The advantages and disadvantages of bacteria

The first 200 words of this essay...

The advantages and disadvantages of bacteria

The advantages of bacteria for genetic Engineering are firstly economic- they contain a valuable source of enyzmes Bacteria produce more enzyme molecules in relation to their mass than most other organisms. The product yield can be increased by means of strain selection, mutation and optimisation of growth conditions. They are easy to manipulate genetically and can be subjected to gene transfer techniques. Secondly there is an environmental/economic advantage of bacteria- they can occupy a great variety of habitats and extremes of conditions, so their enzymes function in an enourmous range of PH and temperature. ("A New Introduction to Biology")

Environmentally the bacteria used in genetic engineering chosen do not produce toxins or offensive odours and are non-pathogenic. Bacteria may be of great benefit to the environment, as they may be used in the future to break up oil slicks in a technique known as bioremediation. Bacteria can also be used for biological pest control - some bacterium are toxic to a particular pest species.

In biotechnological applications, bacteria are cultured usually by batch-fermentation on a large scale to produce chemical products such as vitamins and enzymes in industrial quantities. (The