Biochemistry is the process of understanding and learning about living organisms and chemicals. On the other hand, Biotechnology is more based on living organisms and new technology that is been made every day for the betterment of humans.
Biotechnology, therefore, involves applying mechanisms discovered in the field of biochemistry to produce a useful product and using biochemical techniques combined with physical analysis methods to gain a better understanding of biochemistry. For example, when a labeled fluorescence molecule is used in conjunction with a fluorescence microscope, researchers can identify a precise drug target within a cell.
Biochemistry is therefore closely related to biotechnology, which requires an understanding of biochemical processes before they can be applied to technology and, once the technology is developed, can therefore facilitate new biochemical discoveries.
Biochemical technologies
The use of enzymes in the industry is a prime example of a biochemical process that can be applied to biotechnology, which could be an environmentally friendly and highly efficient alternative to traditional chemical synthesis.
The first enzymes were described in the 19th century and as early as the mid-20th century they were used as catalysts for industrial applications such as the production of glycerol by yeast or the fermentation of citric acid by the fungus Aspergillus niger. As researchers began to unravel the mechanisms underlying the observed enzyme activity, a wider range of functions was discovered, most notably the discovery of penicillin acylase, an enzyme present in and associated with certain bacteria, yeasts, and fungi, with the production of some antibiotics. – Easy precursor. Around this time, the researchers also began immobilizing the enzymes on a solid substrate so that they could be recycled and reused without the high costs of isolating and purifying large quantities of enzymes.
Advances in DNA technology have made it possible to obtain far more proteins from bacteria or yeasts, as the relevant DNA sequence could now be identified and inserted into a plasmid and expressed at high levels. The much wider availability of enzymes produced in this way prompted the introduction of synthetic bioengineering methods in the 1970s and 1980s, with, for example, the replacement of recombinant chymosin obtained from the stomach of calves in cheese production.
Other advances in biotechnology, such as the development of a polymerase chain reaction, have enabled the generation of large amounts of DNA, and deliberately introducing errors in the copying process could lead to the generation and isolation of protein mutants. The human selection of mutants with favorable properties after repeated PCR has been error-prone and has enabled the field to produce an enzymatically oriented evolution with much better thermal and chemical stability, and in combination with the technology of an already developed recombinant protein, the useful function of stark expands enzymes. in the industry.
As already mentioned, enzymes generally have higher specificity, lower energy thresholds, and better environmental stability than comparable synthetic chemical catalysts. A potential application of these enzymes in the treatment of food waste rich in carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins that can be recycled into other products such as biofuels.
The lactose generated in yogurt making is a major food waste product, which people consider to be far less sweet than glucose and less used in the food industry, which adds to concerns about lactose intolerance. Enzymes are used to hydrolyze lactose into glucose, which can then be used in other food production processes.
Recently, lactose was converted to lactose, a dysbiotic prebiotic that has purported health benefits, by immobilizing β-galactosidase on the magnetic chitosan bead using a cellulose-binding domain. The enzyme can maintain its activity beyond 20 application cycles and, while significant, forces manufacturers to use low-cost fixed phases.
Several enzymatic immobilization methods have been developed that allow for recovery and reuse, including flat solid supports and particle supports in the form of microns or nanoparticles made from different materials with specific advantages and disadvantages. The researchers found that a change in enzymatic activity depends on the medium to which it is bound, for example, enzymes attached to the nanoparticles in some cases show a negative correlation between the diameter of the nanoparticles and the activity.
The use of magnetic particles as described above allows recovering the enzyme with magnets or recovery particles composed of heavier materials by centrifugation. In any case, a better understanding of the biochemical processes that take place in each reaction and how they can be influenced by factors aimed at improving the efficiency of the processes will allow applying current biochemistry to the development of biotechnology.