[BEng (Hons) Chemical Engineering]

SEGi University

ECE 3103 ENGINEERS AND SOCIETY

GROUP 5:
Historical Development Of
Environmental / Biotechnology

Name: Lim Kah Weng (SCM-027256)

Hilary Puspasari EL (SUKD1504282)

Mohamed Al-moghazy Morgan (SUKD1602233)

Mohsen Hameed Mohsen Al-haidari (SUKD1601319)

Mohammed Abduljalil (SUKD1500346)

Lecturer/Supervisor: Ir. Chang Siew Teen

Date of Submission: 8th October 2018

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................................ 2

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF BIOTECHNOLOGY ................................................................. 3

INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................. 3

BACKGROUND / SOURCE OF INFORMATION .......................................................................... 4

DEVELOPMENT AND HISTORY OF BIOTECHNOLOGY .......................................................... 5

1.1. PENICILLIN ....................................................................................................................... 5

1.2. HYBRID CORN ................................................................................................................. 6

EVOLUTION / INNOVATION OF BIOTECHNOLOGY ................................................................ 7

2.1. OIL EATING BACTERIA ................................................................................................. 7

2.2. GENETICALLY MODIFIED CORN ................................................................................ 8

GENERAL COMMENTS ...................................................................................................................... 9

CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................................... 10

APPENDICES ...................................................................................................................................... 11

REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................................... 13

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 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF
BIOTECHNOLOGY

INTRODUCTION

In the early 20th century, before there was the term called ‘biotechnology’,
‘zymotechnology’ term was used. At this time, technoscientist began to include
zymotechnology in the applied sciences. They even established institutions to collect
microorganisms. Zymotechnology at that time involved the use of biological molecules such
as amino acids, proteins and enzymes in industrial production. In 1919, a Hungary scientist
named Karl Ereky created the name ‘biotechnology’ to describe the general processes of
converting raw materials into useful products, such as on industrial farms (Bud, History of
Biotechnology, 1989).

Before 4th Industrial Revolution began, it took more than 10 years, at a cost of $2.7
billion to complete the Human Genome Project. However, as 4th Industrial Revolution began
in the early 21st Century, genetic sequencing progress rapidly and a genome can be sequenced
in a few hours and for less than a thousand dollars. With advances in computing power,
scientists no longer need to go through trial and error. They test the way in which specific
genetic variations generate particular traits and diseases. Shortly, synthetic biology came in. It
will provide us with the ability to customize organisms by writing DNA. By setting aside the
raise of profound ethical issues, this new technology will not only have a profound and
immediate impact on medicine but also on agriculture and the production of biofuels (Schwab,
2017).

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 BACKGROUND / SOURCE OF INFORMATION

During interwar period, philosophers, sociologists and public intellectuals began to

reflect on the growing link between biology and technology. They put forward the idea that
biotechnology could be used to change human nature, and by changing human nature to change
society. Soon, in Britain, biotechnology was conceived as a possible solution to the damages
of the industrial revolution (Bud, History of Biotechnology, 1989).

In the 1990s, a growing number of drugs, produced using modern biotechnological

techniques were brought to market. In 1993, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
declares that genetically modified (GM) foods are “not inherently dangerous” and do not
require special regulation. GMOs are now widely available. In 1997, Scottish scientists report
cloning a sheep, Dolly, using DNA from adult sheep cells. In 1998, human skin was produced
in vitro (Bud, History of Biotechnology, 1989).

As 4th Industrial Revolution began in the early 21st Century, a lot of recent
developments take place. Such developments involved the creation of GloFish, the first
genetically modified pet in the year 2003. In 2009, Sasaki and Okana produced transgenic
marmosets that glow green in ultraviolet light and pass the trait to their offspring. In 2010,
scientists created malaria-resistant mosquitoes (Bud, The Uses of Life: A History of
Biotechnology, 1994).

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 DEVELOPMENT AND HISTORY OF BIOTECHNOLOGY

1.1. PENICILLIN
In 1928, Alexander Fleming (1881 – 1955) [refer Appendices Figure 1] accidentally
discovered the properties of the penicillium fungus. The discovery happened in his laboratory
when Fleming noticed one of his Petri dish containing Staphylococci was contaminated with a
mold. The colonies of staphylococci that had surrounded it had been destroyed, whereas other
colonies farther away were normal [refer Appendices Figure 2]. Fleming concluded that the
mold released a substance that can suppressed the growth and caused lysing of the bacteria
(Hardy, 2016).

