9

BIOTECHNOLOGY
First Quarter

LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEETS

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 BIOTECHNOLOGY 9
Quarter 1 (Week 1-2)

Describe Biotechnology and trace its various stages of development.

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 BIOTECHNOLOGY 9
Name: _____________________________ Grade level: _______________
Section: ____________________________ Date: _____________________

LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET

Biotechnology in the Realm of History

Background Information for Learners

Biotechnology refers to the application and manipulation of technology that reflects

biological processes upon whole or part of a living thing in their natural form, in order to
produce a product, a system, a new environment, or to solve problems (Moreland, Jones &
Cowie, 2006). While there is a wide definition for biotechnology in the industry, the Office of
Technological Assessment (OTA) defined it as:
“... any techniques that use the whole or part of the organism to produce or modify
products, to improve plants and animals, or to produce microorganisms for specific purposes”
(OTA, 1991). According to Wells (2016), biotechnology is a specific content unit within the
context of biological systems. When we refer to technology education, biotechnology is a
content unit that naturally requires high cognitive thinking skills (Wells, 2016).
Biotechnology is also closely related to STEM education (Banks & Barlex, 2014).
The word ‘biotechnology’ has received enormous importance and significance during
last two decades, which is just unprecedented. The probability and possibilities behind this
kind of attention towards biotechnology may be due to its unlimited potential to serve and to
benefit humanity. So far, biotechnology has touched our lives in all aspects, such as, food,
health, and animal life. We have also noticed the importance and potential of biotechnology
for the improvement of our environment and for better living, for example capability of
biotechnology to meet the demand of depleting energy reserves of fossil fuels by replacing it
with Bio-fuels, because availability of fossil-fuels is becoming limited to meet the demand of
ever increasing population. In simpler terms, our life starts with biotechnologically developed
toothpaste, to drive car with biotechnologically developed fuels, and we also retire for the day
with bedside medicines either to keep us healthy or to control chronic diseases, like diabetes,
which makes our life better. Rationally, the word ‘biotechnology’ has been derived from two
simple terms of science, i.e., ‘Biology’ and ‘Technology’. If we try to decipher these two
words, it simply suggests, in a lay-man's language, that it is the technology which makes our
life convenient and comfortable with the employment of biological resources. The question
still remains, ‘Is biotechnology such a new branch of science?’ The fact is that biotechnology
has been in practice even much before the term ‘Biotechnology’ was coined, itself. It is
interesting to learn and understand how and when biotechnology really evolved.
The term biotechnology was used for the first time by Karl Erkey, a Hungarian
Engineer, in 1919. Was it the start of biotechnology? The answer is no. Later on
biotechnology was defined by different scientists. As per one definition biotechnology is,
“Application of the principles of engineering and biological science to create new products
from raw materials of biological origin, for example, vaccines or food.” Or in other words, it

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can also be defined as, “the use of living organism/s or their product/s to modify or improve
human health and human environment”. Apart from their beneficial applications,
biotechnological principles have potential for destruction too, the best example for this is
‘bioterrorism’. Biotechnology from fiction, myth, and reality can be simply understood by
reading the novel and watching movie “Frankenstein”. In this science fiction, Frankenstein
has created a human life which became a monster, this monster became the reason for the
destruction of Frankenstein, the creator of human life.

Biotechnology and its Various Stages of Development

There are various stages in the development of biotechnology to meet the various
needs of humans. Its development was basically based on observations, and applications of
these observations to practical scenarios. The complexity of biotechnology is augmented due
to evolution of new technologies with time, as these are based on the employment of
improved technological advancements along with better understanding of various principles
of life-science. If, we systemically study the developments of biotechnology up to its current
stage, it can be divided into three different stages or categories: (1) Ancient Biotechnology,
(2) Classical Biotechnology, and (3) Modern Biotechnology.

