Biotechnology

Biotechnology is essentially the product of interaction between the biological sciences and technology -- an applied branch of biology that has been broadly defined as the development and utilisation of biological forms, products or processes for obtaining maximum benefit to humankind and other forms of life. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, 1981) defined it more precisely as the application of scientific and engineering principles to the processing of materials by biological agents, to provide goods and services for human welfare. A 'biological agent' here means plant and animal cells, microorganisms, enzymes, or their products. Biotechnology draws on microbiology, genetics, biochemistry, chemical engineering, mathematics, statistics, computing and industrial-process knowledge all at once. The word itself was first used by Karl Ereky in 1919, to describe a process for large-scale production of pigs.

The history of biotechnology is as old as human civilisation, and its growth can be split into two broad phases. Traditional (old) biotechnology was based on fermentation using microorganisms, as in making curd, ghee, soma, vinegar, yogurt and cheese, and in wine-making -- it was practised as an art of the kitchen in Indian households for centuries, long before anyone understood the mechanism of the process or the organisms responsible for it. Only over time did chemists, biochemists and microbiologists work out both the process and the nature of the microbes causing it.

Modern (new) biotechnology began during the 1970s, when a new technique called recombinant DNA (rDNA) technology was developed, and then firmly established by Stanley Cohen and Herbert Boyer in 1973. This technique permits scientists to change or modify heritable genetic material to obtain new, specific products, and its arrival changed the field's outlook completely. Modern biotechnology is essentially the combination of biology and production technology built on genetic engineering.

Two features separate modern biotechnology from classical/old biotechnology: (i) the capability of science to deliberately change genetic material for new, specific products, through rDNA technology, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), microarrays, cell culture and cell fusion, and bioprocessing; and (ii) the ownership of the technology itself, and its socio-political impact. As a result, conventional pharmaceutical, agro and food industries have all begun focusing on producing biotechnology-based products.