BIOTECHNOLOGY ADVANCES

BIOTECHNOLOGY ADVANCES AND APPLICATIONS

Biotechnology is technology based on biology - biotechnology harnesses cellular and biomolecular processes to develop technologies and products that help improve our lives and the health of our planet. The biological processes of microorganisms make useful food products, such as bread and cheese, and to preserve dairy products.

Modern biotechnology provides breakthrough products for rare diseases, reduce our environmental footprint, feed the hungry, use less and cleaner energy, and have safer, cleaner and more efficient industrial manufacturing processes.

Currently, there are more than 250 biotechnology health care products and vaccines available to patients, many for previously untreatable diseases. More than 13.3 million farmers around the world use agricultural biotechnology to increase yields, prevent damage from insects and pests and reduce farming's impact on the environment.  Biorefineries are being built and refine technologies to produce biofuels and chemicals from renewable biomass, which can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Recent advances in biotechnology are

Ø  Heal The World by Reducing rates of infectious disease, Saving millions of children's lives  Changing the odds of serious, life-threatening conditions affecting millions around the world, treatments to individuals to minimize health risks and side effects.

Ø  Fuel the World  by Improving manufacturing process efficiency to save 50% or more on operating costs, Using biofuels to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 52% or more, Decreasing water usage and waste generation.

Ø  Feed the World by Generating higher crop yields with fewer inputs, Developing crops with enhanced nutrition profiles that solve vitamin and nutrient deficiencies,  Producing foods free of allergens and toxins such as mycotoxin , and improving food and crop oil content to help improve cardiovascular health.

Biotechnology has applications in health care (medical), crop production and agriculture, non food (industrial) uses of crops and other products (e.g. biodegradable plastics, vegetable oil, biofuels), and environmental uses.  Biotechnology is also used to recycle, treat waste, cleanup sites contaminated by industrial activities (bioremediation), and also to produce biological weapons.

 Branches of biotechnology:

Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary field using computational techniques, and makes the rapid analysis of biological data. Bioinformatics plays a key role in various areas, such as functional genomics, structural genomics, and proteomics, and forms a key component in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sector.

Blue biotechnology is a term that has been used to describe the marine and aquatic applications of biotechnology, but its use is relatively rare.

Green biotechnology is biotechnology applied to agricultural processes. Designing of transgenic plants to grow under specific environments in the presence (or absence) of chemicals. The engineering of a plant to express a pesticide, thereby ending the need of external application of pesticides. An example of this would be Bt corn.

Red biotechnology is applied to medical processes. Some examples are the designing of organisms to produce antibiotics

White biotechnology also known as industrial biotechnology, is biotechnology applied to industrial processes. The designing of an organism to produce useful chemical. Using of enzymes as industrial catalysts to either produce valuable chemicals or destroy hazardous/polluting chemicals.