Microbiology

Microbiology Study Guide

Bacillus Popillae is also used as an insecticide that helps infect caterpillars and worms by causing milky spire diseases among these insects. In the mining industry, microorganisms like Thiobacillus are also used for the purpose of leaching elements like copper and uranium. One of the most elegant expressions of industrial microbiology in the modern era is the science of biotechnology . In biotechnology, microorganisms are used to produce medically or industrially important products, such as drugs, medicines, and pharmaceutical agents. Bacteria, yeasts, and algae are commonly used for this purpose. Gene manipulations are made, and the genetic constitutions of organisms are changed in the process of genetic engineering . Organisms are cultivated in huge volumes in tanks called fermenters. The desired substances are produced within these tanks. Genetic engineering applications began when scientists discovered that they could open DNA molecules at desired points, insert foreign gene fragments, reclose the DNA segments, and introduce them to recipient cells. The cells would respond by encoding the proteins specified by the foreign genes. One of the first products so producedwas insulin, first licensed for use in the 1980s. The human growth hormone, human interferon, and other substances, such as clotting factors, were subsequently developed by genetic engineering methods.

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