Once Fleming made his discovery, Fleming grew the mold in a pure culture and found
that it produced a substance that killed a number of pathogenic bacteria. He investigated its
positive anti-bacterial effect on many organisms and noticed that it affected bacteria such as
staphylococci and many other Gram-positive pathogens that cause scarlet fever, pneumonia,
meningitis and diphtheria, but not typhoid fever or paratyphoid fever, which are caused by
Gram-negative bacteria, for which he was seeking a cure at the time. It also effectively killed
Neisseria gonorrhoeae, although this bacterium is Gram-negative. He named the mold as being
from Penicillium notanum after several months of calling it “mold juice” (Hardy, 2016).

Fleming published his discovery in 1929 in the British Journal of Experimental

Pathology, with title “A Medium for the Isolation of Pfeiffer's Bacillus”. However, little
interest and attention was paid to his article and even less enthusiasm by his peers. Fleming
continued his investigations, but found that cultivating penicillium was quite difficult. After
having grown the mold, it was even more difficult to isolate the antibiotic agent. Fleming also
became convinced that penicillin would not last long enough in the human body (in vivo) to
kill bacteria effectively. Many clinical tests were inconclusive, probably because it had been
used as a surface antiseptic. Then Fleming finally abandoned penicillin (Hardy, 2016).

In 1940, a team of researchers at Oxford University mainly Ernst Chain and Edward
Abraham who finally developed the method to isolate, concentrate penicillin and keep it stable.
Shortly after the team published its first results, Fleming telephoned Howard Florey, Chain's

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head of department, to say that he would be visiting within the next few days. After the team
had developed a method of purifying penicillin to an effective first stable form in 1940, several
clinical trials ensued. Their amazing success inspired the team to develop methods for mass
production and distribution in 1945, which was just in time to be use in World War II (Hardy,
2016) [refer Appendices Figure 3].

1.2. HYBRID CORN

In the early 1900s, Edward Murray East and George Harrison Shull independently
established a sound biological basis for hybrid corn. Donald F. Jones invented the double cross
in 1917, a method of hybrid seed production which made possible the practical application of
the earlier discoveries of East and Shull. However, Henry A. Wallace [refer Appendices Figure
4], more than any other single individual, developed his own variety of hybrid corn, Copper
Cross (Brown, 1983).

Henry A. Wallace published a series of articles in Wallaces’ Farmer which reveal his
understanding of the plant, its history, evolution, variability, and crossing behaviour. In March
1919, he concluded in an article entitled “Some Interesting Corn Hybrids” that the “most
popular varieties of dent corn” were not pure strains but hybrids, in differing combinations, of
flints, flour corns and more nearly pure strains of dent. In 1926 founded the Hi-Bred Corn
company, which specialized in the sale of hybrid seed. He introduced his hybrid corn to the
American farmer and fervently promoted its adoption. The advantages of hybrid corn over the
open-pollinated varieties in use in the early 1900s were so great that eventually hybrids would
have caught the fancy of even the most conservative farmers (Brown, 1983).

Later in the 1900s, one of the first things the plant scientists noticed when they began
crossing [refer Appendices Figure 5] different pure lines were that hybrid plants were usually
more vigorous than their parents. The simple act of crossing different strains resulted in higher
yields and stronger plants. They had discovered “hybrid vigor” or also named as Heterosis.
Hybrid vigor is so powerful that scientists began “double-crossing”. Two inbred parents, A and
B, are crossed at the same time that two other inbred parents, C and D, are crossed. The
resulting hybrids, AB and CD are then crossed together to produce a hybrid with the
characteristics of all four parents, ABCD. In addition, the new ABCD variety has two
generations of hybrid vigor bred into it (Brown, 1983).

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 EVOLUTION / INNOVATION OF BIOTECHNOLOGY

2.1. OIL EATING BACTERIA

Crude oil (petroleum) is a highly complex mixture of organic compounds of which
some 1.3 million litres enters the environment each year. Numerous oil-shipping disaster such
as the Exxon Valdez (1989), the Erika (1999) and the Prestige (2003) [refer Appendices Figure
6] have captured the public attention to this environmental problem. An observation was done
and showed that the oceans are not only covered with an oily layer but also with the activity of
the hydrocarbon‐degrading microorganisms (Head, Jones, & Röling, 2006). These
microorganisms play an important role in the clean‐up after an oil spill and form the biological
basis for the natural oil‐degrading capacity of the ecosystem. Studies have focused on
identifying and characterizing these oil‐eating microbes, as well as how they cope with the
oil/water interface, and how to improve this capacity (Brooijmans, Pastink, & Siezen, 2009).

