What is Biotechnology ? – Access Excellence
Posted: May 20, 2015 at 3:52 pm
Pamela Peters, from Biotechnology: A Guide To Genetic Engineering. Wm. C. Brown Publishers, Inc., 1993.
Biotechnology in one form or another has flourished since prehistoric times. When the first human beings realized that they could plant their own crops and breed their own animals, they learned to use biotechnology. The discovery that fruit juices fermented into wine, or that milk could be converted into cheese or yogurt, or that beer could be made by fermenting solutions of malt and hops began the study of biotechnology. When the first bakers found that they could make a soft, spongy bread rather than a firm, thin cracker, they were acting as fledgling biotechnologists. The first animal breeders, realizing that different physical traits could be either magnified or lost by mating appropriate pairs of animals, engaged in the manipulations of biotechnology.
What then is biotechnology? The term brings to mind many different things. Some think of developing new types of animals. Others dream of almost unlimited sources of human therapeutic drugs. Still others envision the possibility of growing crops that are more nutritious and naturally pest-resistant to feed a rapidly growing world population. This question elicits almost as many first-thought responses as there are people to whom the question can be posed.
In its purest form, the term "biotechnology" refers to the use of living organisms or their products to modify human health and the human environment. Prehistoric biotechnologists did this as they used yeast cells to raise bread dough and to ferment alcoholic beverages, and bacterial cells to make cheeses and yogurts and as they bred their strong, productive animals to make even stronger and more productive offspring.
Throughout human history, we have learned a great deal about the different organisms that our ancestors used so effectively. The marked increase in our understanding of these organisms and their cell products gains us the ability to control the many functions of various cells and organisms. Using the techniques of gene splicing and recombinant DNA technology, we can now actually combine the genetic elements of two or more living cells. Functioning lengths of DNA can be taken from one organism and placed into the cells of another organism. As a result, for example, we can cause bacterial cells to produce human molecules. Cows can produce more milk for the same amount of feed. And we can synthesize therapeutic molecules that have never before existed.
Go to next story: Where Did Biotechnology Begin?
Return to About Biotech directory
Read the original here:
What is Biotechnology ? - Access Excellence
- Biotechnology for Biofuels | Home page - May 7th, 2016
- Current Opinion in Biotechnology - Journal - Elsevier - May 7th, 2016
- Best Master's Degrees in Biotechnology 2016 - May 7th, 2016
- Home | Master of Science in Biotechnology | Northwestern's ... - May 7th, 2016
- Biotechnology - University of WisconsinRiver Falls - May 7th, 2016
- Biotechnology - Shoreline Community College - May 7th, 2016
- Biotechnology, Undergraduate Programs, SUNY-ESF - May 7th, 2016
- Biotechnology - Wikipedia for Schools - May 7th, 2016
- Biotechnology News -- ScienceDaily - May 7th, 2016
- Biotechnology | Define Biotechnology at Dictionary.com - May 7th, 2016
- Elsevier Current Opinion - Current Opinion in Biotechnology - May 7th, 2016
- Careers in Biotechnology - List of various options - May 7th, 2016
- Biotechnology Conferences| Industrial Biotechnology Events ... - May 7th, 2016
- UAH - College of Science - Departments & Programs - Biotechnology - May 7th, 2016
- USDA APHIS | Biotechnology Regulatory Services (BRS) - May 7th, 2016
- Biotechnology Jobs Hundreds of Jobs in Biotechnology in the ... - May 7th, 2016
- Palm Beach State - Biotechnology - May 7th, 2016
- Biotechnology - The New York Times - May 7th, 2016
- Master of Science in Biotechnology | Advanced Academic ... - October 10th, 2015
- What is Biotechnology? | North Carolina Biotech Center - October 10th, 2015
- Biotechnology - Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana - October 10th, 2015
- Bachelor's Degree in Biotechnology | UMUC - October 10th, 2015
- Biotechnology - News - Times Topics - The New York Times - October 10th, 2015
- Biotechnology - American Chemical Society - October 10th, 2015
- Biotechnology - Harvard University - October 10th, 2015
- Biotechnology - Science Tracer Bullet - October 10th, 2015
- Biotechnology Jobs on CareerBuilder.com - October 10th, 2015
- Biotechnology News - Biology News - Phys.org - News and ... - October 10th, 2015
- Home - Biotechnology Programs - October 10th, 2015
- Biotechnology - Biomedical - Industrial Enzymes - October 10th, 2015
- Biotechnology - Center for Science in the Public Interest - October 10th, 2015
- Salt Lake Community College - Biotechnology - October 10th, 2015
- What is Biotechnology? - September 3rd, 2015
- What is biotechnology? - Definition from WhatIs.com - August 21st, 2015
- Biotechnology | Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (Amrita University) - August 21st, 2015
- History of biotechnology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - August 18th, 2015
- Portal:Biotechnology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - August 8th, 2015
- Biotechnology Careers in India : How to become a ... - July 12th, 2015
- Biotechnology - July 12th, 2015
- Top 10 biotech companies and Top 100 biotechnology places ... - July 5th, 2015
- National Center for Biotechnology Information - Wikipedia ... - July 4th, 2015
- Role of Bacteria in Environment - Biotechnology Forums - June 27th, 2015
- biotechnology | Britannica.com - June 11th, 2015
- Biotechnology Salaries | Salary.com - June 2nd, 2015
- Marx Biotechnology A disruptive technology that saves ... - May 28th, 2015
- What is Biotechnology? | BIO - May 20th, 2015
- Biotechnology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - May 5th, 2015