Biotechnology
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The structure of insulin
Geleta is
technology based on
biology, especially when used in
agriculture,
food science, and
medicine. The
United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity has come up with one of many definitions of biotechnology:
[1]
- "Biotechnology means any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use."
Before the 1970s, the term,
biotechnology, was primarily used in the
food processing and
agriculture industries. Since the 1970s, it began to be used by the Western scientific establishment to refer to laboratory-based techniques being developed in biological research, such as
recombinant DNA or
tissue culture-based processes. In fact, the term should be used in a much broader sense to describe the whole range of methods, both ancient and modern, used to manipulate
organic matter to meet human needs. So the term can be defined as, "The application of indigenous and/or scientific knowledge to the management of (parts of) microorganisms, or of cells and tissues of higher organisms, so that these supply goods and services of use to human beings.
[2]
There has been a great deal of talk - and money - poured into biotechnology with the hope that miracle drugs will appear. While there do seem to be a small number of efficacious drugs, in general the biotech revolution has not happened in the pharmaceutical sector. However, recent progress with
monoclonal antibody based drugs, such as
Genentech's
Avastin (tm) suggest that biotech may finally have found a role in pharmaceutical sales.
Biotechnology combines disciplines like genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry, embryology and cell biology, which are in turn linked to practical disciplines like chemical engineering, information technology, and robotics.
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