Deciding which agent is needed will depend on what the particular outcome is to be and then match this with the agent’s characteristics.

The characteristic relies on how much of a particular agent can cause disease, the time it takes from exposure to illness, how debilitating the result will be, how readily the disease will spread and how lethal the agent. Countermeasures to the disease are also taken into account.

Natural environment and a microbiology laboratory are the two main sources for the pathogen and as laboratories in which biochemical’s are stored are well guarded with the most advanced of security measures acquiring pathogen from a lab would be extremely hard to accomplish.

However there could be a way of getting around this; toxins can be produced by adding the DNA coding needed for its production to bacteria. Advancements over the last few years in biotechnology have made it possible to synthesize certain viruses; however this isn’t an easy matter as growing microorganisms require optimal conditions.

Actual living cells are required in order to grow viruses and some bacteria, fungi some bacteria and other microorganisms are usually grown in Petri dishes or fermentation vats. However growing large amounts of an agent requires a lot of space and is limited by factors such as cost, specialized equipment and the safety concerns that arise from handling dangerous substances.

Selection techniques and the great advancements in genetic engineering over the last few years now allow us more modifications of microorganisms which can alter an agent in a particular manner. Agents are now being modified to allow increased pathogenicity with a much shorter incubation period which will result in a much more severe and fast acting disease.

If scientists wanted, then using the biotechnology of today the possibilities could be endless and alterations could be made to them to make vaccines, treatments or the body’s own immune system defenseless against them.

Delivering an agent would also require great planning and preparation for it to remain effective when outside of its optimal growing conditions. Exposure to the outside world would have a negative effect on the pathogen, temperature, ultraviolet radiation, and drying can all have an effect.

Some pathogens are much hardier, anthrax for example can encapsulate itself into a hardy long lasting spore that can resist most of the conditions others cannot, however most agents require extra processing to minimize damage to them and for to remain active when removed from their environment.

Biotechnology however isn’t something new, we have used biological process for over 6,000 years to achieve more useful food products, such as cheeses and bread and to help us preserve dairy products. It wasn’t however until the 60`s and 70`s that we gained a better understanding of biology and we reached a point where we could start to use only the very smallest part of an organism, the molecules.

Cells and biological molecules

Everything has a basic building block and cells are the building blocks of all living things, the most simplest of all living things is yeast, this consists of one single living cell that is self sufficient. Plants, humans and animals however are more complex and are made up of many different types of cells each with their own specific job to do, but despite the diversity of cell types in living things, they are all remarkably similar and it is these cells which are the foundation for biotechnology.

Cells all share the same basic design, are made of the same material and operate using the same processes, with DNA being the genetic material of all living things. DNA is what directs cell construction while proteins do all the work, as DNA contains all the necessary information for making proteins it can direct cell processes by determining which proteins are made and when they are made.

All cells understand each other and because they understand each other, one cell can be read and implemented by another cell from another living thing. So technologies based on biological molecules and cells can now provide us with greater flexibility in using nature’s diversity.

Biological products are now able to solve very specific problems and have fewer unwanted consequences because biological molecules and cells are very specific in the way they interact with each other, so today’s biotechnology is perhaps best described simply as, specific, precise and very predictable.

Some interesting facts about biotechnology in the industry

• Biotech drugs are helping us strive towards the better understanding of illnesses and how to cure them, there are currently over 300 drug products and vaccines currently running in clinical trials aimed at various types of cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, aids and arthritis.
• Food supplies are being enhanced and dependence on chemical pesticides is being reduced with consumers already enjoying the benefits from foods such as soya beans, corn and papaya.
• Pollution eating microbes are being used to ensure it is possible to clean up hazardous waste more efficiently without the use of caustic chemicals.
• There have been drastic improvements in criminal investigation techniques and forensic medicine where DNA fingerprinting which is a biological process was introduced.

