Biotechnology — Class 12 Maharashtra HSC Biology revision notes
A 9-page visual revision sheet for Biotechnology, written for Class 12 Maharashtra HSC Biology. Formulas, diagrams and the traps that cost marks, laid out to be read the night before rather than the term before. Free, and it opens inside CapCompass.
Page 1 as PDF
Biotechnology in one look
modify a gene on purpose, then grow it at a scale worth harvesting
Biotechnology: Old and New
- OECD's definition: applying scientific and engineering principles to process materials by biological agents for human welfare
- the term itself was coined by Karl Ereky (1919) for large-scale pig production
- traditional biotechnology (up to 1970): fermentation-based, curd, cheese, wine, vinegar
- an art passed down before anyone knew which organism did the work
- modern biotechnology: began with recombinant DNA technology, Stanley Cohen and Herbert Boyer, 1973
- lets scientists change genetic material directly for a specific product
- two features separate modern from classical biotechnology
- the technical ability to change genetic material: rDNA technology, PCR, cell culture, bioprocessing
- and the new question of who owns that technology
Genetic engineering vs Chemical (bioprocess) engineering
Genetic engineering
- alters the genetic material itself, DNA and RNA, in a directed, predetermined way, in vitro
- covers repairing or replacing a defective gene, synthesizing a new one
- moving a gene to a new organism, gene cloning; alternatively called rDNA technology
Chemical engineering
- keeps a sterile environment for manufacturing the product at scale
- e.g. vaccines, antibodies, enzymes, organic acids, vitamins, therapeutics
- this is the bioprocessing half
- the two together, engineer plus scale up, are what biotechnology actually means
Page 1 of 9. The full sheet, all 9 pages, opens free in the app.
What this Biotechnology sheet covers
- Biotechnology: Old and New
- Genetic engineering vs Chemical (bioprocess) engineering
- Genetic engineering
- Chemical engineering
- Restriction Enzymes: the molecular scissors
- Blunt ends vs Sticky (cohesive) ends
- Blunt ends
- Sticky ends
- Cloning Vectors
- Insertional Inactivation: reading the plate
- The rDNA technology pipeline
- Isolate DNA
- Cut with RE
- Ligate
- Transform host
- Select & multiply
- PCR: amplifying DNA outside a cell
- One PCR cycle, three steps
- Denaturation
- Annealing
- Extension
- PCR Amplification, Doubling Each Cycle
- Copies after 25 PCR cycles
- Gel Electrophoresis
- Gene Libraries
- Getting DNA into a host cell
- Recombinant Human Insulin
- Human proteins from rDNA technology
- Gene Therapy
- Germ Line vs Somatic Cell Gene Therapy
- Gene delivery: ex vivo vs in vivo
- Ex vivo
- In vivo
- GMOs and Bt Cotton
- Golden Rice and Flavr Savr Tomato
- Transgenic Animals, by Purpose
- Transgenic mouse
- Transgenic cow
- Transgenic sheep
- Transgenic pig
- Bioethics, Biopatent and Biopiracy
- Biopiracy, Three Indian Cases
- Neem
- Basmati
- Haldi (turmeric)
- Traps that cost marks
- Tricks that save time
How CapCompass uses this sheet
These notes are not a standalone PDF. CapCompass plans Biology chapter by chapter against your real exam dates and free hours, and when the plan reaches Biotechnology the sheet opens inside the study block itself — at the page covering the sub-topic that block is on, with the timer still running. Revision arrives at the moment the plan says revise, instead of having to be gone looking for.
More Biology Class 12 revision notes
- Biodiversity, Conservation and Environmental Issues
- Control and Co-ordination
- Ecosystems and Energy Flow
- Enhancement of Food Production
- Human Health and Diseases
- Inheritance and Variation
- Molecular Basis of Inheritance
- Organisms and Populations
- Origin and Evolution of Life
- Plant Growth and Mineral Nutrition
- Plant Water Relation
- Reproduction in Lower and Higher Animals
- Reproduction in Lower and Higher Plants
- Respiration and Circulation