2. Bioreactors
• In earlier times bioreactors were used for
centuries to make wine and beer.
• The bioreactor is possibly the most important
single piece of equipment used in
biotechnology.
• Bioreactors are the containers or vessels that
allow biological processes to take place under
optimum conditions.
• These reactors, in controlled environments,
will yield a useful substance in large amounts.
3. Cell fusion
• This technique involves the fusion of two cells
to make a single cell that contains all the
genetic material of the original cells.
• So far, this technique has been employed to
create new plants by fusing cells from species
that do not naturally hybridize (from a cross-
breed) and then generating whole plants from
the fused cells.
4. Liposome-based delivery
• Liposomes are microscopic spherical
structures that develop when lipids form a
suspension in water.
• These spherical vesicles arrange themselves so
as to generate a tiny space inside the center of
the liposome.
• Such space can potentially be exploited to
deliver/transport another substance, such as a
drug.
5. Cell or tissue culture
• This technique allows the growth and division
of individual cells in a bath of sterile, nutritive
fluid which often contains hormones and
growth substances.
• This method is used extensively in biological
laboratories, for example, in cancer research,
plant breeding and routine analysis of
chromosome karyotopes.
6. Genetic engineering
• The basis of genetic engineering is the
alteration of genetic material (hereditary
material) or the combination of genes in an
organism.
• By modifying the organism, genetic
researchers give the organism and its
descendants different traits.
• This technology was practiced in earlier times
by breeding plants and animals to produce
favorable combinations of genes.
7. DNA fingerprinting
• DNA fingerprinting is a technique that is
employed for identifying the components of DNA
(the material of the genes) that are unique to a
particular individual.
• Variations in DNA among different individuals can
be used for identification purposes.
• This small section of the DNA of an organism
uniquely distinguishes that particular organism
from all others.
• Such varying bits of genetic material take the
form of sequences of DNA called mini-satellites,
which are repeated several times.
8. Cloning
• The method of production of identical
animals, plants or micro-organisms from a
single individual is known as cloning.
• In other words, it is a process by which an
organism is derived from a single parent
through non-sexual reproduction.
• Cloning is gifted in nature to those organisms
that reproduce asexually and produce their
own clones, e.g. plants, micro-organisms and
simple animals such as corals.
9. Artificial insemination and ET technology
• Development in the study of embryology, urology
and urogenitology has led to progress in the area
dealing with artificial insemination.
• Artificial insemination allows the artificial
introduction of semen into the reproductive tract
of a female animal, and is extensively used in
breeding animals, such as sheep and cattle.
• Males with dominant and desirable hereditary
traits/characteristics are selected for semen
collection.
• Collected semen from males with desirable traits
can be frozen and transported long distances to
fertilize female animals.
10. Stem cell technology
• With the advancement of biotechnology, it is now
possible to utilize the potential of stem cells for
beneficial purposes.
• Stem cells are undifferentiated and can
mitotically divide to create mature functional
cells, e.g. bone marrow stem cells can give rise to
the entire range of immune system blood cells.
• Stem cells are found in most organisms, but are
usually found in multicellular organisms.
• In 1908 Alexander Maksimov coined the term
‘stem cell’, and later stem cell research work was
continued by Canadian scientists Ernest A
McCulloch and James E Till in the 1960s.
