iGCSE Edexcel Biology Unit 6

Using Microorganisms

Microorganisms’ roles are to recycle waste products and dead matters of other
organisms. Some of them may cause disease, but in most of the cases, humans
have mad use of their reproductive capacity in order to make useful products
- Some examples of microorganisms include fungi, bacteria and protoctists
Fermentation and biotechnology
Fermentation means any anaerobic respiration involving the use of
microorganisms, or other metabolic process carried out of microorganisms, it’s
normally used to make a useful product
Biotechnology is the skill of using any organisms to make products that are
useful to humans. For example, uses yeasts to produce bread, make yoghurt by
using bacteria and cheese manufacture
- Biotechnology had evolved to alter the genes of microorganisms in order to
make new products, this process is called genetic engineering

Traditional Biotechnology
The yeasts are deprived of oxygen to respire anaerobically, which converts
glucose into ethanol and carbon dioxide.
Making alcohol
- Add yeasts into grape juice, this may take place in large containers called
vats or airlock, in both conditions, it prevents the entry of oxygen
- When the concentration of alcohol increases, yeasts are being killed, and
fermentation stopped. Wine is being made
- Making beer involves with raw material of barley, the starch in the barley is
being broken down first.
- The barley seeds will first be germinated, to produce an enzyme called
amylase which breaks starch into maltose.
- The maltose in the seed is later fermented by the year in a large open vat.
Making bread
- Make a dough by combining flours, water, egg, milk and yeasts
- The dough should be left at somewhere warm for a few hours
- During this process, the starch in the bread will be broken down to sugars by
enzymes; then the yeast will break down the sugars to release carbon
dioxide, when it has oxygen, CO2 will be trapped inside the dough,
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increasing its volume. When the air runs out, the yeast will start producing
ethanol through anaerobic respiration
- Then, the bread is being baked in the oven, the yeasts are then killed in high
temperature and ethanol from fermentation will evaporate
Q: How to investigate the rate of anaerobic respiration?
- Boil the water to remove extra oxygen, and cools the water before any yeasts
is being added, so that the enzymes won’t denature from high temperature
- Dissolve a small amount of sucrose or glucose to form a solution
- Add yeasts into the boiling tube
- Use a layer of oil on top of the mixture to prevent oxygen diffusing in
- Connects the boring tube through a pipe to another one that includes lime
water or hydrogen carbonate indicator
- Start the timer and count the number of bubbles, or observe the color change
in the indicator
- Record the data
- Repeat the experiment by changing the concentration of sucrose,
temperature and the type of sugar, while keeping the amount of yeast the
same as a controlled variable.
Making yoghurt
- Milk is pasteurized at 85—95 degrees for 15-30 minutes in order to kill any
bacterias or microorganisms it may contain
- Then it’s being homogenized in order to disperse the fat globules
- Milk is being cooled to 40-45 degrees and being added with lactobacillus
and streptococcus, those bacterias are responsible for producing lactic acid
and starting to digest the milk
- This is being left for several hours while the pH value falls, this will leads to
the solidification of the milk
* The drop in pH will slows the preproduction of lactobacillus, and prevents
the growth of other microorganisms, so nutrients are being preserved.
- Thickened yoghurt is being stirred and cooled to 5 degrees
- Then flavorings and colorings were being added to the yoghurt

Industrial fermenters
Inside the industrial fermenters, environmental factors in liquid culture such as
temperature, pH values and nutrients are carefully monitored and supplied in
order to maximize the yield of products made by microorganisms
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- At the start of the process, nutrients are being added through pipes called
inlets, which could be opened and closed
- Stirring paddles mix up the contents which keeps the microorganisms in
suspense in the liquid, so that they get more nutrients. This also helps to keep
temperature at optimum throughout the vessel
- Sterilized oxygen is being supplied through air inlet for respiration, however,
this is not required for anaerobic fermentation processes
- Temperature probes or data loggers and cold water outlet is needed because
fermentation produces heat, cold water flows around the fermenter in order
to prevent overheating and keeping the temperature at best for growth
- The pH is being monitored and controlled by adding acid or alkali to keep it
at a constant level
* The fermenters have to made from steel or other metals that cannot be
corroded, because many microorganisms produce acidic wastes
* The conditions for fermenters have to be sterilized, so that no other
microorganism would compete for nutrients and the products won’t be
contaminated by other sources

Genetic modification

The production of a recombinant DNA is the basis of genetic modification.