1. Ancient Biotechnology (Pre-1800)

Most of the developments in the ancient period i.e., before the year 1800, can be
termed as ‘discoveries’ or ‘developments’. If we study all these developments, we can
conclude that all these inventions were based on common observations about nature, which
could be put to test for the betterment of human life at that point in time.
Food, clothes, and shelter are the most important basic needs of human beings
irrespective of whether they lived in the ancient period or the modern period. The only factor
that has changed is their types and origins. Food has been an inevitable need since the
existence of man as well as for continuous existence of human beings. Early man used to eat
raw meat, whenever they found a dead animal. However, during harsh weather, there was a
paucity of food, hence, as per the saying, ‘necessity is the mother of all inventions’, which led
to the domestication of food products, which is named as ‘agriculture’. In ancient times,
humans explored the possibilities of making food available by growing it near their shelters,
so that the basic need for food could be met easily. They brought seeds of plants (mostly
grains) and sowed them near to their shelters. They understood the importance of water, light,
and other requirements for the optimal growth of food plants. Similar principles and needs
also led them to start domestication of different wild animals, which helped them to improve
their living conditions and to satisfy their hunger. The need to hunt for animal was done away
with it; as now animals were available to them at closer proximity, and also they did not have
to deal with the dangerous conditions of hunting. Domestication of wild animals was the
beginning of observation, implications, and applications of animal breeding. Certainly, we
can say that this was the initial period of evolution of farming, which led to another needs
like the development of methods for food preservation and storage. They used cold caves to
preserve food for long-term storage. It also made the way for the evolution of pots to store
food products, in the form of leather bags, clay jars, etc.
After domestication of food crops and wild animals, man moved on to other new
observations like cheese, curd, etc. Certainly, cheese can be considered as one of the first
direct products (or by-product) of biotechnology, because it was prepared by adding rennet
(an enzyme found in the stomach of calves) to sour milk, which is possible only by exposing

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milk to microbes (although this understanding was not there, at that time). Yeast is one of the
oldest microbes that have been exploited by humans for their benefit. Yeast has been widely
used to make bread, vinegar production, and other fermentation products, which include
production of alcoholic beverages like whiskey, wine, beer, etc. Vinegar has a significant
importance because of its low pH. Vinegar is capable of preventing growth of certain
microbes, and therefore, vinegar can be used successfully for food preservation. The
discoveries and benefits of these observations led people to work on further improvement of
the process. Fermentation was a powerful tool to improve their living conditions, even though
they were ignorant about the principle behind it.
One of the oldest examples of crossbreeding for the benefit of humans is mule. Mule
is an offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. People started using mules for
transportation, carrying loads, and farming, when there were no tractors or trucks. Mule is
comparatively easier to obtain than Hinny (offspring of a male horse and a female donkey).
Mule and Hinny both have a chromosome number 63, unlike horse (64) and donkey (62).

2. Classical Biotechnology
The second phase of evolution and development of biotechnology can be called
‘Classical Biotechnology’. This phase existed from 1800 to almost the middle of the
twentieth century. During this period various observations started pouring in, with scientific
evidences. They were all very helpful toward solving the puzzle/s of biotechnology. Each and
every contribution from different individuals helped to solve the puzzle and pave the path for
new discoveries.
The basics for the transfer of genetic information are the core of biotechnology. This
was, for the first time, deciphered in plants, i.e., Pisum sativum, commonly known as Pea
plant. These observations were decoded by Gregor John Mendel (1822-1884), an Austrian
Augustinian Monk. Mendel at that time presented “Laws of Inheritance” to the Natural
Science Society in Brunn, Austria. Mendel proposed that invisible internal units of
information account for observable traits, and that these ‘factors’ -later called as genes, which
are passed from one generation to the next. However, the sad part of the story is that Mendel
failed to get due recognition for his discovery for almost 34 years after his death, when other
scientists like Hugo de Vries, Erich Von Tschermak, and Carl Correns validated Mendel's
work in 1900. The reason why Mendel's study remained unnoticed for such a long period of
time was because at the same time Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution was so consuming
that it shadowed the significance of work done by Mendel.
Almost at the same time Robert Brown had discovered nucleus in cells, while in 1868,
Fredrich Miescher, a Swiss biologist reported nuclein, a compound that consisted of nucleic
acid that he extracted from pus cells i.e., white blood cells (WBC). These two discoveries
became the basis of modern molecular biology, for the discovery of DNA as a genetic
material, and the role of DNA in transfer of genetic information. 1n 1881, Robert Koch, a
German physician described the bacterial colonies growing on potato slices (First ever solid
medium). Walter Hesse, one of the co-workers in Koch's laboratory, discovered agar when he
asked his wife what kept the jelly solid even at high temperature of summer. She told, it is
agar agar, since then nutrient agar became the most acceptable and useful medium to obtain
pure microbial cultures as well as for their identification. In 1888, Heinrich Wilhelm
Gottfried Von Waldeyer-Hartz, a German scientist coined the term ‘Chromosome’, which is
considered as an organized structure of DNA and protein present in cells or a single piece of
coiled DNA containing many genes, regulatory elements, and other nucleotide sequences.

