Biotechnology

Biotechnology is a technologybased on biology, especially when used in agriculture, food science, and medicine.

Of the many different definitions available, the one formulated by the UNConvention on Biological Diversityis one of the broadest:

"Biotechnology means any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use." (Article 2. Use of Terms)

Or another definition can be: Biotechnology is the manipulation of organisms to do practical things and to provide useful products.

One section of biotechnology is the directed use of organismsfor the manufacture of organic products (examples include beer, milkproducts, and skin). Naturally present bacteriaare utilized by the mining industry in bioleaching. Biotechnology is also used to recycle, treat waste, clean up sites contaminated by industrial activities (bioremediation), and produce biological weapons.

There are also applications of biotechnology that do not use living organisms. Examples are DNA microarraysused in genetics and radioactivetracers used in medicine.

Modern biotechnology is often associated with the use of genetically altered microorganismssuch as E. coli or yeastfor the production of substances like insulinor antibiotics. It can also refer to transgenic animalsor transgenic plants, such as Bt corn. Genetically altered mammalian cells, such as Chinese HamsterOvarian (CHO) cells, are also widely used to manufacture pharmaceuticals. Another promising new biotechnology application is the development of plant-made pharmaceuticals.

Biotechnology is also commonly associated with breakthroughs in new medical therapies and diagnostic devices.

Sub-fields of biotechnology

There are a number of jargon terms for sub-fields of biotechnology.

Red biotechnology is biotechnology applied to medicalprocesses. Some examples are the designing of organisms to produce antibiotics, and the engineering of genetic cures to cure diseases through genomic manipulation.

White biotechnology, also known as grey biotechnology, is biotechnology applied to industrialprocesses. An example is the designing of an organism to produce a useful chemical. White biotechnology tends to consume less in resources than traditional processes when used to produce industrial goods.

Green biotechnology is biotechnology applied to agriculturalprocesses. An example is the designing of an organism to grow under specific environmental conditions or in the presence (or absence) of certain agricultural chemicals. One hope is that green biotechnology might produce more environmentally friendly solutions than traditional industrial agriculture. An example of this is the engineering of a plant to express a pesticide, thereby eliminating the need for external application of pesticides. Whether or not green biotechnology products such as this are ultimately more environmentally friendly is a topic of considerable debate.

Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary field which addresses biological problems using computational techniques. The field is also often referred to as computational biology. It plays a key role in various areas like functional genomics, structural genomics, and proteomics amongst others, and forms a key component in biotechnology and pharmaceutical sector.

The term blue biotechnology has also been used to describe the marine and aquatic applications of biotechnology, but its use is relatively rare.

Biotechnology timeline

• 8000 BC Collecting of seedsfor replanting. Evidence that Babylonians, Egyptiansand Romansused selective breeding(artificial selection) practices to improve livestock.
• 6000 BC Brewing beer, fermentingwine, baking breadwith help of yeast
• 4000 BC Chinese made yogurtand cheesewith lactic-acid-producingbacteria
• 1500 Plant collecting around the world
• 1590 The microscope is invented by Zacharias Janssen.
• 1675 Microorganisms discovered (using first microscope)
• 1856 Gregor Mendeldiscovered the laws of inheritance
• 1919 Karl Ereky, a Hungarian agricultural engineer, first used the word biotechnology
• 1953 James D. Watsonand Francis Crickdescribe the structure of DNA
• 1972 The DNA composition of humans is discovered to be 99% similar to that of chimpanzees and gorillas.
• 1975 Method for producing monoclonal antibodydeveloped by Kohler and Milstein
• 1980 Modern biotech is characterized by recombinant DNA technology. The prokaryotemodel, E. coli, is used to produce insulinand other medicine, in human form. (About 5% of diabetics are allergic to animal insulins available before)
• 1980 A viable brewing yeast strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae 1026 acts a modifier of the microflora in the rumen of cows and digestive tract of horses)
• 1984 Nutrigenomics as applied science in animal nutrition
• 1990 Adam Williams was the first test tube baby made from the embryo of a mouse
• 1994 FDA approves of the first GM food from Calgene: "Flavr Savr" tomato
• 1997 Scottish scientists from the Roslin Institute report cloning a sheep called Dollyusing DNA from two adult sheep cells. Ian Wilmutled the team that cloned Dolly.
• 2000 Completion of the Human Genome Project
• 2002 Researchers sequence the DNA of rice, the main food source for two-thirds of the world's population. Rice is the first crop to have its genome decoded.
• 2003 GloFish, the first biotech pet, hits the North American market. Specially bred to detect water pollutants, the fish glows red under black light thanks to the addition of a natural bioluminescencegene.

Biotechnology firms

The top 10 publicly-traded biotechnology companies, ranked by 2003 sales, are:

1. Amgen
2. Genentech
3. Serono
4. Biogen Idec
5. Chiron Corporation
6. Genzyme
7. MedImmune
8. Pfizer
9. Millennium Pharmaceuticals
10. Applied Biosystems

Key visionaries and personalities in biotechnology sector

Finland

Leena Palotie

Iceland

Kari Stefansson

Ireland

Dr. Thomas Peasre Lyons...

USA

Kate Jacques, David Botstein, Craig Venter, Sydney Brenner, Eric Lander, Leroy Hood, Robert Langer, Henry I. Miller, Roger Beachy, William Rutter, George Rathmann, Robert Swanson, Michael West, Thomas Okarma...

Canada

To be updated...

Europe

Paul D Kemp...

Asia Pacific

India

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw(Biocon)

See also

• Agrobacterium
• Biochemistry
• Bioengineering
• Biomedical Engineering
• Biopharmaceuticals
• Bioreactor
• Biorobotics
• Cell culture
• EU Directive on the patentability of biotechnological inventions
• Eugenics
• Expression vector
• Genetic engineering
• Genetically modified food
• Industrial biotechnology
• Intein
• List of environment topics
• List of publications in biology#biotechnology
• Molecular biology
• Tissue Engineering
• Selective breeding
• Substantial equivalence

Compare with

• Biomimetics

External links

• Costa Rican Biotechnology Society
• NanoBiotechnology in India
• Chile's Biotechnology Society
• FDA Website
• Biotech Research Training
• Biotech News
• Careers in Biotechnology
• Tools and Solutions for biotechnology
• Clinical Research Services
• Biotechnology Companies Listings
• International Clinical Research Services and Corporate Trainings
• Biotechnology Abbreviations and Acronyms
• Biotechnology Glossary / Definitions
• List of Food and Drugs Regulatory Agencies
• Biotechnology: Frequently asked questions
• Arizona Biotech
• Biotechnology News - Biology News Net
• Council for Responsible Genetics
• Trinational Biotechnology Degree: Ecole Supérieure de Biotechnologie de Strasbourg (ESBS)
• FAO Agriculture Departmentand its SOFA report on Agricultural Biotechnologyfocussing on the impacts of "Green" Biotechnology
• Agricultural Biotechnology– A summary for non-specialists of the above FAO report by GreenFacts.
• Department of Biotechnology, Government of India

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biotechnology Wikipedia article Biotechnology.