SBL1013 TECHNIQUES

BIOTECHNOLOGY
LABORATORY

TOPIC 1: OVERVIEW
 Definition of biotechnology
(1). Biotechnology is the study of using living
organisms (biology) to solve problem or produce
useful products
living organisms:
plants, animals, bacteria, fungus, viruses
solve problem:
diabetic patients lack of insulin, commodity plants
susceptible to disease, not enough fish protein supply
useful products:
medicine like antibiotics, fermented food,
(2). Any techniques that uses living organisms or
substances from those organisms to make or
modify a product, to improve plants or animals
substances from those organisms:
DNA/mRNA/hormones/enzymes

(3). Development of microorganisms for specific

uses
Improved strains of bacteria/fungi for the purpose of
specific protein products

http://biotechlearn.org.nz/themes/what_is_biotechnology
About biotechnology
• It is not a new science
• Many applications represent old practices with
new technologies, example brewing of alcohol
• Make benefit other organisms in various processes
since several thousand years
• History begins as early as 2000 B.C.
History of biotechnology
• Started among Egyptians, Romans, Babylonians,
Greek and Chinese civilization
• Involved domestication of animals instead hunting
for use of livestock
• Apply selective breeding to improve production of
crops for food purposes
• Achieved through inventively crossing or mating
desired traits of organisms to produce offspring
with desirable characteristics
Continued…
• Produced desired crops from wild species,
example lettuce and cabbage
• Take advantage on microorganisms and
used fermentation to make breads, cheese,
yogurt and alcoholic beverages
Scientific breakthrough of
biotechnology
Gradient of biotechnology
 Area of Biotechnology

Techniques in Recombinant DNA Technology

Plant Biotech
Application
Animal Biotech
Medical Biotech
Forensic Biotech
Control Industrial Biotech
Bioremediation
Ethics in Biotech
Biotechnology
products
How to address this paper?
The key question is:

how ?
 Areas to be explored in next 13 weeks
• Tissue Culture (2 weeks + 1)
Plant tissue culture
Hormones
Establishment of suspension cultures

• Overview Biotechnology (1 week)

• Laboratory Instruments and Protocols (1 week)

Laboratory safety precaution,
Introduction to laboratory instruments
Sterilization techniques
Technical tips
• Introduction to Microbiological Techniques (2 weeks)
Isolation
Enumeration
Aseptic techniques

• Genomics and Electrophoresis (3 weeks)

DNA extraction
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Restriction endonuclease
Gel Electrophoresis

• Fermentation (1 week)
Microbial metabolism
• Bioinformatics (1 week)
Database and sequencing format
BLAST
Sequence alignment

• Protein analysis (1 week)

Protein extraction
SDS-PAGE

• Ethics (1 week)
TRENDING BIOTECH….

http://biotechlearn.org.nz/themes/what_is_biotechnology

http://news.discovery.com/tech/biotechnology

http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/plants_animals/biotechnology/