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Well Abdul,

Biotechnology is technology based on biology, especially when used in agriculture, food science, and medicine. The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity defines biotechnology as

Any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use.

Biotechnology is often used to refer to genetic engineering technology of the 21st century, however the term encompasses a wider range and history of procedures for modifying biological organisms according to the needs of humanity, going back to the initial modifications of native plants into improved food crops through artificial selection and hybridization. Bioengineering is the science upon which all biotechnological applications are based. With the development of new approaches and modern techniques, traditional biotechnology industries are also acquiring new horizons enabling them to improve the quality of their products and increase the productivity of their systems.

Before 1971, the term, biotechnology, was primarily used in the food processing and agriculture industries. Since the 1970s, it began to be used by the Western scientific establishment to refer to laboratory-based techniques being developed in biological research, such as recombinant DNA or tissue culture-based processes, or horizontal gene transfer in living plants, using vectors such as the Agrobacterium bacteria to transfer DNA into a host organism. In fact, the term should be used in a much broader sense to describe the whole range of methods, both ancient and modern, used to manipulate organic materials to reach the demands of food production. So the term could be defined as, "The application of indigenous and/or scientific knowledge to the management of (parts of) microorganisms, or of cells and tissues of higher organisms, so that these supply goods and services of use to the food industry and its consumers.

Source :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B iotechnology

Answered by: Priyanka C at 12:11 PM on October 10, 2008 | Priyanka C's Q&A | Report Abuse
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well abdul!
The definition of biotechnology varies, but a simple definition is the use of organisms by man. One example of biotechnology is cloning. We have been cloning plants for centuries. Each time a leaf is excised from a violet plant and placed in soil to grow a new plant, cloning has occurred. Today, we are not only doing the physical manipulation at the visual level but also on the molecular level. In modern or molecular biotechnology, we physically select the desired characteristic at the molecular level and add it to the organism's genetic makeup.

Biotechnology is the science for this century. With its advances, we are on the first part of a great journey. Humans have expanded their understanding of the biosphere by journeying into space and exploring the depths of the ocean. We have not only been able to look at the surrounding universe and the depths below with the advancement of tools and techniques, but we also have been able to live there. The advancement tools and techniques is now allowing us to look at the universe of atoms. Biotechnology is utilizing the sciences of biology, chemistry, physics, engineering, computers, and information technology to develop tools and products that hold great promise and concern. Humans have always been "manipulating" organisms to their advantage, but now we are able to manipulate life and materials at the atomic level through nanotechnology.

The two schools of thought about what biotechnology is can elicit much debate. Both use organisms to help man. Whereas modern biotechnology manipulates the genes of organisms and inserts them into other organisms to acquire the desired trait, traditional biotechnology uses the processes of organisms, such as fermentation.
for more inf check http://www.biotechinstitute.org/wha t_is/

Answered by: sanjay at 11:44 AM on October 10, 2008 | sanjay's Q&A | Report Abuse
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u ll hsve to do at least a PHd in biotech to do well .otherwise it is a waste ..ya u can do BE biotech ..but dont think of BSc biotech. ....m a msc biotech dats y telling u....

Answered by: nirmal kumar at 11:09 PM on October 09, 2008 | nirmal kumar's Q&A | Report Abuse
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Abdul Boitechnology is a field of science which works on gene. The practical uses are genetic medicine, and gene therapy(In case of any gene distoration) and in Reasearch and development field it has Genetic engg., mutation,..e.t.c.. I hope this answers your question.

Answered by: Mohammed at 4:26 PM on October 09, 2008 | Mohammed's Q&A | Report Abuse
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Biotechnology in one form or another has flourished since prehistoric times. When the first human beings realized that they could plant their own crops and breed their own animals, they learned to use biotechnology. The discovery that fruit juices fermented into wine, or that milk could be converted into cheese or yogurt, or that beer could be made by fermenting solutions of malt and hops began the study of biotechnology. When the first bakers found that they could make a soft, spongy bread rather than a firm, thin cracker, they were acting as fledgling biotechnologists. The first animal breeders, realizing that different physical traits could be either magnified or lost by mating appropriate pairs of animals, engaged in the manipulations of biotechnology.

What then is biotechnology? The term brings to mind many different things. Some think of developing new types of animals. Others dream of almost unlimited sources of human therapeutic drugs. Still others envision the possibility of growing crops that are more nutritious and naturally pest-resistant to feed a rapidly growing world population. This question elicits almost as many first-thought responses as there are people to whom the question can be posed.

In its purest form, the term "biotechnology" refers to the use of living organisms or their products to modify human health and the human environment. Prehistoric biotechnologists did this as they used yeast cells to raise bread dough and to ferment alcoholic beverages, and bacterial cells to make cheeses and yogurts and as they bred their strong, productive animals to make even stronger and more productive offspring.

Throughout human history, we have learned a great deal about the different organisms that our ancestors used so effectively. The marked increase in our understanding of these organisms and their cell products gains us the ability to control the many functions of various cells and organisms. Using the techniques of gene splicing and recombinant DNA technology, we can now actually combine the genetic elements of two or more living cells. Functioning lengths of DNA can be taken from one organism and placed into the cells of another organism. As a result, for example, we can cause bacterial cells to produce human molecules. Cows can produce more milk for the same amount of feed. And we can synthesize therapeutic molecules that have never before existed.

Answered by: Sandeep at 4:12 PM on October 09, 2008 | Sandeep's Q&A | Report Abuse
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