Creating conscious citizen and ensuring

sustainable development
Biology has a vital role in creation conscious
citizen by creating awareness of the social, global
and environmental conditions.
Biology empowers conscious citizen to assume
personal responsibility by engaging and being
committed to initiating positive impact.
Nowadays, the interplay of biology and
technology (biotechnology) has become vital to
facilitating sustainable development initiatives and
conscious citizens will use biotechnology
applications to improve life and living on the
planet. Conscious citizen biologists develop
innovative and cost effective bio-based
technologies which consume fewer resources,
incorporate recycling, reuse components and
reduce production of wastes, and use strategies for
sustaining a greener earth and improving food
production.
The conscious global citizens (biologists) in
Ethiopia involved in sustainable development
through protecting, managing and monitoring the
existing resources of our land including: analyzing
soil, water and air for chemical pollution. finding
ways to clean up pollution
According to the World Conservation Union
(IUCN, 2006), the three dimensions of
sustainability
1. Economic,
2. social and
3. Environmental

identifying, recording and monitoring the species,

it is called a transgenic organism. plants and
animals that share the land we A gene from one
species that is use introduced into another species
is called a 1.4. Applications in biotechnology
transgene.
Biotechnology is the application of The organisms
used may be genetically technologies that involve
the use of living modifed to make them more
suitable. organisms, or products from living Crops
can be modifed to increase yields organisms, for
the development of and to obtain novel products.
products that benefit humans. Genetically
Biotechnology can be used in the modified
organisms (GMOs) have prevention and mitigation
of received genetic material via recombinant
contamination from industrial, agricultural DNA
technology. If an organism has and municipal
wastes. Biotechnology can received genetic
material from a different also be used in the
diagnosis and
treatment of disease.
i). Application of Biology for Food processing and
production.
This method involves the increasing of foods
productivity using Microorganisms.
A technology that shows some promise i After the
successful completion increasing world food
productivity. of this section, learner will be able to :
Forexample single-cell protein (SCP). Define food
security.
This material is produced from waste
Practice/Apply school-based
gardening as one strategy of
materials such as imolasses from sugar addressing
food security.
refining, petroleum by-products, and Health food
stores carry bottles of dark agricultural wastes. In
developed green pellets or powder that is a culture
of countries, an animal feed called Pruteen is a
spiral-shaped cyanobacterium called produced by
mass culture of the bacterium Spirulina. This
microbe is harvested from Methylophilus
methylotrophus, the surface of lakes and ponds,
where it Mycoprotein, a product made from the
grows in great mats. In some parts of fungus
Fusarium venenatum, is alsO sold Africa, Asia, and
Mexico, Spirulina has there. The filamentous
texture of this become a viable alternative to green
for producing meat substitutes for human
consumption.
plants as a primary nutrient source. It can be eaten
in its natural form or added to other foods and
beverages.
Vitamins are also produced using biotechnology.
Vitamin C was the first vitamin to be produced
during a fermentation process by using bacteria.
Previously, Vitamin Bi2 or cyanocobalamin and B2
or Riboflavin were obtained from animal liver
extract. But, nowadys the production of vitamin Bz
involved fermentation by propionic bacteria. In
nature B is found in cereals, vegetables and yeast
but the yield of B2 can be enhanced hundred to
three hundred fold by using microbes.
(a). Dairy Products Microorganisms are used in
making a wide variety of dairy products. Cultured
buttermilk, popular in the developed countires, is
made by adding Streptococcus cremoris to
pasteurized skim milk and allowing fermentation to
occur until the desired consistency, flavor, and
acidity are reached. Other organismsStreptococcus
lactis, S. diacetylactis and Leuconostoc citrovorum,
L. cremoris, or L. dextranicumnake buttermilk with
different flavors because of variations in
fermentation products. Sour cream is made by
adding one of these organisms to cream. Yogurt is
made by adding Streptococcus thermophilus and
Lactobacillhus bulgaricus to milk. These organisms
release still other products, and
so yogurt has a different texture and flavor.
Fermented milk have been made for
centuries in various countries in the globe,
especially Africa, Asia, and Eastern European. The
products vary in acidity and alcohol content.
Acidophilus milk is made by adding Lactobacillus
acidophilus to sterile milk. Sterilization prevents
uncontrolled fermentation by organisms that might
already be present in nonsterilized milk. Bulgarian
milk is made by L. bulgaricus; it is similar to
buttermilk except that it is more acidic and lacks
the flavor imparted by the leuconostocs.
(b). Fermented Meats
Microbes such as Lactobacillus plantarum and
Pediococcus cerevisiae add flavor by fermenting
meats such as salami, summer sausage, and
Lebanon bologna. The heterolactic acid
fermentation helps preserve the meat and also gives
it a tangy flavor. Fungi such as Penicillium and
Aspergillus, growing naturally on the surfaces of
country hams, help to produce their distinctive
flavor.
(c). Production of beer, wine, and spirits
Beer and wine are made by fermenting sugary
juices; spirits, such as whiskey, gin, and rum, are
made by fermenting
juices and distilling the fermented product.
Distillation separates alcohol and other volatile
substances from solid and nonvolatile substances.
Strains Saccharomyces are the fermenters for all
alçoholic beverages. Many different
blossoms. Juice is treated with sulfur
dioxide to kill any wild yeasts that may already be
present. Sugar and a strain of Saccharomyces are
then added, and fermentation proceeds. Although
ethyl alcohol is the main product