Answer:
Answer:
1. The product that must be produced to kill a bacterium —which causes a disease— is an antibiotic, which through biotechnology can investigate the structure of the bacterium and synthesize the chemical formula needed to produce these antibiotics in high amounts.
2. Activity of Actinomycetes that produces antibiotics can be measured by their ability to kill bacteria, in serial studies where bacterial cultures are exposed to Actinomyces.
Explanation:
1. Antibiotics are specific drugs for the treatment of infectious diseases, produced by bacteria. Antibiotics can kill bacteria and prevent their replication.
If a disease is produced by bacteria, the product that is necessary to kill those microbes is an antibiotic, for which biotechnology is useful.
By using biotechnology —a branch of biology that uses technology as a research and development tool— it is possible:
- Know the structure, functions and behavior of pathogenic bacterial strains.
- Investigate which molecule may have bactericidal or bacteriostatic activity.
- Create chemical formulas -antibiotics- that serve to effectively eliminate bacteria, and cure infectious diseases.
- The synthesis and production of antibiotics on a large scale, allowing their sufficient availability for use.
2. Actinomycetes are microorganisms whose structure is intermediate between a bacterium and a fungus, which is predominantly found in the soil and contributes to its fertility.
From the actinomycetes an antibiotic can be isolated, actinomycin, with selective and limited bactericidal activity.
By means of biotechnology it has been possible to isolate the fraction of the actinomycetes that is effective as an antibiotic, isolate it and synthesize it to be able to produce actinomycin.
The way to test the activity of actinomycetes against bacteria is by performing studies where bacterial cultures are exposed to this bacterium, observing the decrease or disappearance of bacterial colonies.