Oil eating bacteria, Alcanivorax borkumensis are some of the smallest living things on
earth, but they can have a powerful impact. The bacteria occur naturally in water and when
they come in contact with oil, they eat it, producing the by-products carbon dioxide and water.
Alcanivorax borkumensis use alkanes as their source of energy. Each cell forms a biosurfactant,
but other sources of energy do not cause the bacteria to produce this biosurfactant. A
biosurfactant is an extra layer of material that forms along the cell membrane. The substances
that make up the biosurfactant of Alcanivorax borkumensis can reduce the surface tension of
water, which helps with the degradation of oil. They are also emulsifiers, which further serve
to create the oil/water emulsion, making oil more soluble. Alcanivorax borkumensis forms a
biofilm around an oil droplet in seawater and proceeds to use biosurfactants and metabolism to
degrade the oil into a water-soluble substance (Brooijmans, Pastink, & Siezen, 2009).

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 2.2. GENETICALLY MODIFIED CORN
Corn is one of humankind’s earliest innovations. It was domesticated in the early 1900s
when humans learned to cross-pollinate plants and slowly turned a scraggly nondescript grass
called teosinte into plump, productive modern corn [refer Appendices Figure 7]. Slowly, it
was then geneticists began to explore microorganisms for traits of interest such as Bacillus
thuringiensis (Bt) genes that produce a protein lethal to some crop pests. Here, they triggered
an uproar over ethical, scientific and environmental concerns that continues today (Gewin,
2003).

Bacillus thuringiensis, a soil bacterium, produces several crystal (Cry) protein toxins
that destroy the gut of invading pests, such as larval caterpillars. So far, over 50 cry genes have
been identified and found to affect insect orders differently. Considered safe to humans,
mammals, and most insects, Bt has been a popular pesticidal spray since the 1960s because it
had little chance of unintended effects. The gene was engineered into corn, however, caused
an unexpected public backlash. After the expensive development process, today's concern is
that broad-scale planting of Bt corn will render the toxin ineffective over time. Pests can
gradually build resistance to any pesticide (Gewin, 2003).

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 GENERAL COMMENTS

Nowadays, biotechnology make big influence in sciences to improve the quality of

mankind and the living condition by developing the biodiverse products. Biotechnologist
through assistance of environmental studies research on all types of herbs. They also observed
that the increased population lead to over exploitation of land and available resources,
destruction of bio wealth, biodiversity and also injection of various hazardous xenobiotic
substances into the environment which affecting its self-purification potential and carrying
capacity. Even though technology leads to speedy developments and changes, but at the same
time technology finishes up resources quickly. This indicates the fast depletion of raw materials.
The relationship between technology and the environment is sort of mixed. In some ways, it is
good for the environment, but in other ways it is bad. Bad because the main problem with
technology is the fact that, as we get more and more technology, the demand for electricity
rises (as more people want to use electronics in more ways). This, of course, means more fossil
fuels will be burned to make the electricity. In addition, some components of electrical devices
are very harmful to the environment if not properly disposed.

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 CONCLUSION

The stakes for assuring sound oversight and decisions about transgenic crops and
animals are large. Designing appropriate regulatory institutions is not only in the interests of
those concerned about negative environmental effects, but of the industry as well. If a large
human or environmental health catastrophe emerges due to poor national or international
oversight, it could not only cause a short-term setback for the industry, but also jeopardize the
entire future of biotechnology and its considerable potential. In the U.S., the nuclear power
industry experienced this set of events and has never fully recovered. Hence, sound
precautionary approaches that create ex ante safe minimum standards and avoid large
irreversible losses for industry and the environment seem prudent.

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APPENDICES

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 REFERENCES

Brooijmans, R. J., Pastink, M. I., & Siezen, R. J. (2009). Hydrocarbon‐degrading bacteria: the
oil‐spill clean‐up crew. Microb Biotechnol., 2(6), 587-594.

Brown, W. L. (1983). H. A. Wallace and the Development of Hybrid Corn. The Annals of Iowa,
47(2), 167-179.

Bud, R. (1989). History of Biotechnology. Nature, 337(10), 524-538. doi:10.1038/337010a0

Bud, R. (1994). The Uses of Life: A History of Biotechnology. Cambridge, United Kingdom:
Cambridge University Press.

Gewin, V. (2003). Genetically Modified Corn—Environmental Benefits and Risks. PLoS

Biology, 1(1), 15-19.

Hardy, J. (2016). Fleming’s Life Saving Discovery. Ohio, United States: Hardy Diagnostics.

Head, I. M., Jones, M. D., & Röling, W. F. (2006). Marine microorganisms make a meal of oil.
Nature Reviews Microbiology, 4, 173–182.

Khoiyangbam, R. S. (2005). Introduction to Environmental Sciences. New Delhi, India: The

Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).

Schwab, K. (2017). The Fourth Industrial Revolution. London, United Kingdom: Penguin UK.

Weber, M. K. (2005). Environmental Technologies. Brussels, Belgium: European

Commission’s High Level Group.

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