It will be able to create new markets and offer businesses a way to reduce costs while protecting the environment. Review times are quicker than with new drugs which means that advancements and the benefits seen in industrial biotechnology can occur in as little as two years from lab study to commercial application.

Biotechnology helps in industry not only by transforming how we are able to manufacture products but it is also able to provide us with new products that we at one time would never have thought possible. How wide a scope of benefits industrial biotechnology has to offer is still not known as the technology is still relatively new but from its very beginning it has integrated product improvements with the prevention of pollution.

Nothing speaks more highly for the benefits that industrial biotechnology has given us than the phosphate water pollution problems that occurred during the 1970`s, which was caused by the use of phosphates in laundry detergents. Biotechnology gave us enzymes which were able to give us the same effect on laundry and in fact were able to remove stains better than phosphates ever could while giving us a non polluting bi based product. This not only benefited the homemaker but also dramatically reduced the phosphate related algal blooms in waters around the world.

A form of industrial biotechnology has been dated as far back as 6000 BC when people fermented grapes to make wine and yeast was used to make beer, knowledge of this increased over the years with the production of cheeses, yogurts, vinegar and other food products.

Then there was a breakthrough in 1928 when Sir Alexander Fleming extracted the drug Penicillin from mould, biotechnology was able to ensure large-scale fermentation techniques of this wonder drug and it was developed to make industrial quantities.

However, it wasn’t until after World War II that the industrial biotechnology revolution began and gave us the industrial biotechnology techniques that we recognise today. Over the last few years, industrial biotechnology has come a long way and has been able to produce enzymes that makes daily life easier and better for all of us and also for the manufacturing sector.

Simple examples of this are the enzyme which is now used to tenderise meat and contact lens fluids that contain enzymes to remove sticky protein deposits more easily. These of course are industrial biotechnology in its simplest form but show that industrial biotechnology involves the use of microbial production of enzymes which are specialised proteins; it is these enzymes which make industrial biotechnology such a powerful new area of technology for the future.

With the population expected to reach over 10 billion by the year 2030 it is estimated that the world food production will have to double on the farmland that exists today, if it is to compete with the anticipated growth in the population. The ever-increasing needs of yields of crops and the decreasing crop inputs such as water and fertiliser can all be helped by biotechnology as can advancements in providing pest control that is better for our environment.

Crop biotechnology

Horticulturists and farmers have always relied for centuries on cross breeding and hybridizing plants and making genetic modifications to them in order to make improvements in the output and quality of food and fibre crops. They have made great advancements in building in protection against pests and diseases and protection from the harsher elements.

We learned from the Stone Age farmers to make a selection for next years crops from those plants that were strongest and healthiest and to save seed from these with which to replant. By selectively sowing seeds the earliest agriculturists performed modifications genetically to turn plants growing in the wild into domesticated crops, a long time before the science of genetics was really understood.

Over the years, knowledge and understanding of plant genetics improved and we gradually began to purposefully cross breed plants with the traits we wanted in order to produce plants which had the benefits of both parents, leaving undesirable traits behind. Virtually every plant that is grown for food today has come from cross breeding or hybridization or a combination of both.

Although we have come a long way in such a short time the process we were using to produce these crops was time consuming, costly and inefficient. Here is where the tools of biotechnology come into play, biotechnology allows us to take single genes from plants that give us the desired traits and move them freely from one plant to another.

This is a far more precise process than what we used to use and eliminates the thousands of genes of unknown function which was transferred along with the good traits into our crops. Biotechnology can also help us to remove the technical obstacles when moving genetic traits between plants and opens up a whole new world in benefiting food production.

How biotechnology can improve crop production

Agricultural scientists are incorporating biotechnology into crop production and protection, using the same traits that have been used throughout the decades and incorporate cross breeding and genetic modifications. Techniques are being used to increase the size of the yield of the crops, make crops resistant to disease caused by bacteria, fungi and viruses and give them the ability to better withstand harsher elements.

Biotechnology has also given us a better understanding of how we can make better use of the plants built in defence systems and it has opened up new avenues allowing us to work with nature by providing us with new bio pesticides.

