How is Biotechnology Used in Everyday Life?生物技術如何用于日常生活？

譯/謝紅

掃碼聽讀

Biotechnology plays a huge role in our everyday lives—from the clothes we wear to how we wash them,the food we eat to how we source them,the medicine we take to treat our bodies, and even the fuel we use to move our vehicles. The following are how biotechnology applies to our everyday lives.

1. Biofuel

Biofuel is obtained by fermenting sugars extracted from plants to ethanol,using a similar process like the one used in beer and wine-making. Biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel are blended with petrol and diesel to meet the legislation on greenhouse gas emissions.

When the blended biofuels are used in road transportation, the fuel can reduce their carbon impact.

2. Vaccines

生物技術在我們的日常生活中扮演著極為重要的角色——從我們穿的衣服到我們洗衣方式，從我們吃的食物到我們的食物獲取方式，我們治病用的藥甚至交通工具使用的燃料，這些都會用到生物技術。 以下是生物技術在日常生活中的具體應用：

1. 生物燃料

生物燃料可以通過將植物中提取的糖發酵為乙醇來獲得，這一過程類似于釀造啤酒和葡萄酒。將乙醇和生物柴油等生物燃料與汽油和柴油混合，可以滿足溫室氣體排放相關法規的要求。

混合生物燃料用于道路運輸，可以減少碳排放。

2. 疫苗

將疫苗引入人體的免疫系統以對抗病原體的攻擊，這要通過將減毒病原體引入血流來實現。

Vaccines are introduced into the body’s immune system to fight pathogens when they attack. It is achieved by introducing weakened versions of the disease into the bloodstream.

The weakened disease pathogens are extracted using biotechnological techniques like growing the antigenic proteins in genetically engineered crops.

3. Bioremediation

Bioremediation has to do with utilizing biotechnical applications to develop an enzyme that goes beyond pretreating some industrial and food waste components to allow for efficient removal of sewage systems.

4. Pest resistant crops

Biotechnology has offered various techniques for the creation of crops that naturally display anti-pest characteristics.

So, instead of dusting and spraying the plants with pesticides, the plants become naturally resistant to pests. An example is the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis genes being transferred to crops.

5. Environmental engineers

Environmental engineers have discovered a clean and safe way to dispose of waste. They do this by introducing nutrients to stimulate the activity of bacteria in the soil at the waste site. The bacteria digest the waste, thereby turning it into harmless byproducts.

After consuming the waste, the bacteria either die or return to their normal population levels. There are situations where the byproducts of the bacteria are useful and can be used for other valuable purposes.

弱化的病原體是通過生物技術制取的，比如利用轉基因作物培育抗原蛋白。

3. 生物修復

生物修復就是利用生物技術合成一種酶，這種酶不僅可以對工業和餐廚垃圾進行預處理，還可以有效清理污水系統。

4. 抗蟲害作物

生物技術為培植具有天然抗蟲害能力的作物提供了多種技術手段。

這樣一來就無須噴灑殺蟲劑，植物天然就能抗蟲害，比如將蘇云金芽孢桿菌的基因轉移到農作物中。

5. 環境工程師

環境工程師發現了一種安全無污染的廢棄物處理方法。他們施用營養素來提高垃圾處理場土壤中細菌的活性。細菌分解廢棄物，將其轉化為無害的副產品。

廢棄物被分解后，細菌要么死亡，要么恢復正常種群水平。有時細菌帶來的副產品也有用處，可用于其他重要用途。

6. Cheese production

For over 20 years, the cheese we eat is created with a biotech enzyme, chymosin—the natural enzyme found in calves and used to curdle milk during cheese production.

Using biotechnology to produce the enzyme makes it abundant and purer while removing the need to use animals to make cheese. Approximately 60% of all hard cheese products are now made with a biotech enzyme.

7. Alcoholic drinks

One of the most basic uses of biotechnology is in the area of alcohol production. Every day, people across the world would drink a glass or two.Beer, for example, is made from water,barley, brewer’s yeast, and flavouring.

During production, the starch contained in the barley is converted to sugar by enzymes then fermented. Then, the brewer’s yeast metabolises the sugars to produce alcohol and carbon dioxide.The enzymes and microbes are standard tools used in industrial biotechnology.

8. Electricity

6. 奶酪生產

20多年來，我們吃的奶酪都是用一種生物技術酶——凝乳酶制作出來的。天然的凝乳酶存在于小牛體內，在奶酪生產過程中起到凝結牛奶的作用。

利用生物技術獲取的凝乳酶產量更高、質地更純，且生產過程中不需要用到動物。目前60%左右的硬質奶酪產品使用的都是生物技術酶。

7. 酒精飲料

生物技術最基本的用途之一是釀酒。世界各地的人們每天都會喝上一兩杯。比如啤酒就是由水、大麥、啤酒酵母和香料制成的。

生產過程中，大麥中的淀粉被酶轉化為糖，之后發酵，接著釀酒酵母代謝糖，產生酒精和二氧化碳。酶和微生物是工業生物技術的標準配置。

8. 電力

生物煉制廠產生的氣體燃燒時能夠釋放能量和熱，一間生物煉制廠生成的熱量和能量足夠作為生物燃料使用。隨著石油價格的波動，世界范圍對農業化學品和化石燃料的依賴激發了人們對藻類養殖的興趣。

The gas generated from bio-refineries when combusted produces power and heat. A bio-refinery can generate adequate heat and energy to be used as a bio-fuel. With the fluctuation of oil prices, worldwide dependency on agricultural chemicals and fossil fuels has sparked an interest in algae cultivation.

Biomass obtained from recycling an algae can be used in the production of a broad range of products like biopharmaceuticals, bio-ethanol, compost for production of crop and bio-gas.

9. Biodefense and public safety

Military weapons have gone biological. Therefore, military units and disaster responders are now faced with threats from biological and chemical substances.

10. Forensic science—DNA fingerprinting

Every living organism has chromosomes which are made up of DNA sequence. The DNA sequence is unique for every individual.

Identifying the pattern of DNA sequences is done in forensic DNA analysis using biotechnological tools. DNA fingerprinting is a useful tool in identifying a suspect in a criminal investigation, in paternity cases or identifying unrecognizable victims in a catastrophe. ■

從藻類再利用中得到的生物物質可用于生產多種產品，比如生物藥物、生物乙醇、農作物堆肥和沼氣。

9. 生物防御和公共安全

軍事武器已用上了生物技術，因此軍事單位和救災人員現在都需要面對來自生物和化學物質的威脅。

10. 法醫學——DNA指紋

每個生物體都有由DNA序列組成的染色體，每個人的DNA序列都是獨一無二的。

DNA司法鑒定利用生物技術手段確認DNA序列模式。無論是刑事調查中識別嫌犯還是親子鑒定，或確認重大災難中無法辨認的遇難者遺體，DNA指紋識別都是一個有用的工具。 □