Biotechnology

Biotechnology refers to the use of living organisms or the products of these organisms to modify human health and the human environment. It is revolutionizing the way we manufacture products and view the relationships of all living things.

Although biotechnology is considered a rather new science, the processes used today have their basis in nature. These processes are used to transfer genetic materials from one cell into another by using a common bacterium. This transfer of DNA permits variance of one or several traits and confers a new property on an organism. For example, tomato plants have been made resistant to Tobacco Mosaic Virus, which can cause large crop loss.


Biotechnology has the potential to affect a number of fields and issues, including agriculture, food processing, health care, forensics, energy production, and the environment. Current applications include diagnostics, the production of vaccines and pharmaceuticals, and improved crop and livestock the life sciences such as biotechnology, medicine, biomedical research, bioinformatics, etc.

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