Connection to
Biotechnology
Biotechnology is the manipulation of living organisms to benefit humans. Biotechnologists utilize bacteria and other living organisms to produce new products that will benefit humans. One lab we completed in this class was a cheese making lab. In this lab we used the bacteria prevalent in cow’s milk and other bacteria not inside the cow’s milk to curdle the milk. In this lab we found that the bacteria not present in cow’s milk curdles the milk more efficiently. This lab is similar to the Lactic acid and starter culture used to make Slim Jims because the lactic acid improves the end product by killing harmful bacteria and lowering the pH. Recently in this class, we learned how the pH in foods and drinks affect biological systems. Since lactic acid is used to lower the pH in Slim Jims it can be inferred that lactic acid was too alkanic to be safe for biological systems prior to the addition of lactic acid. Another connection to Biotechnology is the Xanthan gum. In new production methods of insulin where the gene that produces insulin is inserted into bacteria and the bacteria produces the insulin which can be purified. Like these methods the Xanthan gum is used for its production of the glucose. The production of Slim Jim’s can be seen as a grotesque production of “meat” sticks or the application of Biotechnology in a consumable product.
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