Biotechnology
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Biotechnology (disambiguation).
A rose plant that began as cells grown in a tissue culture
Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural
sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms,
cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services.[1]
The term biotechnology was first used by Károly Ereky in 1919,[2] to refer to the
production of products from raw materials with the aid of living organisms. The core
principle of biotechnology involves harnessing biological systems and organisms,
such as bacteria, yeast, and plants, to perform specific tasks or produce valuable
substances.
Biotechnology had a significant impact on many areas of society, from medicine to
agriculture to environmental science. One of the key techniques used in
biotechnology is genetic engineering, which allows scientists to modify the genetic
makeup of organisms to achieve desired outcomes. This can involve inserting genes
from one organism into another, creating new traits or modifying existing ones.
Other important techniques used in biotechnology include tissue culture, which
allows researchers to grow cells and tissues in the lab for research and medical
purposes, and fermentation, which is used to produce a wide range of products such
as beer, wine, and cheese.
The applications of biotechnology are diverse and have led to the development of
essential products like life-saving drugs, biofuels, genetically modified crops, and
innovative materials. It has also been used to address environmental challenges,
such as developing biodegradable plastics and using microorganisms to clean up
contaminated sites.
Biotechnology is a rapidly evolving field with significant potential to address pressing
global challenges and improve the quality of life for people around the world;
however, despite its numerous benefits, it also poses ethical and societal challenges,
such as questions around genetic modification and intellectual property rights. As a
result, there is ongoing debate and regulation surrounding the use and application of
biotechnology in various industries and fields.
Definition[edit]
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The concept of biotechnology encompasses a wide range of procedures
for modifying living organisms for human purposes, going back to domestication of
animals, cultivation of the plants, and "improvements" to these through breeding
programs that employ artificial selection and hybridization. Modern usage also
includes genetic engineering, as well as cell and tissue culture technologies.
The American Chemical Society defines biotechnology as the application of
biological organisms, systems, or processes by various industries to learning about
the science of life and the improvement of the value of materials and organisms,
such as pharmaceuticals, crops, and livestock.[3] As per the European Federation of
Biotechnology, biotechnology is the integration of natural science and organisms,
cells, parts thereof, and molecular analogues for products and
services.[4] Biotechnology is based on the basic biological sciences (e.g., molecular
biology, biochemistry, cell biology, embryology, genetics, microbiology) and
conversely provides methods to support and perform basic research in biology.
Biotechnology is the research and development in
the laboratory using bioinformatics for exploration, extraction, exploitation, and
production from any living organisms and any source of biomass by means
of biochemical engineering where high value-added products could be planned
(reproduced by biosynthesis, for example), forecasted, formulated, developed,
manufactured, and marketed for the purpose of sustainable operations (for the return
from bottomless initial investment on R & D) and gaining durable patents rights (for
exclusives rights for sales, and prior to this to receive national and international
approval from the results on animal experiment and human experiment, especially
on the pharmaceutical branch of biotechnology to prevent any undetected side-
effects or safety concerns by using the products).[5][6][7] The utilization of biological
processes, organisms or systems to produce products that are anticipated to
improve human lives is termed biotechnology.[8]
By contrast, bioengineering is generally thought of as a related field that more
heavily emphasizes higher systems approaches (not necessarily the altering or using
of biological materials directly) for interfacing with and utilizing living things.
Bioengineering is the application of the principles of engineering and natural
sciences to tissues, cells, and molecules. This can be considered as the use of
knowledge from working with and manipulating biology to achieve a result that can
improve functions in plants and animals.[9] Relatedly, biomedical engineering is an
overlapping field that often draws upon and applies biotechnology (by various
definitions), especially in certain sub-fields of biomedical or chemical
engineering such as tissue engineering, biopharmaceutical engineering, and genetic
engineering.
History[edit]
Brewing was an early application of biotechnology.
Main article: History of biotechnology
Although not normally what first comes to mind, many forms of human-
derived agriculture clearly fit the broad definition of "utilizing a biotechnological
system to make products". Indeed, the cultivation of plants may be viewed as the
earliest biotechnological enterprise.
Agriculture has been theorized to have become the dominant way of producing food
since the Neolithic Revolution. Through early biotechnology, the earliest farmers
selected and bred the best-suited crops (e.g., those with the highest yields) to
produce enough food to support a growing population. As crops and fields became
increasingly large and difficult to maintain, it was discovered that specific organisms
and their by-products could effectively fertilize, restore nitrogen, and control pests.
