animal breeds, etc. . The methods of genetic and cellular engineering contribute to solving these complex problems.

If the past century has reserved the name cosmic, then current times are characterized by the rapid development of new technologies, the introduction into everyday life of inventions that not so long ago were considered the inventions of science fiction writers. The era of new technologies is coming. Young people on the verge of making a serious choice of profession are increasingly paying attention to promising professions of the future. The specialty “biotechnology” belongs to this category. What exactly does this science study and what does a specialist who has chosen such a tempting occupation have to do?

Historical background

The name of this science consists of the addition of three Greek words: “bio” - life, “tekne” - art, “logos” - science. The specialty “biotechnology” is at the same time a new promising direction, and at the same time it can be called the oldest branch of industrial production.

In reference books and dictionaries, biotechnology is defined as a science that studies the possibility of using natural chemical and biological processes and objects in industrial production and everyday human activity. The fermentation processes used by ancient winemakers, bakers, cooks and healers are nothing more than the application of biotechnology in practice. The first scientific basis for these processes was given in the 19th century by Louis Pasteur. The term “biotechnology” was first used in 1917 by Hungarian engineer Karl Erecki.

The specialties “biotechnology” and “bioengineering” have accelerated in development after a number of discoveries in microbiology and pharmacology. The commissioning of sealed equipment and bioreactors gave impetus to the creation of antimicrobial and antiviral drugs.

Communication of Sciences

Modern chemical technology and biotechnology (specialty) combine biological, chemical and technical sciences. The basis for new research in this area is microbiology, genetics, chemistry, biochemistry, molecular and cellular biology, and embryology. Engineering areas play a significant role: robotics, information technology.

Specialty - biotechnology: where to work?

More than twenty specializations and areas are hidden under the general names of the specialty "biotechnology". University graduates with such a profession can safely be called generalists. During their studies, they gain knowledge in the field of medicine, chemistry, general biology, ecology, and food technology. Biotechnologists are welcome in the perfume and pharmaceutical industries, in enterprises producing food products and dietary supplements. Modernity awaits new developments by scientists in the field of genetic engineering, bionics, and hybridization. The place of work of an engineer-biologist may be associated with environmental protection enterprises, with work in the field of astronautics and robotics. Engineers, biochemists, biophysicists, ecologists, pharmacists, doctors - all these professions are united by the specialty "biotechnology". Each university graduate decides who to work in accordance with his abilities and according to his heart. The labor responsibilities of a biologist technologist depend on the characteristics of the industry in which he works.

Industrial biotechnology

This industry practices the use of particles of microorganisms, plants and animals to produce valuable products necessary for human life. This group includes specialties in food biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and the perfumery industry. Industrial biotechnologies work to create new enzymes, antibiotics, fertilizers, vaccines, etc. The main activity of a biotechnologist at such enterprises is the development of biological products and compliance with their production technologies.

Molecular biotechnology

The specialty “molecular biotechnology” requires a professional to have in-depth knowledge of both general biology and engineering, and modern computer technologies. Specialists with this specificity become researchers in the field of nanotechnology, cell engineering, and medical diagnostics. Agricultural, pharmaceutical, biotechnological enterprises, control and analytical laboratories, and certification centers are also waiting for them.

Biotechnologists - ecologists and energy workers

The world's population is increasingly concerned about the fact that natural energy reserves, oil and gas, have their limits, and the scale of their production will decrease over time. People whose specialty is biotechnology will help humanity solve the energy supply problem. Who to work in this industry? Technologist for processing waste of various origins, specially grown biomass into energy carriers and substances that can replace synthetic substances of oil and gas. Biotechnologists create new methods of water purification, design treatment plants and bioreactors, and work in the field of genetic engineering.

Prospects for the specialty

Who is a biotechnologist? The profession of a biotechnologist is the profession of the future. The fate of all humanity is behind him. This is not just a nice slogan - it is the goal of bioengineering. The task of biological technologists is to create what now seems like a fairy tale and a fantastic dream. Some scientists even call the modern era the era of biology. Thus, over the last hundred years, biologists have transformed from mere researchers into creators. The discovery of the molecular secrets of organisms and the nature of heredity made it possible to use these processes for practical economic purposes. This became the impetus for the development of a new direction - biological engineering.

What might surprise geneticists in the near future?

Already now, bioengineering has a significant impact on environmental protection, medicine, agriculture, the food industry, and biotechnologists are planning to include new methods and techniques in the near future. Those who plan to connect their destiny with the specialty “biotechnology”, where to work, in what direction, can find out from the information presented below:

• First of all, revolutionary changes can occur in agricultural production. It is possible to artificially create new plants with increased protein content, which, in turn, will reduce meat consumption.
• Plants that themselves will secrete insect poisons and nitrates will reduce soil pollution from fertilizers and chemicals.
• Genetic engineering makes it possible to control heredity and fight hereditary diseases.
• Design biologists plan to artificially create organisms with predetermined qualities.

Areas of bioengineering that will dramatically change the world

They are as follows:

• Energy and fuel from plants, fungi, bacteria, as well as the use of sea energy for these purposes.
• Genetically modified grain crops.
• Waste-free production circle - recycling of all types of waste.
• Use of biomaterials for regenerative medicine.
• New types of biological drugs and vaccines.
• Restoring the potential of fertile lands and fresh water.
• Research of the human genome and hereditary diseases.

