Introduction

Biotechnology, in the broadest sense, is the science of applying biological processes for a practical purpose - the development and use of biological processes, organisms and systems for the benefit of humankind and other forms of life. Karl Ereky, a Hungarian engineer, coined the term itself in 1919, but the definition has since widened well beyond his original coinage, to cover any process in which whole organisms, tissues, cells, organelles, or even an isolated molecule such as an enzyme, are used to convert a biological or other raw material into something of greater value.