Bacteria Serving Humanity (1988)

events of the past and present tomorrow for our future depends on you to untangle today's problems we need to understand yesterday we hope this film series will make you aware of the people places and events which have helped shape our nation and our world manufactures hanover is pleased to sponsor this educational film as a special service to schools in the new york city area [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] our journey begins in what seems like another world a black abyss what is actually the bottom of the ocean at these depths the seabed is dead and barren with few exceptions [Music] this living oasis exists in water warmed by heat streaming from volcanic rifts these plants get their energy not from sunlight but from bacteria that break down the explosive gases at the edge of creation this strange lost world exists only because of clouds of single small cells bacteria but while these cells are primitive life forms they are also the seeds of death destruction and regeneration [Music] are now perfecting new ways to grow and cultivate cells far beyond nature's boundaries it's a curious new science called biotechnology [Music] these astonishing cells are the simplest form of life on earth with only one goal to reproduce remarkable as it may seem some bacteria can double every 20 minutes in two days a clean handprint has grown colonies like this though simple they are extremely diverse without bacteria we couldn't have foods like cheese or tofu digesting food would be impossible these bacteria referred to as bugs belong to a family of cells which are nature's catalysts each bug is a factory producing substances which literally transform matter [Music] without bacteria nothing could decay and the earth would be inundated with garbage they have the magical powers of decomposing every frozen leaf into next summer's flowers no one understands better than a farmer the way bacteria break down waste and this farm takes advantage of them more than most what looks like a factory is in fact a pig farm mass producing this much pork creates up to 30 tons of insoluble waste per day this is where the exploitation of the bacteria begins find one that breaks down the slurry into something useful put it in a tank and keep it well fed this bug is a particularly clever chemist as it breaks down waste it releases huge bubbles of gas that can now be converted into energy to run an engine producing 22 kilowatts of continuous electricity enough for lighting and heating the pig farm [Music] utilization of this gas as a source of energy rids the waste of the foul odor that comes out of the tank what remains is a liquid fertilizer free from harmful bacteria which can be used to feed the fields but it is the solids left behind that have the most surprising potential they are still full of bacteria ready to do another job each cell is a microscopic blob of pure protein and there's enough protein in this sediment to feed all of the livestock mixing barley in with it makes it more palatable [Music] grow more of the tiny cells and they could actually replace expensive animal feed altogether because they contain as much protein as soybeans or fish meal as easy as this sounds we are still faced with one problem in order for bacteria to breed they need a large area to grow scientists found the answer in a seemingly common household item the sponge the sponge is a perfect nesting area because the bacteria settles into the empty spaces and becomes densely packed the minute sponges in this sludge contain millions of cells sewage treatment centers have used bacteria cells to break down waste for years but until now these cells have needed so much elbow room it has taken 25 beds like this to clean up the pollution from one small town pack the beds with sponges of bacteria and you can make five of them do the work of 25 bacteria in the sponges not only break down old materials they also manufacture new ones as we will see in this next experiment here biotechnologists have actually used sponges to harvest a crop from a cluster of plant cells [Music] the essence of a plant is concentrated in its cells but as they grow they waste a lot of energy making roots shoots and flowers [Music] nature takes time and after a year just a tiny part of the plant yields the substance we want saffron for example is painstakingly collected by hand picking the stigmas out of the crocuses and chili is produced in just one place the fruit commonly called a pod there's nothing new about growing plant cells in the laboratory scientists have been doing it for years now biotechnologists are growing only what they need in shorter periods of time extracting the useful essence of the plant directly from itself handled skillfully a minute piece of stem from a chili plant will sprout into an island of cells quick way to grow more from this glistening knot is to mass produce them in liquid using sponges with an electron microscope we can see them forming groups as thick as bunches of grapes gently transferred to the right environment the captive cells in their sponge prisons are easy to control within this column there are a thousand chiles yet not one of them has a pod fed stimulants the cells start manufacturing far more flavor than a field full of plants [Music] this is the prototype for a continuous production cycle offering convincing proof that sponges could be the key to harvesting many sought-after plant substances chili is not only used to flavor a meal it is also an important ingredient in medical ointments even a plant like the common periwinkle produces two anti-cancer compounds worth three thousand dollars a gram [Music] the job of scientists is to constantly improve on what bacteria do naturally to begin one must study the inner workshop of the bacteria cell the dna this circle of dna the plasmid contains the blueprints for everything the bug does by clipping out sections and replacing them with new ones you can get bacteria to make something not for themselves but for us [Music] they can produce all sorts of substances like insulin which is obtained from the pancreas of animals such as pigs and bacteria breed fast enough to be able to mass produce the things we tell them to inside this icy vault are unnatural cells artificially bred by biotechnologists tinkering with their structure and manipulating their lifestyle under this microscope is just one cell they have successfully adapted it makes granules of materials called phb similar to the way our bodies produce fat but phb can be turned into plastic researchers mixed 100 different blends of starch sugar and gases to persuade the cells to produce bigger and better granules trays full of inexpensive food samples were sterilized before the bacteria was added once the precise recipe was discovered they scaled up production in what looks like a brewery of stainless steel vats adding buckets full of sugar and the right combination of temperature and conditions the bacteria will increase one thousand fold this steel fortress protects the bacteria from the outside world the cells need nurturing and constant monitoring but soon the sacs full of junk food will turn into sacks full of biodegradable plastic plastic ideal for medical purposes because it's compatible with living tissue a plastic which will solve a waste disposal problem decomposing with time the sticky halo oozing from this microbe may one day change the oil industry by adding a bacteria that thickens water the oil fields can produce more unlike expensive man-made chemicals the sticky substance won't disintegrate when pumped between the pores of rock or sand with water you are lucky to retrieve 40 percent of the oil bacteria make the job much more efficient by adding a surfactant a shampoo-like substance also made from bacteria it is possible to loosen and extract oil from almost anywhere inside every bacteria is a microscopic powerhouse by connecting the powerhouse to an electrode and attaching the electrode to a motor you can produce enough energy to lift a small load given time we will even combine biotechnology and advanced electronics this boy is a diabetic a biochip placed in the wall of his vein senses his need for insulin once stimulated insulin is released allowing this young man and others like him to lead more normal lives scientists will continue to study bacteria as they present astounding opportunities for scientific breakthroughs in medicine and environmental problems the science screen report has been presented to you as a community service of manufacturers hanover [Music]