Biotechnology In Our Life

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Biotechnology In Our Life
English 320 Presentatin NDSU March 11, 2004
Phil McClean Department of Plant Science North
Dakota State University
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The Question for the Future Should We Live A
Biotech Free Lifestyle??

• Answers depends upon your perspective on the
  value
• of the technology
• Controversy differs depending upon where you live
  
• USA Economic
• EU Safety of products
• Safety issue only addresses food crops
• Is there a real hidden economic objection???

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What is Biotechnology?
How about some definitions
General Definition

• The application of technology to improve
• a biological organism

Detailed Definition

• The application of the technology to modify
• the biological function of an organism
• by adding genes from another organisms

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What is the Result of Biotechnology?

• An organism showing a novel trait not normally
  found in the species

Important historical examples
Extended shelf-life tomato
Herbicide resistant soybean
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Roundup Resistant Plants
Shikimic acid Phosphoenol pyruvate
Glyphosate
RoundUp has no effect enzyme is resistant to
herbicide
Bacterial EPSP synthase
3-enolpyruvyl shikimic acid-5-phosphate (EPSP)
With amino acids, plant lives
Aromatic amino acids
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The Roundup Story
Sensitive Plants
Glyphosate
X
X
Without amino acids, plant dies
X
X
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The Lab Steps
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Biotechnology Terms
Transgene the foreign gene added to a species
Ex. modified EPSP synthase gene (encodes a
protein that functions even when plant treated
with Roundup)
Transgenic an organism containing a transgene
introduced by technological (not breeding)
methods
Ex. Roundup Ready crops are transgenics
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The Term You Probably Have Heard
GMOs - Genetically modified organisms

• GMO - an organism that expresses traits that
  result
• from the introduction of foreign DNA
• GMO transgenic organism

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The Golden Rice Story

• Vitamin A deficiency is a major health problem

• Causes blindness
• Influences severity of diarrhea, measles

• gt100 million children suffer from the problem

• For many countries, the infrastructure doesnt
  exist
• to deliver vitamin pills

• Improved vitamin A content in widely consumed
  crops
• an attractive alternative

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?-Carotene Pathway in Plants
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The Golden Rice Solution
?-Carotene Pathway Genes Added
Daffodil gene
Single bacterial gene performs both functions
Daffodil gene
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Agriculture Products On the Market
Insect resistant cotton

• Bt toxin kills the cotton boll worm
• toxin gene from a bacteria

Source USDA
Insect resistant corn

• Bt toxin kills the European corn borer
• toxin gene from a bacteria
• Rootworm GM approved (2/26/03)

Normal
Transgenic
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Herbicide resistant crops

• current soybean, corn, canola
• coming sugarbeet, lettuce, strawberry,
• alfalfa, potato, wheat (2005)
• resistance gene from bacteria

Source Monsanto
Virus resistance

• papaya, squash, potato
• resistance gene from a virus

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The Crop Biotech Market Is Dominated By Five
Countriesa
6 4 mha
63 43 mha
3 3 mha
3 3 mha
21 14 mha
Top Five Countries 98 of market 15 increase
in biotech acreage in 2003
a2003 growing season data. http//www.isaaa.org/Pr
ess_release/Briefs30-2003/press/b30_english.htm
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Transgenic Crops Increasing In the USa
a Source NASS Planting Reports, 2001,
2002. b2002 US acreage 73 million ND acreage
2.6 million c2002 US acreage 79 million ND
acreage 1.2 million d2002 US acreage 1.6
million ND acreage 1.3 million
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Biotech Crops Can Be Environmentally (and Yield)
Friendly
Cotton yield and insecticide results from a large
(157 sites) trial in India during 2001.
Means within a row are significantly different
at the 5 level From Science (2003) 299900
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Next Generation of Ag Biotech Products
Golden Rice

• Increased Vitamin A content
• Transgenes from bacteria and daffidol
• Controversory large amount needed to
• solve problem

Sunflower

• White mold resistance
• Resistance gene from wheat

Source Minnesota Microscopy Society
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Turfgrass

• Herbicide resistance
• Slower growing
• reduced mowing reduced pollution

Bio Steel

• Spider silk strongest known protein
• Protein expressed in goat milk
• Protein used to make soft-body,
• bullet proof vests (Nexia)

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Biotechnology is Not Just on the Farm
Disease Treatment Diagnostics   Environmental
Cleanup   Human Applications
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Human Applications

• Pharmaceutical products
• New solutions to old problems
•  
• Disease diagnosis
• Determine what disease you have or may get 
• Gene therapy
• Correcting disease by introducing a
  corrective gene

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Biotechnology and Health
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Future Health-related Biotech Products
Vaccines herpes, hepatitis C, AIDS, malaria
Tooth decay engineered Streptococcus mutans,
the bacteria that destroys enamel
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Edible Vaccines Biotech Plants Serve Human Health
Needs

• A pathogen transgene protein gene is cloned
• Gene is inserted into the DNA of plant (potato,
  banana, tomato)
• Humans eat the plant
• The body produces antibodies against pathogen
  protein
• Human are immunized against the pathogen
• Examples
• Diarrhea
• Hepatitis B
• Measles

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Environmental Applications
Bioremediation - cleanup contaminated sites
uses microbes designed to degrade the pollution
Indicator bacteria contamination can be
detected in the environment
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Land Mine Detection
Without this effort, that is dangerous to
our military,
children are maimed.
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Land Mine Detection

• How biotechnology helps
• Patented transgene added to plants
• When metal from mine is detected
• Plant turns from green to red
• Technology developed by Aresa Biodetection

Mine detected
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Nutritional Genomics (Nutrigenomics)

• Concepts of Nutrigenomics
• Certain diets can cause severe health risks in
  individuals
• Refined sugars, dairy products, fatty foods
• Certain diets enhance disease susceptibility in
  individuals
• with a specific genetic makeup
• Diabetes, lactose intolerance, high cholesterol
• Diets based on an individuals genetic makeup are
  preferred
• No refined sugars, minimal dairy products
• or fatty foods

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Nutritional Genomics (Nutrigenomics)

• Goal of Nurtigenomics
• Identify specific genetic makeups
• What combination of genes places a person at
  risk?
• Develop dietary recommendations
• What diets are best suited for certain at-risk
  individuals?

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Top Biotechnologies In The Future

• Molecular Diagnostics
• Treatments exist, but diagnositic tools are
  lacking
• Expensive, hard to implement
• Cost effective diagnostic procedures needed
• Recombinant Vaccines
• Vaccines have effectively eradicated small pox,
  polio, etc
• Other diseases need to be addressed
• More effective and low-cost vaccines are needed
• Genetic engineering can solve these problems

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Top Biotechnologies In The Future

• Vaccine and drug delivery
• Vaccine injections can cause serious infection
• New delivery forms, such as slow release drugs,
  are needed
• Bioremediation
• Water, air, and soil pollution is a problem
• Plants can breakdown much of these pollutants
• Plants that are safe to the environment and
  reduce pollutants
• are needed

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Top Biotechnologies In The Future

• Nutritionally Enriched Crops
• Malnutrition is widespread
• Malnutrition is associated with many diseases
• Modification of staple crops necessary
• to solve the problem

• Female Controlled Protection Against STDs
• Incidence of sexually-transmitted disease is
  high
• Women are most affected
• Vaginal microbicides needed
• Topical application best solution

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The Question for the Future Should We Live A
Biotech Free Lifestyle??

• Answers depends upon your perspective on the
  value
• of the technology
• What will support your opinion?
• Economics
• Safety of products
• Needs of human