These new pesticides allow us target crop pests but do not harm humans, animals, birds, fish and insects; they are also beneficial as they can control pests which have become resistant to the more conventional pesticides.

How is bio diesel made?

A chemical process known as transcesterification is used to make bio diesel and the process involves glycerine being separated from fat or vegetable oil which leaves behind two products, methyl esters, which is the chemical name for bio diesel and glycerine which is a valuable by product and is found in other products such as soap.

In order to ensure proper performance, fuel grade bio diesel is produced to the strictest of industry specifications and is the only alternative fuel to have fully completed the rigorous testing requirements to meet health requirements.

Why should I use bio diesel?

Because bio diesel is made renewable resources and had much lower emissions than normal petroleum diesel it is much better for the environment, it is also less toxic than common table salt and it biodegrades as fast as sugar.

Facts about emissions from bio diesel

• Bio diesel has 50% less emissions than normal diesel fuel.
• Sulphur emissions are almost eliminated when using pure bio diesel.
• Studies have shown that when bio diesel is used in diesel engines there is a substantial decrease in unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and particulate matter.
• Bio diesel on average gives out 48% lower carbon monoxide emissions.
• Breathing particulate is well know for being a breathing hazard and the exhaust emissions of particulate matter are reduced by 47% in bio diesel.
• A contributing factor to smog and the ozone is emissions from total hyper carbons, bio diesel has on average 67% lower emissions of total hyper carbons.

The health risks are reduced

The emissions from bio diesel show that there are decreased levels of polycyclic aromatic hyper carbons and also nitrated polycyclic aromatic carbons, these have been identified as both being possible cancer causing compounds. In testing compounds were reduced by as much as 75 to 80%.

Does bio diesel perform as well as normal diesel?

Bio diesel has a big advantage in that it can be used safely and efficiently in all existing engines and fuel injection engines with little or no impact on operation. In recent studies, it showed that similar fuel consumption, horsepower, torque and haulage rates were the same as traditional diesel.

What are the benefits of bio energy?

The main benefits of bio energy is that by getting sources of fuel from living things it is renewable and as such is much better for the environment. Although living organisms originally formed fossil fuels eons ago it takes millions of years to replace fossil fuels. To be considered as renewable, the resources which we use have to be replaceable within our lifetime, for example if we burn wood then the trees are replaced as the forest grows back.

Fuel from fibre

Almost all green plants have large amounts of a substance called cellulose; this is one of the chief ingredients found in wood and is what is extracted for use in papermaking. When plants photosynthesise, they manufacture cellulose from sugar and because it is made from sugar, it contains a lot of stored chemical energy, this chemical energy is then released as heat when the wood is burnt.

Wood has always been a major source of heating fuel for centuries and in many countries, it is still the number one choice for heating and cooking, in places where there isn’t an abundance of wood other plant material such as peat, grass and even cow manure are used as fuel.

All of these are considered to be sources of renewable energy as they grow back as soon as they are used up, it is only when forests are harvested too rapidly or events occur which damage the surrounding soil and other parts of the eco system that severe environmental problems start to occur.

Biogas

Almost all mammals including humans produce a flammable gas called biogas when they digest their food, it is produced when the bacteria living in the digestive system breaks down cellulose present in food and produces methane. Biogas is also found in any parts of the land where there are large amounts of rotting vegetation and can be used as an alternative for natural gas in heating and cooking.

As this is a relatively easy process it wasn’t long before we copied the process in large tanks which are known as biogas generators, the process is started by shredding plant materials and animal waste and then mixing these with water in the biogas containers. As the products arrive with many kinds of bacteria they are sealed in so that air cannot get to them and within a short period of time, a certain bacteria present will begin to produce biogas.

As the bacteria produce methane, they are known as methanogenic, as the biogas bubbles begins to form they will collect at the top of the tank which is then in turn piped to a large balloon type bag where they are stored until needed.

