What Is Biotechnology ?

Biotechnology – Redefining equations
Imagine a future where human civilization will not have any fears from deadly diseases of AIDS, SCID and cancer, where our cities will be free of any kind of pollution and where we can travel distances of thousands of Km in just a few seconds. Well as this is rubbish and just an art of science fiction, with the technologies available to us these days. To make such a thing possible we need to refine our own rules, regulations and technologies. Various technologies (including biotechnology) are developing day by day. But till now when we listen the term biotechnology, few conventional words strike to our minds like fermentation, genetic engineering, biochemistry, microbiology, plant tissue culturing and off course the lengthy research papers.

But the chapter of biotechnology does not include these topics only. Biotechnology itself is not a technique. It took birth due to the demands of modern life, si it must satisfy the needs of modern era, only then it can be seen as successful science.

BIOTECHNOLOGY- A worm
Biotechnology can be seen as a worm having several legs and its each leg is growing. These legs are the new advanced technologies like biomechanics, biophysics, bioenergy, nanobiotechnology, bioinformatics, bioremediation, probiotics, bioindustries (bioleaching, biotextiles etc).

Just adding the term “BIO” as a prefix is not the advancement of technique. The advancements come at the basic levels of established technologies. The basic problems which human civilization is facing these days are-

Redefined biotechnology has answers to all these problems.
Redefining – Population
Exploding population is the biggest problem in front of developing human civilization. Population is the major cause of other problems like pollution, poverty, hunger, diseases etc. we have two solutions for this problem- first is to leave earth and explore space for a new place3 in the universe and second one is to maintain the growth rate of human population. The second strategy is more social issue and less technical.
For second option- a new technique called drug targeting can be used, in this approach we will supply drugs that will target human sexual organs and makes them sterile. This can be simply done by supplying these drug probes in the diets, after a particular legal age. But this approach comes under heavy ethical disputes. So we can see our first approach to be more promising i.e. exploring space. For this one we have two problems-

1. Reaching new planets.
2. To stay alive in space.
For solving these problems techniques of biomechanics and bioenergy are coming forward. Biomechanics helps us to understand the behavior of human body and functioning of cells and tissues in space.
Bioenergy is providing a green fuel which is inexpensive, highly combustible and non-polluting. For example- hydrogen fuel, the chemical extraction of hydrogen fuel is very tedious but a new method has been developed by, Weizmen institute of biosciences. In this technique zinc oxide is used. With the help of concentrated sunlight, ore is heated to about 12000C in a solar reactor. Ore gets splitted, release oxygen and produce gaseous zinc, which is then condensed into powder. It is then reacted with water and other biological sources containing hydrogen, which will give us hydrogen fuel. Zinc oxide can be then recycled.
Biophysics- it is defined as multidisciplinary science in which we apply the methods and theories of physics to solve the questions of biology. In biophysics those questions entertained which are similar as in biochemistry but here they are asked at molecular levels.

Biomechanics- biomechanics can be simply defined as the analysis and research of the living mechanics or it can be simply said as the application of the principals of engineering to the biologicsl systems. So in biomechnaics principals of the thermodynamics, quantal mechanics and fluid mechanics are used and cells, tisues etc considered as mechanical entities to develop a proper understanding regarding their functioning, So that we can make possible manipulations in organs.

Redefining- Pollution

Today clean air is not less then a dream and situation is getting more and more tragic in case of pollution because no technology is taking responsibility to fight with the disaster excluding one i.e. biotechnology. A new branch called bioremediation is coming forward; in this branch we use biological agents to remove non-degradable pollutants from the atmosphere like xenobiotics. Super bug (Pseudomonas. putida) is an application product of bioremediation used to treat oil-spills.
Probiotics- These are supplements in diet which contain beneficial yeasts of bacteria. According to the most popular definition probiotics are the live microbes which are beneficial in terms of health for the host when provided in specified doses or amounts. The probiotics are the easily available and most nutritional food in the expanding world. For example – LAB i.e. lactic acid bacteria, LAB is able to covert carbohydrates and sugars into lactic acid. This organism has great uses in food and fermentation industries. It is widely used to produce a sour taste in food products and the presence of lactic acid in food products increases the overall pH value which retards the growth of other spoilage organisms. LAB also decreases cholesterol levels in blood.
Redefining- diseases
This is the main work of biotechnology where most of its branches need to collaborate. Diseases can be classified into two types- lethal and non- lethal.
Biomechanics helps us to make setting between metal organs with human body so that human beings get rid of abnormalities or dis-functioning of organs. Other lethal diseases like AIDS and cancer can also be controlled completely in near future by nanomedicines.
Nanomedicine
Drugs can not reach many parts inside the human body. So nanodevices have been constructed, making drug delivery more effective and less painful. For example, pancreatic cells are encapsulated into nanoparticles that are sent into the blood stream where they continue to secrete insulin without being attacked by antibodies.

In cells effected by cancer, a self-regulation mechanism goes silent. Such cells are destroyed by apoptosis, but if the mechanism of apoptosis goes silent. Then we can use nanopulses which lead changing in structures within the cells and trigger the cell to commit suicide by activating the needed enzymes. For example- a nanoparticle packed with the gene Raf-1, forces blood vessel cells to destroy themselves.
The beauty of the gene is that it destroys only newly formed blood vessels and not the established ones. Moreover, it is a nanoparticle and not a virus; there is less chance of it being rejected by the human immune system.
Redefine- Social Problems
Once technical problems solved social problems will get settled automatically. For example- lack of money will be solved due to promotion of new industries to produce and utilize new substances of new technologies. Hunger can be reduced by improving crops by transgenic and genetic engineering. Moreover, probiotics is here.
Bioinformatics and bio-communication
As more and more research is going on in these advanced technologies, their data needs to be assimilated and stored in a proper manner; this is the work of bioinformatics. Bio-communication is a branch of nanobiotechnology, in which we use carbon nanotubes and other nano materials to replace silicon and semiconductors from microprocessors.
So as a conclusion we can say that biotechnology is a new color of world which will keep our civilization alive for trillions of years. So, biotechnology is a rebel because it is breaking the rules of nature by making a civilization immortal.

Do you want to be a part of redefinition?

 Print This Page