What You Should Know About Biotechnology

Biotechnology can solve future problems like food and water insecurity that impede national development.

FREMONT, CA: Biotechnology is a branch of science that develops or produces products using biological processes, living organisms, or parts of them. Brewing beer and baking bread are two processes that come under the category of biotechnology.

With the advent of genetic engineering in the 1970s, research in biotechnology (and other related fields like medicine, genetics, and so on) grew and progressed rapidly due to the new capabilities to modify the organisms' genetic material (DNA).

Biotechnology uses genetically modified bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals to produce biopharmaceuticals and biologicals on a large scale. Therapeutics, genetically modified crops for agriculture, processed food, bioremediation, waste management, and energy production are examples of biotechnology applications.

Agriculture

The use of genetically engineered crops as an alternative to traditional farming may be a viable option. It's a different approach to conventional agriculture.

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are plants, bacteria, fungi, and animals whose genes have been manipulated. GM plants have shown to be beneficial in a variety of ways. Crops that have been genetically modified have been more resistant to abiotic stress, have reduced the need for chemical pesticides (pest-resistant crops), and have helped minimize post-harvest losses.

Medicine

In the field of healthcare, recombinant DNA technological processes have had a considerable effect. It makes it possible to mass-produce safer and more reliable therapeutic drugs. In contrast to analogous products isolated from non-human sources, recombinant therapeutics do not cause unnecessary immunological responses.

Transgenic Animals

Transgenic animals are the ones who have had their DNA manipulated to carry and express an extra (foreign) gene. Transgenic rats, rabbits, pigs, sheep, and fish have all been developed, with mice accounting for over 95 percent of all transgenic animals. They are helpful in a variety of ways.

Biotechnology 

The Department of Biotechnology is in control of the majority of biotechnology-related programs. The Ministry of Science and Technology is in charge of it, and it has two main goals.  Firstly, to provide services in research, infrastructure, human resource development, biotechnology popularization, industry promotion, and the creation of centers of excellence. Secondly, to implement biosafety regulations for genetically modified organisms, recombinant DNA products, and biotechnology-based initiatives for societal benefits.

See Also: Top BioTech Consulting/Service Companies