DOCUNENT REIM= ED 345 934 SE 052 299 AUTHOR Walker, John M.; Cox, Michael TITLE The Language of Biotechnology: A Dictionary of Terms. INSTITUTION American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C. REPORT NO ISBN-0-8412-1499-1 PUB DATE BB NOTE 254p. AVAILABLE FROMAmerican Chemical Society, 1155 16th Street, N.W., Washington DC 20036 ($29.95). PUB TYPE Reference Materials - Vocabularies/Classifications/Dictionaries (134) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC11 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Biological Sciences; *Interdisciplinary Approach; *Jargon; *Resource Materials; Science Education; *Technical Writing IDENTIFIERS *Biotechnology ABSTRACT This dictionary attempts to define routinely used specialized language in the various areas of biotechnology, and remain suitable for use by scientists involved in unrelated disciplines. Viewing biotechnology as the practical application of biological systems to the manufacturing and service industries, and to the management of the environment, terms defined have been selected from as broad a spectrum as possible to include work accomplished by the following disciplines: (1) microbiology; (2) Pharmacology; (3) biochemistry; (4) chemistry; (5) physiology; (6) chemical engineering; (7) genetic engineering;(8) enzymology; and (9) cell biology. The typical biotechnologist can utilize this dictionary to integrate specialized wrk with studies being carried out by collaborators in related fields, particularly with r.l.spect to differences in terminology, i.e., jargon. (JJK) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** cez THE LANGUAGE OF iotechnology A DICTIONARY OFTERMS John M. Walker and Michael Cox U S DEPARTMENT Of EDUCATION -PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS E dycibONIf WRIlleett n and nncetwompn' MATERIAL HAS SEEN GRANTED BY EnorATIONAL PSOUPS INFoRMATION CENTER tENIC X In, tlf/4" irmtont 485 CIPPr PP,CIOUC HS Carol A. Va l verde +Pr emIKI urn, ,ne [Wu," ailjanair,on o'n7,13T+ng lkotnn, CnIngef new/. OPP ^ °NM..t, on,pst,rf. ,earocluCOon Ouent frro,nts cI wgi,* cv opo,any varro th.S 150 TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES nro nerestvo. .PPTIRSP^TOffic,a, Polq INFORMATION CENTER tERICT fo Doiebo,v ACS Proftssional Reftrence Book 'BEST CP'.t 4""hJ TheLanguageof lotechnology 3 TheLnguageof Kotechnology ADictionary of Terms John M. Walker andMichael Cox Allan Whitaker, Contributor VACSProftssional .ReferenceBook American ChemicalSociety Washington, DC 1988 Library of Conwers Cataloging-In-Publication Data The Language of biotechnology. 1. BiotechnologyDictionaries. I. Walker, John M., 1948- .Ii. Cox, Michael, 1933- .10. Whitaker, Allan. IV. American Chemical Society. TP248.16.L36 1988 660%6'0321 89-26273 ISBN 0-8412-1489-1 ISBN 0-8412-1490-5 (pbk.) Copy editing, design, and production by Colleen P. Stamm Illustrations by Lauren Mendelson Cover design by Lisa Damerst Managing Editor: Janet S. Dodd Typeset by Techna Type, Inc., York, PA Printed and bound by Maple Press Company,'154rk, PA Copyright 1988 American Chemical Society AU Rights Reserved. Permission to make photocopies beyond fair use for internal or personal use or for the internal or personal use of specific clients is granted to libraries and other users registered with the Copyright Clearance Center !CCP, provided that the fee of 92.00 per copy per page is paid directly to Copyright Clearance Center, 27 Congress Street Salem, k4A 01970. 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The citation of trade names and/or names of manufacturers in this publication is not to be construed as an endorsement or as approval by ACS of the commercial products or services referenced herein; nor should the mere reference herein to any drawing, specification, chemical process, or other data be regarded as a license r}r as a conveyance of any right or permission, to the holder, reader, or any other person or corporation, to manufacture, reproduce, use, or sell any patented invention or copyrighted work that may in any way be related thereto. Registered names, trademarks, etc., used in this publication, even without specific indication thereof, are not to be consideredunprotected by law. PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA About theAuthors JOHN M. WALKER has been a Readerin Protein Chemistry in the Divisionof Bi- ological Sciences, Hatfield Polytechnic, Hatfield, Harts, England, since 1980.Be- fore that he was a postdoctoralresearch scientist at the Institute of CancerRe- search, London, for eight years.Walker received a 1st Class