A

Agricultural Biotechnology
BT 22053

D.V.S.S.Samarasingha

136050

Group A
 Content

1. Acknowledgment
2. Introduction biotechnology
3. Scientists create genetically modified malaria-blocking
mosquitoes
4. Genetically modified non browning apple
5. New method produces sweeter, well-growing tomatoes
6. New flavors for lager beer—successful generation of
hybrid yeasts
7. Biotechnology for Green Energy: - Bio fuels
8. Genetically modified maize
9. Producing of Golden Rice
10. Bt cotton
11. Bioremediation
12. Blue Rose
13. Genetically engineered tobacco plants to produce
moth sex pheromone
14. Biotech Papaya
15. Genetically Modified Yeast Strain Produces
Painkillers
16. Environmentally friendly pigs
17. Plants that fight pollution
18. References

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 Acknowledgment

To our Agricultural Biotechnology lecture

Prof.Mrs. N.Kottearachchi

To our Agricultural Biotechnology Demonstrators.

And to all my brothers and sisters of second year batch

in 2012/2013

And to everyone who helped me in marking this Gene

Album

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 Introduction to biotechnology
Biotechnology can be defined as the controlled and deliberate manipulation of biological
systems (whether living cells or cell components) for the efficient manufacture or
processing of useful products. The fact that living organisms have evolved such an
enormous spectrum of biological capabilities means that by choosing appropriate
organisms it is possible to obtain a wide variety of substances, many of which are useful
to man as food, fuel and medicines. Over the past 30 years, biologists have increasingly
applied the methods of physics, chemistry and mathematics in order to gain precise
knowledge, at the molecular level, of how living cells make these substances. By
combining this newly-gained knowledge with the methods of engineering and science,
what has emerged is the concept of biotechnology which embraces all of the above-
mentioned disciplines.

Modern biotechnology provides advance products and technologies to combat

debilitating and rare diseases, reduce our environmental footprint, feed the hungry, use
less and cleaner energy, and have safer, cleaner and more efficient industrial
manufacturing processes.

Biotechnology has already begun to change traditional industries such as food processing
and fermentation. It has also given rise to the development of a whole new technology
for industrial production of hormones, antibiotics and other chemicals, food and energy
sources and processing of waste materials. This industry must be staffed by trained
biotechnologists who not only have a sound basis of biological knowledge, but a
thorough grounding in engineering methods. At Dublin City University, the School of
Biological Sciences is unique in having, as members of its academic staff, engineers who
have specialised in biotechnology. The degree programme also places a major emphasis
on practical work and on developing a wide range of analytical and manipulative skills,
including pilot plant operational skills appropriate to the biotechnologist. Graduates will

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be in an ideal position to exploit the opportunities for biotechnology in Ireland, in
established or developing companies.

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 1. Scientists create genetically modified malaria-blocking

mosquitoes

Using a groundbreaking gene editing technique, scientists have created a strain of

mosquitoes capable of introducing malaria-blocking genes into a mosquito population
through its progeny, ultimately eliminating the insects' ability to transmit the disease to
humans. This is important advance in the effort to establish an anti-malarial mosquito
population and help to eliminate a disease.

To create this breed, researchers at the Irvine and San Diego campuses inserted a DNA
element into the germ line of Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes that resulted in the gene
preventing malaria transmission being passed on to an amazing 99.5 percent of
offspring. 

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 2. Genetically modified non browning apple

It’s a small victory for fruit-salad enthusiasts: genetically modified apples that don’t
brown when exposed to air. This type of fruit, called Arctic apples, scientists created the
Arctic apple by turned off the gene that controls the browning process.

Apples’ color change, technically called “enzymatic browning,” occurs when oxygen
reacts with an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase. Arctic apple scientists use a technique
called gene silencing to turn off their apples’ polyphenol oxidase expression, which
causes them to produce the chemical in amounts too small to cause browning. 

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 3. New method produces sweeter, well-growing tomatoes

The scientists used a bioinformatics search tool to find nucleotide sequence in the tomato
genome similar to a known tobacco gene sequence that can be repressed by sucrose.

Two genes with very similar sequences to the tobacco gene were identified in the tomato
plant by the researchers' bioinformatics search and special coding sequences on the
tobacco gene, called a uORF were removed. The main gene sequence was placed under
the control of another gene, called E8, to express the target gene. The modified DNA
was then inserted into tomato plants. The resulting tomato lines were found to have 50%
more sucrose than normal tomatoes and showed no growth retardation.

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 4. New flavors for lager beer—successful generation of hybrid
yeasts

Traditionally, even very different tasting lagers have been produced using the reliable
and cold-hardy  Saccharomyces pastorianus yeast species. Studies have shown that
this reliable brew master’s helper is actually a hybrid composed of two different yeast
species.

1. Saccharomyces cerevisiae( yeast commonly used in the production of ale)

2. Saccharomyces eubayanus.( recently discovered in the wild)

The hybrid yeasts generated by VTT's researchers have inherited useful properties from
their "parents". The new yeasts accelerate the wort fermentation process and improve the
production of ethanol. They are also more tolerant to cold than their Saccharomyces
cerevisiae parent strain, and settle better after fermentation than their predecessors.

