Biotechnology - An Applied Sciences

The concept encompasses a wider range andaddresses biological problems using computational
history of procedures for modifying livingtechniques, and makes the rapid organization and
organisms according to human purposes, goinganalysis of biological data possible. The field may
back to domestication of animals, cultivation ofalso be referred to as computational biology, and
plants and "improvements" to these throughcan be defined as, "conceptualizing biology in
breeding programs that employ artificial selectionterms of molecules and then applying informatics
and hybridization. By comparison to biotechnology,techniques to understand and organize the
bioengineering is generally thought of as a relatedinformation associated with these molecules, on a
field with its emphasis more on mechanical andlarge scale."Bioinformatics plays a key role in
higher systems approaches to interfacing with andvarious areas, such as proteomics and
exploiting living things.genomicsand forms a key component in the
HISTORYbiotechnology and pharmaceutical sector.
Although not normally thought of as- Blue biotechnology is a term that has been used
biotechnology, agriculture clearly fits the broadto describe the marine and aquatic applications of
definition of "using a biological system to makebiotechnology, but its use is relatively rare.
products" such that the cultivation of plants may- Green biotechnology is biotechnology applied to
be viewed as the earliest biotechnologicalagriculture processes. An example would be the
enterprise. Agriculture has been theorized to haveselection and domestication of plants via
become the dominant way of producing foodmicropropagation. Another example is the
since the Neolithic Revolution. The processes anddesigning of transgenic plants to grow under
methods of agriculture have been refined byspecific environments in the presence (or
other mechanical and biological sciences since itsabsence) of chemicals. One hope is that green
inception. Through early biotechnology, farmersbiotechnology might produce more
were able to select the best suited andenvironmentally friendly solutions than traditional
highest-yield crops to produce enough food toindustrial agriculture. An example of this is the
support a growing population. Other uses ofengineering of a plant to express a pesticide,
biotechnology were required as crops and fieldsthereby ending the need of external application of
became increasingly large and difficult to maintain.pesticides. An example of this would be Bt
Specific organisms and organism by-productscorn Whether or not green biotechnology
were used to fertilise restore nitrogen, andproducts such as this are ultimately more
control pests. Throughout the use of agriculture,environmentally friendly is a topic of considerable
farmers have inadvertently altered the geneticsdebate.
of their crops through introducing them to new- Red biotechnology is applied to
environments and breeding them with othermedical processes. Some examples are the
plants—one of the first forms of biotechnology.designing of organisms to produce antibiotics and
Cultures such as those in , Egypt, andthe engineering of genetic cures through genetic
Indiadeveloped the process of brewing beer. It ismanupulation
still done by the same basic method of using- White Biotechnology, also known as industrial
malted grains (containing enzymes) to convertbiotechnology, is biotechnology applied to
starch from grains into sugar and then addingindustrial processes. An example is the designing
specific yeasts to produce beer. In this processof an organism to produce a useful chemical.
the carbohydrates in the grains were brokenAnother example is the using of enzymes as
down into alcohols such as ethanol. Ancient Indiansindustrial catalysts to either produce valuable
also used the juices of the plant Epheda and usedchemicals or destroy hazardous/polluting chemicals.
to call it somaWhite biotechnology tends to consume less in
APPLICATIONSresources than traditional processes used to
Biotechnology has applications in four majorproduce industrial goods.The investment and
industrial areas, including health care (medical), cropeconomic output of all of these types of applied
production and agriculture, non food (industrial)biotechnologies is termed as bioeconomy
uses of crops and other products (e.g.biofuels),GENERAL Bio-Technology is a research oriented
and environmental uses.science, a combination of Biology and Technology.
For example, one application of biotechnology isIt covers a wide variety of subjects like Genetics,
the directed use of organism for theBiochemistry, Microbiology, Immunology, Virology,
manufacture of organic products (examplesChemistry and Engineering and is also concerned
include beer and milk products). Anotherwith many other subjects like Health and 
example is using naturally present bacteria by theMedicine, Agriculture and Animal Husbandry,
mining industry in bioleaching. Biotechnology is alsoCropping system and Crop Management, Ecology,
used to recycle, treat waste, clean up sitesCell Biology, Soil science and Soil Conservation,
contaminated by industrial activitiesBio-statistics, Plant Physiology, Seed Technology
(bioremediation), and also to produce bioloicaletc. Bio-Technology is the use of living things,
weapons.especially cells and bacteria in industrial process.
A series of derived terms have been coined toThere is a great scope in this field as the demand
identify several branches of biotechnology, forfor biotechnologist are growing in india as well as
example:abroad.
- Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary field which