B6: Biotechnology
• Fermentation
• Gene technology
• Manipulating reproduction
Fermentation
Candidates wll be assessed on their ability to:
• understand that micro-organisms use an external food source to obtain energy, changing some substances in the medium, and recall that this process is fermentation (B6.01)
• recall that a fermenter is a vessel used to cultivate micro-organisms and explain the need to supply suitable conditions in fermenters including aseptic precautions, nutrients, optimum temperature and pH, oxygenation and agitation (B6.02)
• 
explain the advantages of using micro-organisms for food production:
— rapid population growth
— ease of manipulation
— production independent of climate
— use of waste products from other industrial processes (B6.03)
• explain the role of bacteria in the production of yoghurt from milk by the conversion of lactoseto lactic acid (B6.04)
• recall the origin of mycoprotein (the fungus Fusarium) and understand the advantages of using mycoprotein (B6.05)
• understand the stages in the commercial production of soy sauce including fermentation of a mixture of cooked soya beans and roasted wheat using Aspergillus, further fermentation using yeasts and then Lactobacillus, filtration, pasteurisation, sterile bottling (B6.06)
• evaluate the potential of biotechnology in relation to world food shortage (B6.07)
Gene technology
Candidates will be assessed on their ability to:
• understand that DNA controls the joining together of amino acids to make a specific protein in a cell; the order of bases in a section of DNA decides the order of amino acids in the protein (B6.08)
• understand that sections of DNA coding for specific proteins can be transferred into micro-organisms which are then cultivated in fermenters to produce useful substances such as human insulin (B6.09)
• describe the stages of protein synthesis:
- the coding by triplets of bases to produce mRNA
- the linking of mRNA to tRNA at ribosomes
- the linking of amino acids to form polypeptides (B6.10)
• evaluate the potential for using genetically modified plants to improve the production of food including introducing resistance to pests or to herbicides, increasing nutritional quality, extending shelf life; understand the potential for environmental damage (B6.11)
• evaluate the potential for using transgenic animals including the production of 'designer milk' such as milk containing human antibodies, low cholesterol milk (B6.12)
Manipulating reproduction
Candidates wll be assessed on their ability to:
• describe the process of tissue culture (micropropagation) where very small pieces of plants (explants) are grown in vitro using nutrient media; describe the advantages of the process in producing virus-free stock and commercial quantities of plants, quickly (B6.13)
• describe the stages in the production of cloned mammals, such as Dolly the sheep: the
introduction of a diploid nucleus from a mature cell into an enucleated egg cell, stimulation of the diploid nucleus to divide by mitosis; evaluate the risks associated with later embryonic development; describe the social and ethical concerns of cloning mammals (including the possibility of cloning human body parts for transplant surgery) (B6.14)
• understand the collection, dilution and storage of cattle semen from genetically suitable bulls and its use in artificial insemination (B6.15)
• explain how offspring with desired characteristics can be produced by stimulation of ovulation in genetically suitable cows using hormone treatment, in vitro fertilisation of these ova and implantation of the resulting embryos into surrogate mothers (B6.16)