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 Other important discoveries during this period were vaccination against small pox and rabies
developed by Edward Jenner a British Physician and Louis Pasteur a French Biologist.
By this time the development and growth of biological sciences seemed to be
reaching to the exponential phase. The principle of genetics in inheritance was redefined by T
H Morgan, who has shown inheritance and the role of chromosomes in inheritance by using
fruit flies, i.e., Drosophila melanogaster. This landmark work of T H Morgan was named,
‘The theory of the Gene’ in 1926. Before the publication of Morgan's work, in 1909, the term
‘Gene’ had already been coined by Wilhelm Johannsen (1857-1927), who described ‘gene’ as
carrier of heredity. Johannsen coined the terms ‘genotype’ and ‘phenotype’. ‘Genotype’ was
meant to describe the genetic constitution of an organism, while ‘Phenotype’ was meant to
describe actual organism. By this time, genetics started gaining its importance, which led to
the start of Eugenic Movement in USA, in 1924. As a result of this, in 1924, the US
Immigration Act was used to restrict the influx of poorly educated immigrants from Southern
and Eastern Europe, on the grounds of their suspected genetic inferiority.
Almost at the same time, in Britain, Alexander Fleming a physician discovered
antibiotics, when he observed that one microorganism can be used to kill another
microorganism, a true representation of the ‘divide and rule’ policy of humans. Fleming
noted that all bacteria (Staphylococci) died when a mold was growing in a petri-dish. Later he
discovered ‘penicillin’ the antibacterial toxin from the mold Penicillium notatum, which
could be used against many infectious diseases. Fleming wrote, “When I woke up just after
dawn on September 28, 1928, I certainly didn’t plan to revolutionize all medicine by
discovering the world's first antibiotic, or bacteria killer”. As a matter of fact, vaccines and
antibiotics turned out to be the best saviors of humanity. Can we attribute these two
discoveries for the ever increasing population as well the ever ageing population of the
world?

3. Modern Biotechnology
The Second World War became a major impediment in scientific discoveries. After
the end of the second world war some, very crucial discoveries were reported, which paved
the path for modern biotechnology and to its current status. In 1953, JD Watson and FHC
Crick for the first time cleared the mysteries around the DNA as a genetic material, by giving
a structural model of DNA, popularly known as, ‘Double Helix Model of DNA’. This model
was able to explain various phenomena related to DNA replication, and its role in inheritance.
Later, Jacob and Monad had given the concept of Operon in 1961, while Kohler and
Milestein in 1975, came up with the concept of cytoplasmic hybridization and produced the
first ever monoclonal antibodies, which has revolutionized the diagnostics.

By this time, it seemed like the world's scientific community had almost all the basic
tools available to them for their applications, along with majority of basic concepts had been
elucidated, which has fast forwarded the path for important scientific discoveries. Dr.
Hargobind Khorana was able to synthesize the DNA in test tube, while Karl Mullis added
value to Khorana's discovery by amplifying DNA in a test tube, thousand times more than the
original amount of DNA. Using this technological advancement, other scientists were able to
insert a foreign DNA into another host and were even able to monitor the transfer of a foreign
DNA into the next generation. The advent of HIV / AIDS as a deadly disease has helped
tremendously to improve various tools employed by life-scientist for discoveries and
applications in various aspects of day-to-day life. In the meantime, Ian Wilmut an Irish
scientist was successful to clone an adult animal, using sheep as model, and he named the
cloned sheep as ‘Dolly’. Craig Venter, in 2000, was able to sequence the human genome; the

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first publically available genome is from JD Watson and Craig Venter, himself. These
discoveries have unlimited implications and applications. In 2010, Craig Venter has been
successful in demonstrating that a synthetic genome could replicate autonomously. Should
that be considered as a new possibility for creating life in a test tube, which could be planned
and designed by human being using a pen, pencil, computer, and bioinformatics as tools? In
future, can we produce life as per our imagination and whims?

Biotechnology has brought humanity to this level of comfort; the next question is,
where will it take us? Biotechnology has both beneficial and destructive potentials. It is, WE
who should decide how to use this technology to help humanity rather than to destroy it.

Directions: Read, study and understand carefully the following activities and answer them
honestly.

Activity 1
Search Me!

