Biotechnology is a field of applied
biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in
engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring
bioproducts.
Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose.
Modern use of similar terms includes genetic engineering as well as cell- and tissue culture technologies.
The concept encompasses a wide range of
procedures for modifying living organisms according to human purposes —
going back to domestication of animals, cultivation of plants, and
“improvements” to these through breeding programs that employ artificial
selection and hybridization.
The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity defines biotechnology as:
“Any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use.“
“Any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use.“
In other terms: “Application of
scientific and technical advances in life science to develop commercial
products” is biotechnology.
Biotechnology draws on the pure
biological sciences (genetics, microbiology, animal cell culture,
molecular biology, biochemistry, embryology, cell biology) and in many
instances is also dependent on knowledge and methods from outside the
sphere of biology (chemical engineering, bioprocess engineering,
information technology, biorobotics).
Conversely, modern biological sciences
are intimately entwined and dependent on the methods developed through
biotechnology and what is commonly thought of as the life sciences
industry.
