The U.S. National Science and Technology Council defines biotechnology as "biotechnology encompasses a range of technologies that utilize living organisms or cells to produce the products we need, and these
new technologies include recombination of genes, fusion of cells, and some biological manufacturing processes. and a number of biomanufacturing processes.
In fact, humans have a long history of using organisms or cells to produce the products we need, from farming and animal husbandry to provide a steady source of food 10,000 years ago, fermentation to make wine and bread 6,000 years ago, molds to treat wounds 2,000 years ago, smallpox vaccine 1797, and discovery of the antibiotic disc in 1928 to the discovery of the antibiotic disc. In 1928, the antibiotic pannicillin was discovered, and so on.
Since biotechnology has been used for so long, why has it suddenly attracted so much attention in recent years? It is because of our better understanding of the cell, which is the smallest unit of an organism, and the genes that control its hereditary characteristics since the 1950s, as well as the development of recombination and cell fusion technologies in the 1970s. and cell fusion techniques were developed in the 1970s. Because these two technologies allow cells or organisms to produce what we need more efficiently and are
suitable for mass production in industry or agriculture, a new biotechnology industry has emerged since the 1980s.
This new industry, which is now known as "biotechnology," has been developed in the United States since the 1970s, and is now being developed in the United States.
Bill Gates said in 1996, "Biotechnology is going to change the world as much as computer software. The modern biotechnology industry has developed from 1980 to the present day, with applications in biomedical pharmaceuticals, agriculture, environmental protection, food and specialty chemicals. In biomedical pharmaceuticals, 155 biotech drugs or vaccines have been approved by the FDA for the treatment of diabetes, heart disease, cancer and AIDS. In agriculture, recombinant plants such as papaya, tomatoes, corn and soybeans have been introduced to the market, and these recombinant plants are characterized by increased resistance to pests and diseases, and can be used with fewer chemical
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applications
of pesticides.
In addition, in environmental protection, recombinant microorganisms have been used to break down toxic industrial waste and polluted crude oil. In the area of food, fermentation engineering has been utilized to produce health foods such as lactobacilli, reishi, and cordyceps. In specialty chemicals, recombinant enzymes have been used to make medicines or fibers, or in detergents to break down dirt. By 2001, there were about 1,500 biotech companies worldwide, with an annual value
of $30 billion.
Recombination and cell fusion technologies are the cornerstones of modern biotechnology, and in recent years many new technologies and applications have been developed on this basis, such as protein engineering to improve the structure and activity of proteins, bio-nanotechnology to create biosensors, biochips and drug delivery systems, and tissue engineering to utilize the structure and activity of proteins, and bio-nanotechnology to create bio-sensors, bio-chips and drug-delivery systems. Tissue engineering, which uses stem cells to repair damaged organs, and animal replication, which uses nuclear transfer to replicate animals.
The development of biotechnology is aimed at curing diseases, improving the quality of life, providing food that is not in danger of being scarce, and preserving the environment we live in, but the process of this high-tech development
may also cause harm to human beings or to the ecology of the planet if it is not strictly monitored.
Thus, in the process of developing biotechnology, it is also necessary to pay attention to its impact on human beings, morality and ecology
.
Since biotechnology has a wide range of applications and is closely related to our daily lives, it is often reported in newspapers, magazines, and the news media, so it is important to learn about biotechnology as a part of our regular studies.