Honors Degreein Chemistry and a Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry from University College,Lon- don. For many years he was involved in studies on nonhistone chromosomal pro- _ teins. At Hatfield Polytechnic he hasbeen increasingly interested in algal biotechnology (particularlythe use of algae as a sourceof novel pharmaceutical compounds) and in studiesof the factors responsible for protein stability (using proteinengineering methodology). Walker is coordinator of the HatfieldPolytechnic Biotechnology Unit. Since 1981 he has been theorganizer of highly successful In- troductory Workshops in Techniquesin Molecular Biology. These workshops are held annually atHatfield, and are also run in Yugo- slavia, Norway, Pakistan, and India.He is coorganizer of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, aone-week Royal Society ofChemistry residential school held at Hatfield every two years.In addition, he has served as editor of a numberof books on molecular biologymeth- odology. MICHAEL COX is a Reader in Applied Chemistry at Hatfield Polytechnic, Hat- field, Harts, England, and lectures in the field; of inorganic chemistry, chemical technology, and biotechnology. In 1987 he was granted the title of Pm fessor in recognition of his research activities. He received M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from University College, London. Following a sabbatical at Warren Spring Laboratory, Department of Indus- try, Cox became interested in liquid-liq- uid extraction and ion exchange recovery of metals from waste feeds, a topic in which he is still actively en- gaged. This led to a general interest in downstream processing of process streams, including those derived from fermentation. Cox is the author of many research papers and review articles. For many years he served on the Committee of the Solvent Extraction and Ion Exchange Group of the Society of Chemical Industry, com- pleting a term as Chairman in 1988. 7 Preface To define the term "biotechnology" or todescribe the role of a biotechnologist is never easy. Such broad termsoften mean different things to different people. As a startingpoint, let us define biotech- nology as the practical application of biological systemsto the man- ufacturing and service industries and to the managementof the environment. Yet such a brief description ignores the widespectrum of related disciplines that must come together tocommercialize a biological process. At ons end of the spectrum,biotechnology involves work at the laboratory bench level, often aimed atidentifying or constructing microorganisms or cells capable of providingproducts of economic value. This aim can be achieved by themolecular biologist who applies new methodologies that arisefrom developments in the biological sciences, especially in genetic engineering, tomicroorgan- isms, plant cells, or animal cells. Alternatively,microbial screening programs (which can involve amultidisciplinary team of microbiol- ogists, pharmacologists, biochemists, andchemists) can result in the identification of microorganismsproducing potentially useful metabolites. Once the organism or cell of interest isobtained, it is necessarY to develop the growth of the microorganism,animal cell, or plant cell on a large scale in aneconomically viable process. However,in plant biotechnology, growth of appropriatelymodified cells to give a plant with novel characteristics can sometimesbe the ultimate goal. Scale-up involves both the microbiologist'sknowledge of microbial _ physiology-biochemistry and fermentationtechnology and the bio- chemical or chemical engineer'sknowledge of reactor design, heat and mass transfer, and process control.Recovery of the desired prod- uct takes us into the area ofdownstream processing, which requires expertise in areas such as chemistry,biochemistry, and chemical engineering to develop the variouslarge-scale methodologies for .vii concentrating, extracting, and purifying the required product as eco- nomically as possible. The diverse applications of biotechnological processes range from waste treatment and odc r control to the production of reagentsfor the diagnosis and treatr lent of disease. Enzymes, for example, are used in a variety of pro:asses, including enzyme reactors, washing powders, biosensors, and diagnostic kits. The use of genetic engi- neering, via site-directed mutagenesis, to design more stable en- zymes for use in these biotechnological processestakes us back to the beginning of our biotechnology spectrum. The typical biotechnologist will probably be an expert in oneof these areas, but