INSTRUCTIONS: Mark (loop/line) the word inside the WORD POOL and match it with the
description below. Write the word in the blank provided for after each description.

H R G M D U K L F G
E P H E N O T Y P E
R C I M A Z A C D N
E G N E G E N E F O
D H N D P P J L G T
T V Y I K D O L L Y
Y B X H W E W Q B P
J Q W Y F C L O N E
A N T I B I O T I C

1. Offspring of a male horse and a female donkey _____________________

2. The basic physical and functional unit of heredity_____________________
3. The genetic makeup of an organism ____________________
4. The term used in genetics for the composite observable characteristics or traits of
an organism ____________________
5. Cloned sheep __________________________
6. Bacteria killer _________________________
7. Made up of molecules called nucleotides __________________
8. The basic structural, functional, and biological unit of all known organisms.
_________________________
9. The process of producing individuals with identical or virtually identical DNA,
either naturally or artificially. ________________________

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 10. the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring. ______________________

Activity 2
Biotechnology and Its Various Stages of Development

INSTRUCTIONS: Study the figure below. Answer what is asked for. Write your answer on
the space provided for.

Questions:
1. What are the different stages of development in biotechnology? (3pts)
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
2. How would you explain the differences in the various stages of development in
Biotechnology? (2pts)
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. What do you think made modern Biotechnology advanced compared to the rest? (2pts)
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
4. “Biotechnology has both beneficial and destructive potentials.” As a student, how could
you lessen or minimize the destructive potentials of Biotechnology? Answer briefly but
substantially. (3pts)
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

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 ________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

. Activity 3
Biotech Crossword Puzzle
INSTRUCTIONS: Make a crossword puzzle with a minimum of 15 words using the terms
used in this learning activity sheet. (20 PTS)

CLOSURE / REFLECTION
I learned that _______________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
I enjoyed most on
____________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
I want to learn more on
_______________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

Weblinks
 http://google.com
 http://wikipedia.com
 https://new.internet-start.net
 https://www.education.com
 https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz
 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

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Answer Key
Activity 1
Search Me!

H R G M D U K L F G
E P H E N O T Y P E
R C I M A Z A C D N
E G N E G E N E F O
D H N D P P J L G T
T V Y I K D O L L Y
Y B X H W E W Q B P
J Q W Y F C L O N E
A N T I B I O T I C

1. HINNY
2. GENE
3. GENOTYPE
4. PHENOTYPE
5. DOLLY
6. ANTIBIOTIC
7. DNA
8. CELL
9. CLONE
10. HEREDITY

Activity 2
1. Ancient Biotechnology; Classical Biotechnology; Modern Biotechnology
2. From observation to applications of these observations to practical scenarios
3. Improved advanced technology coupled with better understanding of various
principles of life-science.
4. (Varies)

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SELF CHECK

I. MATCHING TYPE: Column A composed of the scientists who made great

contributions in Biotechnology. Match them with their contributions in column B.
Write the letter of your answer on the space provided before the number.

Column A Column B
_____ 1. Gregor John Mendel A. discovered agar agar
_____ 2. Charles Darwin B. Laws of Inheritance
_____ 3. Robert Brown C. ‘The theory of the Gene’
_____ 4. Walter Hesse D. discovered the nucleus in cells
_____ 5. T H Morgan E. Theory of Evolution

II. FILL IN THE BLANKS: Identify what is being described or asked. Write your
answer on the space provided for.
1. The second phase of evolution and development of biotechnology can be called
_______________________________________________________________.
2. The term ‘discoveries’ or ‘developments’ was used to describe most of the
developments in the __________________ period.
3. Some of the important biotechnology discoveries evolved during the
_______________ period.
4. Penicillin was discovered by _____________________.
5. JD Watson and FHC Crick for the first time cleared the mysteries around the DNA
as a genetic material. DNA means ______________________________________

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SELF CHECK

I. MATCHING TYPE:

1. B
2. E
3. D
4. A
5. C

II.
1 Classical Biotechnology
2 Ancient
3 Modern
4 Alexander Fleming
5 Deoxyribonucleic acid

Prepared by: Checked and Verified:

FEBIE P. AGBAYANI ELIZABETH S. CATAMA

Science Teacher I Master Teacher I

Noted:

MELINDA S. COLOBONG
Head Teacher III

ELIZABETH C. SORIANO
School Principal IV

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Note: Practice Personal Hygiene protocols at all times.