What is biotechnology?
Biotechnology is a branch of science where living things are used for the creation of products or to perform some tasks for human beings. Plants, animals and even micro-organisms like bacteria are used to produce some benefit to mankind. In the medicine and agriculture field industry, biotechnology helps in producing foods, test for diseases and to remove waste. Biotechnology can also be used to solve problems and to help in research. Biotechnology is generally divided into three sub fields – red, white and green biotechnology. Red biotechnology deals with genetically altered microorganisms that are used for producing products like insulin and vaccine for medical use. White biotechnology involves the creation of useful chemicals for the industrial sector through organisms like moulds or yeast. This form of biotechnology is also referred to as grey biotechnology. Green biotechnology, also known as agricultural biotechnology, deals with applications related to agriculture. It is through
Cells and Biological Molecules Biotechnology Industry Facts Market Capitalization, 1994 – 2006 U.S. Biotech Industry Statistics: 1995 – 2006 U.S. Public Companies by Region, 2006 Total Financing, 1998 – 2007 (in billions of U.S. dollars) Biotech Industry Financing Time Line Biotechnology Policy Milestones Technologies and Tools Bioprocessing Technology Recombinant DNA Technology Monoclonal Antibodies Cloning Protein Engineering Biosensors Nanobiotechnology Microarrays From Biotechnology to Biology: Using Biotech Tools to Understand Life Research Applications of Biotechnology Putting the Pieces Together: Omics and Related Tools The Next Step: Using New Knowledge to Develop Products Health Care Applications Diagnostics Therapeutics Personalized Medicine Regenerative Medicine Vaccines Plant-Made Pharmaceuticals Therapeutic Development Overview Agricultural Production Applications Crop Biotechnology Forest Biotechnology Animal Biotechnology Aquaculture Global Area of Transgenic Crops, 1995