Fields in which biotechnology is used

Students who study biosystems engineering learn mainly how to integrate biological and physical sciences with engineering science and design. Graduates may work for companies involved with bioprocessing, bioenviormental engineering, food engineering, and other related areas.

Agricultural Education and Studies Students learn how to enhance production by employing the latest technologies in bioethics, agriculture, global positioning, environmental science, food technology and production agriculture. Graduates prepare for a variety of careers including teaching, extension work, and jobs with government agencies. Agronomy Agronomy is primarily the study of soils, crops, climatology, and other components of our environment.

Students learn to use biotechnology in many ways such as manipulating soil microorganisms and breeding plants. Animal scientists provide services involving animal production and animal products. Students learn how to provide services economically with focus on consumer needs, animal health and environment, and resource conservation. Graduates can also prepare for admission to professional schools such as veterinary medicine. Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology: Biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology provide the basis for much of modern biotechnology.

Students seek to understand life processes by way of chemical and physical principles. Biology: Biology is the study of all aspects of life upon earth. Biologists learn about animals, plants, ecology, molecular biology, physiology, genetics, and evolution. In this section, we highlight the most relevant of each of them.

The benefits of biotechnology are tangible, but at the same time some warn of its possible adverse effects on the environment, health and ethics. The advantages of BIO are as follows:. Skip to main content. You are in Innovation What is biotechnology? Share in Twitter. Share in Facebook.

Whatsapp Whatsapp. Biotechnology and its impact on today's and tomorrow's world Biotechnology is not a new discipline, but it is advancing by leaps and bounds and it has more and more applications in our day-to-day lives: from pharmaceutical development to food production and the treatment of polluting waste.

Carousel of images and videos. Biotechnology uses DNA to develop innovative products and services. The evolution of biotechnology over the last century. Year The first bionic eye is produced in the US giving hope to blind people worldwide.

A group of researchers from the J. Craig Ventere Institute creates the first synthetic cell. A draft of the human genome map is created that locates more than 30, genes. Learn more Biomaterials Some biotechnology companies make new products by researching or chemically modifying biological materials.

Red algae, for example, Learn more Biopharmaceuticals Biopharmaceuticals are drugs that can be used to treat disease. If these drugs are protein-based, they are often produced by finding a Learn more Bioprocessing Bioprocessing is another way to describe biomanufacturing. This area includes the design and development of methods and equipment for Learn more Biotechnology Biotechnology involves using living organisms or substances derived from living organisms, such as DNA or proteins, to make some kind of Learn more Cell culture Cell culture involves growing cells from animals, plants, insects, and fungi in culture.

This is done because it's easier to do Learn more Conservation biology Conservation biology is a job area concerned with monitoring the health and population of wild animals and plants. Learn more Cosmetics Biotechnology has impacted cosmetics in many ways. Cosmetics companies use biotechnology both to discover and manufacture components of Learn more Documentation Many biotechnology products, especially biopharmaceuticals, require extensive tests for safety and effiicacy.

Documentation specialists Learn more Drug discovery Drug discovery is an important area of biotechnology. This process involves screening genes, peptides, proteins, or other substances Learn more Education Biotechnology lab experiments have become a common part of many high school and college curricula. Not only do students use Learn more Environmental monitoring Biotechnology laboratory methods such as Next Generation DNA sequencing and microarrays are increasingly being used to monitor our Learn more Food Safety Our increasingly global food supply has increased the potential spread and harm from food-borne disease.

Biotechnology methods can be Learn more Forensics Forensics technicians analyze samples such as DNA, blood, and other materials, in criminal investigations. What is biotechnology? Agricultural biotechnology. Learn more. Animal biotechnology. Animals are used in many ways in biotechnology. Biofuels such as bio ethanol and biodiesel are blended with petrol and diesel to meet legislation on greenhouse gas emissions. Blending bio fuels into road transport fuel can reduce their carbon impact.

Reducing the carbon footprint by producing aviation fuel from bio-based feedstocks is also heavily in development, with biorefineries being constructed to produce low-carbon alternative fuels to fossil-derived jet fuel.

Such products come either directly from cells, or are made using enzymes taken from cells. In a way, cells are biofactories, with production lines of enzymes workers assembling our desired product. We can either use the whole factory or just specific workers to produce what we want, i. In addition to using them as tools to make biotech products, cells and enzymes can also be biotech products themselves.

For instance: probiotic yogurts and non-soya veggie burgers contain microbial cells; and enzymes are used in washing detergents, food processing, cosmetics and much more. Traditionally, the industrial sugar used for microbial fermentation is extracted from cereal crops, however only a small proportion of the crop is used, as the majority of sugars are inaccessible to traditional processes.

The remaining fraction is known as lignocellulosic biomass and is generally discarded. Development is ongoing to access the sugars locked up in waste-derived feedstocks such as agricultural residues, forestry residues and post consumer waste.