Costs of the profession

Speaking about the advantages and prospects of biotechnology, one cannot fail to mention some of the disadvantages of science. We are talking about the moral aspects associated with the discoveries of genetic engineering. Many world-famous scientists and religious figures warn that it is necessary to use the capabilities of nanotechnology wisely and under special control. Genetically modified food products can lead to irreparable changes in the gene pool of humanity. Human cloning and the emergence of people born “in vitro” lead to new problems and, possibly, to human disasters.

Who can become a biotechnologist?

First of all, this is a person who loves nature, biology, and is interested in the secrets of genetics. In addition, a biotechnologist needs the ability to think creatively, logic, observation, patience and curiosity. Such qualities as determination, the ability to analyze and systematize, accuracy and broad erudition will be useful.

Since bioengineering involves a close connection with other sciences, the future technologist needs equally good knowledge of chemistry, mathematics, and physics.

Where do they teach professions?

Career guidance has been determined, the applicant has chosen the profession of biotechnologist: where to study? The features of the specialty require appropriate faculties, depending on the chosen sector of the national economy. There are biotechnology departments in almost all state universities in our country and abroad. Biotechnologists are trained in technical, agricultural, food, and technological universities in various areas and specializations.

Faculties of biotechnology specialties offer the following:

• Industrial biotechnology.
• Ecobiotechnology and bioenergy.
• Biotechnology and engineering.
• Bioinformatics.
• Molecular biotechnology.
• Equipment for biotechnological production.
• Pharmaceutical biotechnology.
• Chemical technologies of food additives and cosmetics.
• Chemical technology and engineering.

New methods for obtaining industrially important products - first of all biotechnology methods, and in particular, industrial microbiology. Industrial microbiology is based on the use of microorganisms in industry to obtain commercially valuable products and medicines. The most important products of microbial synthesis are special substances used for pharmaceutical and food purposes (antibiotics, enzymes, enzyme inhibitors, vitamins, flavors, additives for the food industry, etc.); Metabolic flexibility and the high ability of microbes to adapt, ease of cultivation, knowledge of genetics, developed methods for the targeted creation of strains with desired properties are advantages that make microbial biotechnology one of the promising areas of industry. The feasibility of industrial production is determined by such factors as high product yield (formation of large quantities from the starting material), low production cost and availability of raw materials.

Applications of biotechnology are presented in table. 7-1. Currently, methods have been developed for producing more than 1000 types of products using biotechnological methods. In the United States, the total value of these products in 2000 is estimated at tens of billions of dollars. It is almost impossible to list all the industries in which biotechnology can be used.

Optimization of microbiological processes in biotechnology. Fundamental approaches to optimizing microbial biotechnological processes: controlled cultivation (changing the composition of the nutrient medium, targeted additives, regulating the speed of mixing, aeration, modifying the temperature regime, etc.); genetic manipulations, which are divided into traditional methods (strain selection) and genetic engineering methods (recombinant DNA technology).

Currently microbial biomass is obtained microbiologically, primary and secondary products of metabolism. Primary products (first-phase products) are metabolites, the synthesis of which is necessary for the survival of a given microorganism. The synthesis of secondary products (products of the second phase) is not vital for the producing microorganism. Optimal conditions for obtaining biomass are determined by high flow rates of the medium through microbial cultures and stable chemical cultivation conditions (including pH, amount of oxygen and carbon). The process of obtaining first-phase products (in particular, enzymes) is optimized in order to increase the specific activity of the enzyme (units/g*h -1) and volumetric productivity (units/l*h -1).

To obtain second phase products(for example, antibiotics), the main task is to maximize their concentration, which leads to a reduction in the cost of their isolation.

The history of the relationship between man and nature is the eternal history of man’s attempts to change the genome of plants and animals in the direction he needs. Even when a person did not have the slightest idea about the existence of hereditary factors, intuitively, through hybridization and selection of organisms with the desired properties, he changed the heredity of domestic animals and cultivated plants.

All varieties of fruit trees and berry crops, vegetables, and cereals have an altered genome, that is, they no longer have the same genotype that their wild ancestors had. Almost all plants that people use for food are polyploids. For several centuries, people have been using interspecific hybrids, such as mules, in their farming.

Until the beginning of the 20th century. breeders simply had to wait for the moment when a random combination of genes would produce organisms with beneficial properties, select such organisms and fix these combinations of genes in the offspring. In the middle of the 20th century. Methods appeared that made it possible to artificially obtain a large number of random mutations, for example, using radioactive irradiation or the action of chemical mutagens, in order to then select organisms with valuable properties from among them. Modern genetic technologies have gone even further. They allow you to achieve the desired result much faster and at the same time avoid obtaining many intermediate and unnecessary forms, since modern science and biotechnology are able to change the genome purposefully. This is possible thanks to genetic engineering methods (Fig. 78), with the help of which it is possible to take certain structural genes from the genome of one species and introduce them into the genetic apparatus of another species, thus causing the synthesis of the desired protein in the new organism.

Biotechnology- a discipline that studies the possibilities of using living organisms to solve technological problems. She uses methods and knowledge of genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry, embryology and cell biology, as well as applied disciplines - chemical, physical and information technologies, robotics.

The term biotechnology was proposed in 1917 by the Hungarian engineer K. Ereki, when he described the process of producing pork using sugar beets as pig feed.

Biotechnology is a methodology for using biological objects to solve technological problems.Material from the site

Modern biotechnology makes it possible to intervene in the genetic apparatus and construct new combinations of genes. This is how genetically modified and transgenic organisms are obtained.

Genetic modifications created in order to add beneficial properties to organisms.

Transgenic organisms used in pharmacology, agriculture, and industry.

One of the methods genetic engineering is gene therapy, which allows you to treat pathologies of the genetic apparatus by planting healthier genes.