Microbes in Biotechnology Projects

Bacteria and other microbes are important tools in biotechnology.

Biotechnology utilizes our improving understanding of biology to manipulate life and thereby design novel solutions to existing problems. These include crop improvements, better medicines and plant or algae-based biofuels. Microbes play a central role in biotechnology, not only as convenient platforms and tools but also as organisms that can be improved to serve a particular purpose, e.g., using sunlight to make fuel.

Techniques

Microbes are tools used in many basic biotechnology procedures. For example, when scientists want to clone or make copies of genes, they will typically introduce the genes into lab strains of E. coli. Likewise, if they wish to produce large amounts of an isolated protein for analysis or medical treatment, they will introduce the gene for that protein into bacteria. Some bacteria even serve as vectors for introducing a gene of interest into plants. For example, when genetically engineering crops, biotech scientists often use Agrobacterium tumefaciens to insert genes into the plant cells' genomes. Viruses are simpler than bacteria but tremendously useful as well. Scientists use viruses when they want to introduce a gene into an animal cell. Moreover, viruses potentially offer a way to conduct gene therapy or replace a defective copy of a patient's gene with a functional one.

Potential

Microbes are more than just handy tools for the biotech industry. They also serve as platforms for better technology. The field of red biotechnology seeks to develop new drugs to treat disease. Some of these drugs are proteins that are produced by bacteria. The field of white biotechnology seeks new sources for industrial materials. For example, specially tailored microbes are used to help produce valuable chemicals. The field of green biotechnology works to improve crops, sometimes by inserting genes taken from microbes (as in the case of Bt cotton). Finally, black biotechnology works to invent new sources of fuel--many of which involve microbes. Specially designed bacteria or genetically altered algae, for example, are possible sources of fuel that could help to replace oil in the future.

Common Bacteria in Biotech

Escherichia coli (E. coli) is the best-known and most useful microbe in the field of biotechnology. While many people connect the name E. coli with food poisoning, it is important to remember that E. coli is a normal inhabitant of the human intestine. Although certain strains of E. coli are pathogenic and cause illness, most strains do not. Moreover, the strains generally used in laboratories have already been altered or selected for desirable characteristics. Another famous bacterium that is often used in biotechnology is Agrobacterium tumefaciens--a bacterium that in nature causes a disease called crown gall. The same attribute that makes this bacterium a disease of plants--its ability to insert its genetic material into the cells of its host plant--makes it useful to biotechnology researchers.

Common Algae and Viruses in Biotech

Although researchers in the field of black biotechnology are working with many different strains of algae, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is perhaps the most popular algae in biotech and biology labs today. Because it is relatively simple to culture, it is useful in a wide variety of experiments. Popular viruses in biotechnology and biomedical research include retroviruses like HIV, which incorporate their genetic material into their host cells' genomes; adenoviruses, which cause respiratory tract infections but may also be useful as gene therapy vectors; and phages (viruses that infect bacteria), which are useful in a variety of molecular biology techniques.

References

• The State University of New York: Biotechnology
• North Carolina State University: Agrobacterium tumefaciens
• Scientific American: The Future of Fossil Fuels
• EPA: Escherichia coli K-12 Derivatives Final Risk Assessment
• Stanford University: Working with Viral Vectors
• Todar's Textbook of Bacteriology: Phages