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 5. Biotechnology for Green Energy: - Biofuels

Biodiesel has received much attention in recent years. Although numerous reports are
available on the production of biodiesel from vegetable oils of terraneous oil-plants, such
as soybean, sunflower and palm oils, the production of biodiesel from microalgae is a
newly emerging field. Microalgal biotechnology appears to possess high potential for
biodiesel production because a significant increase in lipid content of microalgae is now
possible through heterotrophic cultivation and genetic engineering approaches.

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 6. Genetically modified maize

Genetically modified maize (corn) is Specific maize strains have been genetically

engineered to express agriculturally-desirable traits, including resistance to pests and to
herbicides.

This modified maize contains a built-in insecticidal protein from a naturally occurring
soil microorganism (Bt) that gives maize plants season-long protection from corn borers.
The farmers do not have to spray insecticide to protect maize from harmful pests. BT
maize also reduces toxin contamination arising from fungal attack on the damaged grain.

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 7. Producing of Golden Rice

Golden rice is a variety of rice (Oryza sativa) produced through genetic

engineering to biosynthesize beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A, in the edible parts
of rice. 

Golden rice differs from its parental strain by the addition of three beta-carotene
biosynthesis genes. In 2005, a new variety called Golden Rice 2, which produces up to
23 times more beta-carotene than the original golden rice. Golden rice poses no risk to
human health, and multiple field tests have taken place with no adverse side-effects to
participants.

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 8. Bt cotton

 It contains a protein that provides the plant with season-long protection from budworms
and bollworms. Strains of the bacterium  Bacillus thuringiensis produce over 200
different Bt toxins, each harmful to different insects. Most notably, Bt toxins are
insecticidal to the larvae of moths and butterflies, beetles, cotton bollworms, but are
harmless to other forms of life. The gene coding for Bt toxin has been inserted into
cotton as a transgene, causing it to produce this natural insecticide in its tissues. The
main pests in commercial cotton are lepidopteron larvae, which are killed by the Bt
protein in the genetically modified cotton they eat.

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 9. Bioremediation

Scientists at the University of York developed a weed (Arabidopsis thaliana) that

contains genes from bacteria that can clean TNT and RDX-explosive soil contaminants. 

Genetically modified plants have been used for bioremediation of contaminated soils

with Mercury, selenium and organic pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

A considerable fraction of petroleum oil entering marine systems is eliminated by the

hydrocarbon-degrading activities of microbial communities. Particularly successful is a
recently discovered group of specialists, they so-called hydrocarbonoclastic
bacteria (HCCB) that may offer useful genes.

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 10. Blue Rose

A blue rose is a flower of the genus Rosa (family Rosaceae) that presents blue-to-

violet pigmentation instead of the more common red, white, or yellow. Blue roses are
often portrayed in literature and art as a symbol of love and prosperity to those who seek
it, but as a result of genetic limitations do not exist in nature. White roses have
been dyed blue. In 2004, researchers used genetic modification to create roses that
contain the blue pigment delphinidin.

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 11. Genetically engineered tobacco plants to produce moth sex

pheromone

Rather than relying on industrial labs to synthesize pheromones to attract or repel crop
pests, researchers have genetically engineered plants to do such work for them. Plant
biologists report on genetically engineered tobacco plants that produce a moth sex
pheromone. Once extracted from the plant, the pheromone can be used to trap male
moths

Plant-produced pheromones might also reduce the use of harmful chemicals in

pheromone production.

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 12. Biotech Papaya

Virus-resistant papaya Hawaiian-developed papaya contains a viral gene that encodes for
the coat protein of papaya ring spot virus (PRSV). This protein provides the papaya plant
with built-in protection against PRSV. This biotech papaya works in a manner similar to
virus resistant potato.

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13. Genetically Modified Yeast Strain Produces Painkillers

Synthetic biologists use a single strain of genetically modified yeast to make opioids.

Hospital patients might someday fight pain with opioids manufactured from sugar-
gobbling yeast similar to what brewmasters and bakers use. In August, Stanford
synthetic biologist Christina Smolke and her team announced successfully using
genetically modified baker’s yeast, one strain to convert glucose into the opioid
hydrocodone and another strain to create the baine, an opioid precursor. Other
research groups completed the 15-step conversion this year using several yeast
strains together...

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14. Environmentally friendly pigs

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 Genetic modification has helped to create pigs that can digest phosphorous better,
which decreases the pig’s phosphorous output. The result is that manure, which is
often made from pig waste, is less destructive to the environment due to its lower
phosphorous.

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 15. Plants that fight pollution

Poplar trees developed by scientists at the University of Washington can absorb polluted
water through their roots and clean it before the water is released back into the air. The
plants were many times more efficient at cleaning certain pollutants than regular poplars.

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 References
1. http://phys.org/news/2015-07-chocolate-microbes.html#nRlv
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biotechnology
3. http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/product/sigma/d1806?
lang=en&region=LK
4. http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/plants_animals/#page=2
5. http://news.discovery.com/tech/biotechnology
6. http://discovermagazine.com/tags/biotechnology

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