Biotechnology in Topic 3 B3

Biotechnology

- Biotechnology is the alteration of natural biomolecules using science and engineering to provide goods and services.

- A fermenter is a vessel used to cultivate microorganisms for the production of biomolecules on a large scale. They need to be sterilized using high-pressure steam to kill any microorganisms already in there, as they might grow as instead. Everything added to the fermenter is sterilized as well; everything has to be in aseptic conditions. Inside the fermenter, optimum (best) conditions are supplied for the microorganism so they can produce more product as possible in the shortest time: nutrients so the microorganisms have enough food to grow, optimum temperature so the enzymes in the microorganisms can work at their fastest rate without getting denatured, optimum pH to allow the enzymes to work efficiently, oxygen to allow the microorganism to respire aerobically and agitation which is stirring that takes place to ensure that the microorganisms, nutrients and temperature are evenly distributed.

- Advantages of using microorganisms for food production:

Rapid population growth where microorganism populations can double in number in as little as 20 minutes which is much faster than crops or animals can grow, ease of manipulation meaning the fermenters are easy to handle and don’t take much space unlike fields, production independent of climate meaning that the microorganisms can be grown anywhere around the world no matter what the temperature is,…