Enviromental biotecnology

2. Introduction
 Environmental
biotechnology is the
solving of environmental
problems through the
application of
biotechnology.

3. Why environmental
biotechnology?
 It is needed to:
 eliminate the hazardous
wastes produced by our
other technologies.
 distinguish between
similar species and
ensure species are not at
risk of extinction.
 create alternative energy
sources (i.e. Biofuel).

5. 1) Molecular Ecology
 Using biological techniques (i.e. DNA fingerprinting)
to better understand aspects of nature.
 This is done to look at the biodiversity of different
populations to ensure they are not at risk of going
extinct (cheetahs and polar bears currently).
 It can be used to determine if a new species has
emerged and also better map the evolutionary
development of different families of animals (horses
and whales currently).

6. 1) Molecular Ecology
Reading a DNA fingerprint Biofuel exaggeration

7. 2) Bioremediation
 Bioremediation is the use of bacteria (or fungi) to
clean up hazardous environmental wastes.
 The bacteria essentially turn the dangerous waste
products into less hazardous, easy to dispose of,
waste.
 Plants are also being tested in some areas to do this
job (Sunflowers at Chernobyl removed Cesium and
Strontium).

8. Bioremediation
 use of living organisms (e.g., bacteria) to clean
up oil spills or remove other pollutants from
soil, water, and wastewater
 Bioremediation relies largely on the enzymatic
activities of living organisms, usually microbes,
to catalyze the destruction of pollutants or their
transformation to less harmful forms

9. Fundamentals of cleanup
reactionsclean
 Why are microorganisms so important in this process?
 They have extraordinary metabolic diversity
 Aerobic metabolism
 Microbes use O2 in their metabolism to degrade
contaminants
Anaerobic metabolism
 Microbes substitute another chemical for O2 to degrade
contaminants
 Nitrate, iron, sulfate, carbon dioxide, uranium,
technicium, perchlorate

10. What Makes Bioremediation
a Promising Approach
 permanence
 contaminant is degraded
 potentially low cost
 60-90% less than other technologies

11. Bioremediation Research
Bioaugmentation vs. biostimulation:
 Biostimulation involves the modification of the environment to
stimulate existing microorganisms capable of bioremediation.
 Indigenous populations may not be capable of degrading the
xenobiotics or the wide range of potential substrates present in
complex pollutant mixtures.
 Bioaugmentation is the introduction of a group of natural
microbial strains or a genetically engineered variant to treat
contaminated soil or water.

12. 3) Biosensors
“Biosensor” – Any device that uses specific biochemical
reactions to detect chemical compounds in biological samples
 A biosensor uses a biological entity (i.e. bacteria) to
monitor levels of certain chemicals OR uses chemicals
to monitor levels of certain biological entities (i.e.
pathogens).

13. Components of a Biosensor

14. 3) Biosensors
 Current uses of
biosensors include:
 Detecting levels of
toxins in an ecosystem
 Detecting airborne
pathogens (i.e. anthrax)
 Monitoring blood
glucose levels

15. Examples
Pregnancy test
Detects the hCG protein in
urine ( human
chorionic
gonadotropin (hCG)
Glucose monitoring
device (for diabetes
patients)
 Monitors the glucose
level in the blood

16.  Infectous disease
biosensor from RBS

17. Application
 Food Analysis
 Study of biomolecules and their interaction
 Drug Development
 Crime detection
 Medical diagnosis (both clinical and laboratory use)
 Environmental field monitoring
 Quality control
 Industrial Process Control
 Detection systems for biological warfare agents
 Manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and replacement
organs

18. 4) Biofuels
 A biofuel is a plant derived
fuel that is deemed more
environmentally friendly that
current fuel sources as they
all release less carbon dioxide
into the atmosphere.
 Ethanol from corn is placed
in many gasoline varieties in
North America.
 Biodiesel is fuel made from
used cooking oil.
 Biogas is made from gases
released by compost or a
landfill.