Throughout the history of agriculture, farmers have inadvertently altered the genetics
of their crops through introducing them to new environments and breeding them with
other plants — one of the first forms of biotechnology.[clarification needed]
These processes also were included in early fermentation of beer.[10] These
processes were introduced in early Mesopotamia, Egypt, China and India, and still
use the same basic biological methods. In brewing, malted grains
(containing enzymes) convert starch from grains into sugar and then adding
specific yeasts to produce beer. In this process, carbohydrates in the grains broke
down into alcohols, such as ethanol. Later, other cultures produced the process
of lactic acid fermentation, which produced other preserved foods, such as soy
sauce. Fermentation was also used in this time period to produce leavened bread.
Although the process of fermentation was not fully understood until Louis Pasteur's
work in 1857, it is still the first use of biotechnology to convert a food source into
another form.
Before the time of Charles Darwin's work and life, animal and plant scientists had
already used selective breeding. Darwin added to that body of work with his scientific
observations about the ability of science to change species. These accounts
contributed to Darwin's theory of natural selection.[11]
For thousands of years, humans have used selective breeding to improve the
production of crops and livestock to use them for food. In selective breeding,
organisms with desirable characteristics are mated to produce offspring with the
same characteristics. For example, this technique was used with corn to produce the
largest and sweetest crops.[12]
In the early twentieth century scientists gained a greater understanding
of microbiology and explored ways of manufacturing specific products. In
1917, Chaim Weizmann first used a pure microbiological culture in an industrial
process, that of manufacturing corn starch using Clostridium acetobutylicum, to
produce acetone, which the United Kingdom desperately needed to
manufacture explosives during World War I.[13]
Biotechnology has also led to the development of antibiotics. In 1928, Alexander
Fleming discovered the mold Penicillium. His work led to the purification of the
antibiotic compound formed by the mold by Howard Florey, Ernst Boris Chain and
Norman Heatley – to form what we today know as penicillin. In 1940, penicillin
became available for medicinal use to treat bacterial infections in humans.[12]
The field of modern biotechnology is generally thought of as having been born in
1971 when Paul Berg's (Stanford) experiments in gene splicing had early
success. Herbert W. Boyer (Univ. Calif. at San Francisco) and Stanley N.
Cohen (Stanford) significantly advanced the new technology in 1972 by transferring
genetic material into a bacterium, such that the imported material would be
reproduced. The commercial viability of a biotechnology industry was significantly
expanded on June 16, 1980, when the United States Supreme Court ruled that
a genetically modified microorganism could be patented in the case of Diamond v.
Chakrabarty.[14] Indian-born Ananda Chakrabarty, working for General Electric, had
modified a bacterium (of the genus Pseudomonas) capable of breaking down crude
oil, which he proposed to use in treating oil spills. (Chakrabarty's work did not involve
gene manipulation but rather the transfer of entire organelles between strains of
the Pseudomonas bacterium).
The MOSFET (metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor) was invented
by Mohamed M. Atalla and Dawon Kahng in 1959.[15] Two years later, Leland C.
Clark and Champ Lyons invented the first biosensor in 1962.[16][17] Biosensor
MOSFETs were later developed, and they have since been widely used to
measure physical, chemical, biological and environmental parameters.[18] The first
BioFET was the ion-sensitive field-effect transistor (ISFET), invented by Piet
Bergveld in 1970.[19][20] It is a special type of MOSFET,[18] where the metal gate is
replaced by an ion-sensitive membrane, electrolyte solution and reference
electrode.[21] The ISFET is widely used in biomedical applications, such as the
detection of DNA hybridization, biomarker detection
from blood, antibody detection, glucose measurement, pH sensing, and genetic
technology.[21]
By the mid-1980s, other BioFETs had been developed, including the gas sensor FET
(GASFET), pressure sensor FET (PRESSFET), chemical field-effect
transistor (ChemFET), reference ISFET (REFET), enzyme-modified FET (ENFET)
and immunologically modified FET (IMFET).[18] By the early 2000s, BioFETs such as
the DNA field-effect transistor (DNAFET), gene-modified FET (GenFET) and cell-
potential BioFET (CPFET) had been developed.[21]
A factor influencing the biotechnology sector's success is improved intellectual
property rights legislation—and enforcement—worldwide, as well as strengthened
demand for medical and pharmaceutical products to cope with an ageing, and
ailing, U.S. population.[22]
Rising demand for biofuels is expected to be good news for the biotechnology
sector, with the Department of Energy estimating ethanol usage could reduce U.S.
petroleum-derived fuel consumption by up to 30% by 2030. The biotechnology sector
has allowed the U.S. farming industry to rapidly increase its supply of corn and
soybeans—the main inputs into biofuels—by developing genetically modified seeds
that resist pests and drought. By increasing farm productivity, biotechnology boosts
biofuel production.[23]