Recombinant DNA contains two genes from different organisms, the organism
that receive the gene from a different specie is called a transgenic organisms
- Since DNA codes for proteins, the new gene has an added capacity, which
means it will manufacture the protein that the new genes code for

Genetically modified bacteria

Bacterias have two sorts of DNA, one is chromosomes in circular shape and
another one is much more smaller called the plasmids
- Restriction enzymes, or restriction endonuclease cut the DNA molecules at
specific point, they have different variety which means they’re able to cut
DNA from different places, sometimes the desired genes
* Restriction enzymes do this by recognizing a certain base sequence in a DNA
strand, and then will cut the DNA molecules.
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* Some restriction enzymes cut the ends straightly, whereas others make
staggered cut which produce fragments of DNA with overlapping
complementary bases. These are being called the sticky ends, that could be
joined together by ligase more easily
- Ligases are used to join the cut ends of DNA molecules together.
Sometimes, the plasmid could be isolated from the bacterium and acts as a
vector for the transfer of recombinant DNA, then it’s being incubated back and
forms bacterium containing the modified genes
Another way of introducing foreign DNA into the bacterium is through
bacteriophage, which is a virus that attacks the bacteria by sticking to its cell
wall, and injecting its own DNA into the bacteria.
- This could be leading to incorporation between the host cell, and the
bacteria will finally die
* This could be used as earlier methods of genetic modification
Uses of genetically modified bacteria
The purpose of modifying bacteria is to produce a larger range of products that
could be helping humans, then it’s being put in fermenters to enable mass
productions
- Human insulin: insulin was extracted from the pancreas of other animals
which cannot give the same level of control of human blood glucose,
therefore it needed to be modified to suit its needs
- Enzymes for washing powders: Enzymes can digest large biological
molecules such as blood stains, or proteins and lipids that could be washed
off and dissolved in water. Some enzymes are being modified s it could be
working more efficiently at higher temperatures
- Enzymes in the food industries could also be modified to convert glucose
into fructose, which make the food cheaper and healthier
- Bacterias being modified could help the child to recover from poor growth,
this is called human growth hormone
- Cattle growth hormone called Bovine somatotrophin could be increasing the
milk yield and increase the mass of their muscles
- Bacterias may being modified to be harmless but helps the antibodies to
recognize the antigens

Genetically modified plants

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Plants have billions of cells, so for the modification, each cell must receive a
new gene, so modification of plants includes two stages which is the
introduction of new genes into plant cells, and producing the whole plants from
just a few cell. A kind of soil called Agrobacterium could regularly inserts
plasmid into the plant cells and acts as a vector
- The leaves are being placed in the nutrient medium, some of the liquid
contains the plasmid that’ll being taken up
- The leaves are being cultivated on the nutrient medium
- The smaller plants are grown into whole plants which contain the foreign
genes
Uses of genetically modified plants
- Some fruits and vegetables are being modified to have extended shelf lives
before they went bad(decayed)
- They’re resistant to herbicides or pesticides which allow the farmers to spray
the amount which have maximum impact on the pests or weeds, or the pests
themselves
- Some crops may have a better balance of proteins, carbohydrates and
vitamins, for example, golden rice which contains vitamin A, helping to
improve the eyesights for children in less developed countries.
- They may help humans to resist infection, by producing antibodies against a
wide range of diseases.
- They may develop resistance to high temperatures or flooding
- They may be modified to become suitable for certain functions, for example,
production in biodegradable plastics.
- They may be developed to have their own nitrogen fixing bacteria, which
increases the amount of nitrogen available to the plants and decrease the
costs of using fertilizers

Genetically modified animals

Usually, injecting DNA directly into a newly fertilized egg cell that will be later
developing into an embryo is the most successful approach for modifying
animals. The embryo is then placed in the surrogate mother’s body, then it’ll be
giving birth to transgenic animals
This could be used to produce human proteins such as proteins and antibodies,
increased the production of a particular product such as higher milk yield,
increased resistance to diseases, and supply organs for human transplantation.
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Cloning transgenic animals
Producing large numbers of animals with desired traits and are genetically
identical could be used for the production of human proteins
For example, AAT that is involved in immune response stops the antibodies,
enzyme trypsin to attack normal body tissues, people who may have a mutation
don’t make enough AAT so many of their other organs are damaged
- Some animals that are able to make AAT in their milk can be used to treat
people with AAT deficiency