Over time, the production of the biogas will slow down and the process is continued with the addition of more water and manure, as the old content can no longer produce methane it is dried to form a rich black soil that can be used as fertiliser. A big source of biogas is produced at landfills where the waste matter is put underground and is used to heat buildings near the landfill; this is bio energy in its simplest form.

One of the biggest problems that researchers of today have to face is bioinformatics, more specifically how to make sense of all the massive amounts of data provided by biotechnologies powerful techniques and research tools.

The main concern scientists are faced with today is how to manage, store, collect and retrieve all this information, data has to be managed to ensure that everyone can access it and it inst hindered by location or problems with compatibility.

An integrated form of data analysis has to be provided and ways of visually representing cellular and molecular data has to be developed.

Bioinformatics technology can however take advantage of the vast array of computational tools that that the information technology has provided us with such as statistical software, graphics simulation, algorithms and database management software. These are able to consistently organise, process and bring together data from numerous different sources.

Bioinformatics is sometimes referred to as computational biology as it consists of two branches, the first part is the gathering of data, storing, accessing and visualising with the second relies on integration of the data collected, analysis and modelling of the data.

Systems biology is another branch of technology which attempts to take and use the biological data to create predictive models of cell process, biochemical pathways and the ultimate goal, whole organisms.

Biologists in this department rely on a series of mathematical models of pathways to determine the complexity of interactions that can occur in biological systems. They rely on super computers making accurate and interactive bio simulations in order to be able to get a complete picture of the system they are studying.

Over the next few years, biotechnology will focus more on products that focus on systems and pathways and not just the single molecule or gene and bioinformatics technology will come to be an important and essential component in every step of development, commercialisation and product research.

Biological weapons are able to deliver toxins and microorganisms such as viruses and bacteria with the specific aim of inflicting disease and death among people, animals and agriculture. The severity of a biological attack can vary from the destruction of crops to causing outbreaks of illnesses within a community to causing mass destruction worldwide and bringing death.

Biological weapons can also be used in many different forms and in many different ways and can depend on several factors such as the agent and its preparation, the agent’s durability in the environment and the route of infection. Some agents used can be dispersed as an aerosol, which can infect a cut or can be inhaled while other attacks can be made by contaminating water or food.

How biological weapons where used in the past

Biological weapons however aren’t a new thing they have been in existence for thousands of years, in 1396 when the tartar army were invading, the army began catapulting the bodies of those the plague had killed into the peninsula city of Kaffa and citizens where quickly infected.

In 1763 British troops gave the Delaware Indians blankets that were infected with smallpox which infected the susceptible Indian population.

Japan released plague infected ticks during their conflict with China and more recently in 2001 anthrax powder in letters were sent to people in the United States and 22 people were infected and 5 died.

What’s the difference between biological weapons and nuclear and chemical weapons?

There are a number of differences which set apart biological weapons and other weapons of mass destruction such as chemical or nuclear, firstly the release of an agent in biological warfare is not immediately known or detectable. We do have ways of detecting biological agents but there is almost always a delay between acquiring the agent and identifying it.

The effects of the attack is not always detectable immediately although people may be exposed to the agent immediately after its release there is usually a period of incubation and more often than not the outbreak of disease will be the first indication that there has been an attack.

If the attackers used a transmissible agent such as the smallpox or Ebola virus then this will infect people at the site of release and these people will inadvertently spread it through traveling. Secondary infections then will arise at many places far from the initial site of release.

To protect us from the threat of biological weapons two treaties have been put in place, the Geneva protocol in 1925 prohibits the use of biological weapons in warfare and the 1972 biological and toxins weapons convention restricts countries from developing , producing, stock piling or acquiring biological weapons, agents and equipment.

Microbial fermentation which is one form of Bioprocessing that has been around albeit unwittingly, for thousands of years, we have used it do brew beer, make wine, leaven bread and to pickle foods.

