Advantages of latest inventions in biotechnology
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biotechnology harnesses the catalytic power of biological systems, whether by direct use of enzymes or through the use of the intricate biochemistry of whole cells and micro-organisms. Defined in this way, biotechnology encompasses everything from the technology of bread-making to that involved in the production of human insulin from a bacterium induced to take up a non-bacterial gene and produce the protein coded by that gene Its history goes back centuries in such activities as fermentation and brewing of alcohol or bread- and cheese-making. New scientific and technological advances in genetic engineering and other ways of transforming biological organisms in the 1970s revolutionized commercial possibilities, giving rise to a large number of applications with the development of new products and new techniques. The recent technological developments in genetic engineering, enzyme technology, and fermentation technology are often called "the second biotechnological revolution" (or the "new biotechnology"), the first being generally recognized as Pasteur's revolutionary treatment and prevention of human and animal infectious diseases through immunization in the late 1880s.
New biotechnology is typically a science-led technology, in the sense that most of the inventions and process and product innovations have emerged from breakthroughs in scientific and technological research undertaken in universities, research institutes, and industrial R&D departments. It denotes a broad and heterogeneous field of applied sciences and related strategic research, encompassing several distinct technologies utilized in a wide range of industries: agriculture, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and even weaponry are all potential beneficiaries of the advances being made.