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Biotechnology
University
Introduction to the Biotechnology Degree. Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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What you need to know
Read the full theory →Definition, foundations, and applications of biotechnology
- Biotechnology: the application of biological systems to create or modify products/processes.
- Key difference: Biotechnology does not necessarily require genetic modification (unlike genetic engineering).
- Scientific foundations: Biology, engineering, physics, chemistry, and biomedicine.
- Origin of the term: Probably coined by Károly Ereki in 1919.
- Modern biotechnology (Cartagena Protocol): Includes in vitro nucleic acid techniques and cell fusion beyond taxonomic families.
- Scientific risk: Possibility of non-reproducible random results in gene modification.
- Plant biotechnology: Use of plants for non-food products (biofuels, biodegradable plastics).
- Bioremediation: Biotechnological use for cleaning contaminated sites and waste treatment.
- Red biotechnology: Specific applications in medical processes and pharmaceuticals.
- Molecular diagnostics: Use of PCR, hybridization, and sequencing for rapid and automatable diagnostics.
Applications of biotechnology in health, industry, and the environment
- Molecular pathology: diagnosis by genetic and biochemical alterations
- Molecular pathology: immunohistochemistry techniques and genetic analysis
- White biotechnology: industrial processes, enzymes, and biodegradable products
- Green biotechnology: food security, resistant crops, and transgenic plants
- Bt maize: example of pesticide expression through genetic engineering
- Mycorrhizal fungi: improve forest resistance and adaptability
- Yellow biotechnology: fermentative processes and food quality improvement
- Blue biotechnology: marine applications and aquatic ecosystem preservation
- Grey biotechnology: bioremediation and pollutant removal
- Bioremediation techniques: phytoremediation, bioventing, bioleaching, rhizofiltration, bioaugmentation, and bioreactors
- Biosafety risk: horizontal gene transfer in modified organisms
Bioremediation and Biotechnology Classification
- Bioremediation: use of microorganisms to clean contaminated sites
- Metagenomics and functional genomics: allow for the understanding of metabolic networks and degradation pathways
- Hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria (HCB): microorganisms that degrade hydrocarbons in the ocean
- Specific oil-degrading microorganisms: Pseudomonas, Flavobacterium, Arthrobacter, and Azotobacter
- Exxon Valdez case (1989): first large-scale success of bioremediation through nitrogen and phosphorus supplementation
- Final products of biological degradation: carbon dioxide, water, and biomass
- Limitations of bioremediation: nutrients, clays, aeration, pollutant availability, and age of contamination
- Composting technology in biopiles: applied to sludge and drill cuttings
- Bioplastics: an alternative to PET to reduce degradation times
- Orange biotechnology: educational focus, dissemination, and training for society
- Golden biotechnology: includes bioinformatics (big data) and nanobiotechnology (nanoscale)
- Purple/Violet biotechnology: legal aspects, patents, bioethics, and bioterrorism safety protocols
Biological engineering and biotechnology: fundamentals, applications, and risks
- Bioengineering: integration of biological sciences with classical engineering (chemistry, computer science, etc.)
- Bioengineering objective: scaling laboratory biological processes to industrial production
- Bioengineering requires knowledge in management, economics, and regulation (patents, FDA)
- Bioinformatics: use of computer techniques to organize large-scale molecular information
- Key areas of bioinformatics: functional genomics, structural genomics, and proteomics
- GMO advantage: higher yield, reduction in pesticides, and nutritional improvement
- Cross-pollination risk: transfer of resistance genes to non-GM crops
- Insecticide risk: development of resistance in insects and damage to non-target species
- Biodiversity risk: displacement of traditional crops by GM crops
- Health risk: transfer of toxins/allergens and escape of modified agents
- Group 1 Agent: unlikely to cause disease
- Group 2 Agent: causes disease, occupational hazard, low transmission, has treatment
- Group 3 Agent: high probability of transmission, no effective treatment or prophylaxis
Impacts of mechanization and the biosafety regulatory framework in Mexico
- Mechanization: generates unemployment and rural exodus
- Technological requirements: money, land, and water
- SS and SAGARPA: regulate human health, plant health, and animal health
- SEMARNAT: regulates environmental impact and ecological equilibrium
- SHCP: regulates customs, taxes, and cross-border movements
- Secretaría de Economía: responsible for foreign trade and treaties
- IMPI: manages patents and trademarks (industrial property)
- SEP and SECITHI: linked by education and research policies
- Cartagena Protocol: ratified by Mexico on April 30, 2002
- Cartagena Protocol: entered into force on September 11, 2003
- Art. 420 Ter Federal Penal Code: handling transgenic organisms can be a crime
- ILBOGMs: initiative requested by the Senate from the AMC in 2002
Flashcard preview (6 of 25)
- 01
Etymology of the term 'biotechnology': what do its Greek roots mean?
βίος (life), τέχνη (skill/craft), and -logía (treatise, study, science).
- 02
According to the OECD, what principles apply to the treatment of organic and inorganic materials by biological systems?
Principles of mathematics and engineering.
- 03
According to the Cartagena Protocol, which in vitro nucleic acid technique includes recombinant DNA?
In vitro nucleic acid techniques.
- 04
In biotechnology, what is the specific term for the use of plants?
Plant biotechnology.
- 05
Red biotechnology: in what type of medical processes is it applied?
Medical processes (e.g., antibiotics, vaccines, pharmaceuticals, molecular diagnostics).
- 06
In molecular pathology, what is the basis for cancer diagnosis compared to classical pathological anatomy?
Its pathogenic characteristics (genetic and biochemical alterations).
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