It wasn’t until around the middle of the 1800`s that we realised biochemical machinery was responsible for these products and we began to expand greatly the exploitation of microbial fermentation to give us even more useful products.

Today we have come to rely on the diverse manufacturing capabilities of microorganisms which occur naturally to give us anti-biotics, amino acids, the birth control pill, vitamins, pesticides and food processing aids.

DNA is used today with microbial fermentation to allow us to manufacture a wider range of bio-based products which have included human insulin, the hepatitis B vaccine, an enzyme used in the making of cheese and biodegradable plastics.

Monoclonal antibodies

Monoclonal antibody technology relies on immune system cells to make proteins called antibodies, we all know the importance of antibodies, they help to protect us from viruses.

However, antibodies are extremely complex in that while they might protect us from flu like virus one winter they cannot do anything to help protect against a slightly different strain the following winter. It is the specificity of antibodies that make them one of the most powerful diagnostic tools available to us.

Examples of how we use monoclonal antibodies are

• To locate environmental pollutants.
• The detection of harmful micro-organisms in food.
• Be able to detect cancer cells from normal cells.
• Make the diagnosis of infectious diseases in humans, plants and animals much more quickly and accurately than ever before.

Other than their value as detection tools monoclonal antibodies are able to provide us with very specific compounds, they are able to join to a toxin and they can deliver chemotherapy to cancer cells while avoiding healthy cells.

They are known to treat successfully organ transplant rejections and autoimmune diseases by specifically targeting the type of immune system cell responsible for the attacks, while leaving other branches of the immune system intact.

Molecular or gene cloning

This is the process by which we create genetically identical molecules and one which provides the basis for molecular biology revolution and is an essential tool of biotechnology research and development.

Molecular cloning is the basis by which virtually all applications of recombinant DNA technology relies on from the human genome project to the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals to producing transgenic crops.

Molecular cloning has made research findings possible including localising and characterising genes, creating genetic maps and the sequencing of entire genomes along with associating specific genes with traits and finding the molecular basis of those traits.

Animal cloning

For more than two decades we have relied on the cloning of animals to help us with incorporating improvements in herds of livestock and has been an important tool for researchers since the 1950`s.

Perhaps the most famous of all cloned animals and one that most of us will have heard about is Dolly the sheep in 1977, this was of course the first time the cloning of animals had been brought to the general public’s attention.

While the production of a cloned animal was not a new breakthrough Dolly was considered a scientific breakthrough due to the fact not because she was a clone but that the source of the genetic material used to clone her was as adult cell not an embryonic one.

Today recombinant DNA technologies are providing us with animal models that allow us to study genetic disease, disease relating to aging and cancer and in the near future, they will allow us to discover drugs and help us to evaluate other forms of therapy such as gene and cell therapies.

In the ideal, the cloning of animals could also help provide zoo researchers with the opportunity to help save endangered species. There are basically two different ways in which we can make an exact genetic copy of an organism such as Dolly the sheep

Artificial embryo twinning

This is now regarded as the old-fashioned way when it comes to cloning and basically is a way of cloning identical twins but instead of using a womb, a Petri dish is used. The embryo is separated very early on into individual cells and then allowed to grow on its own. The resulting embryos are then surgically planted into a surrogate womb and allowed to grow.

Somatic cell nuclear transfer

This relies on the isolation of a somatic cell, which is a body cell, which is any cell other than those used for reproduction. Every somatic cell in mammals has two complete sets of chromosomes and in order to make Dolly the sheep scientists had to transfer the nucleus of a somatic cell which was taken from an adult female sheep and transfer it to an egg cell which they had previously removed the nucleus from.

With some chemical intervention from the scientists, the egg cell along with the new nucleus behaved just like a freshly fertilised zygote. It developed into an embryo and was then surgically implanted into a surrogate mother who carried it to term; this of course was Dolly the sheep and was the general population’s first insight into the fascinating world of cloning and gave us an indication of what to expect in the future in one aspect of biotechnology.