Biotechnology is the branch of Biology that develops technologies from living organisms, or raw material from them, based on biomolecular and cellular processes, to create or modify products and solve problems in society.
Examples of products and methods created from applied biological sciences are:
- Vaccines;
- Antibiotics;
- Cloning;
- Transgenics;
- In vitro fertilization.
Types of Biotechnology
To facilitate identification, Biotechnology is classified into 10 colors according to the area of operation.
- red biotechnology: technologies developed for medicine and human health.
- white biotechnology: technologies to improve industrial processes.
- green biotechnology: technologies for agriculture.
- blue biotechnology: technologies for the use of marine resources.
- Yellow Biotechnology: technologies for nutrition and food production.
- gray biotechnology: technologies for the protection and restoration of the environment.
- brown biotechnology: technologies for soil treatment.
- golden biotechnology: technologies for bioinformatics and nanobiotechnology.
- purple biotechnology: technologies for intellectual property and biosafety.
- black biotechnology: technologies used as biological weapons.
Importance of Biotechnology
Although human beings have been using biotechnology for thousands of years, using, for example, microorganisms to make bread, drinks and cheeses, knowledge in various scientific areas revolutionized the way of manipulating organisms in order to obtain certain products and Law Suit.
The development of biotechnology, with the support of Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Genetics, Engineering and Informatics, among other areas, is important for:
- Prevent diseases, reducing severity and fatality;
- Diagnose diseases early and save lives;
- Decrease costs, simplify and accelerate industrial production;
- Create plants and inputs with desirable characteristics to increase agricultural yield.
It is worth noting that these examples are related to the areas of greatest development in Biotechnology, but their importance is not restricted to just that.
Biotechnology Applications
The most important applications of biotechnology are related to the field of medicine, in addition to agriculture and food production, and also in the environment.
in medicine:
- Production of insulin, drugs and vaccines;
- Manipulation of animals, such as pigs, to use organs in transplants;
- Antibody production in the laboratory for patients with impaired immune system;
- Gene therapy for the treatment of diseases such as cancer, neurological and cardiovascular, whose conventional treatments are not efficient;
- Stem cell research for therapeutic purposes.
In the farming:
- Production of inputs, such as: fertilizers, seeds and pesticides;
- Plant genetic improvement;
- Food processing: transgenic food
in the environment:
- Bioremediation: depending on the type of contamination and environmental conditions, different techniques are used to reduce or eliminate contamination in the environment;
- Bioconversion of waste from agriculture;
- Production of biofuels from living organisms or plant residues;
- Biodegradable plastic production from microalgae.
Learn more about Bioremediation.
History of Biotechnology
In antiquity, over 4000 years ago, techniques for manipulating living beings were already used to obtain certain results; for example, to make wine or bread, where the key is fermentation carried out by microorganisms, yeasts.
Beginning of Microbiology
With the development of the various scientific areas, it was possible to understand how the processes took place. At the end of the 19th century, Louis Pasteur's microbiological studies led him to discover fermentation in his experiments.
DNA Molecule Discovery
With that, people stopped believing in spontaneous generation and the attention turned to the study of microorganisms and cell theory.
Scientists James Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1962 for describing the structure of the DNA molecule in the year 1953 in the magazine nature.
The model presented by the pair was based on information from Erwin Chargaff on nitrogen bases using the chromatography technique and in the X-ray diffraction images obtained by Rosalind Franklin.
Genetic Engineering and Recombinant DNA
The studies went further and in 1978, 3 researchers were again awarded the Nobel Prize for isolating restriction enzymes, the foundation for the recombinant DNA technique.
Read about spontaneous generation at Origin of life.
Biotechnology in Medicine
Biological Research Laboratory.
The initial goals of modern biotechnology were focused on human and animal health issues, with the use of microorganisms to manufacture medicines.
However, the techniques have diversified a lot and currently there are many application possibilities, both within medicine and in other areas.
It is noteworthy that research began to be developed in the laboratories of universities and public research centers, however, currently those who dominate the research and the biotechnology market are private companies, large pharmaceutical and agrochemical multinationals, so the values and objectives are different.
Applications of Genetic Engineering
There are many biotechnologies used in the health field, which is one of the biggest areas of application of these techniques in Brazil.
Animal organs are used for transplants, insulin production and vaccines through the recombinant DNA technique, among others for the production of drugs, hormones and antibodies.
Very controversial are the approaches related to cloning, which involves ethical issues.
Likewise, research has continued and is applied to reproductive cloning, in cases of infertility or to prevent future illnesses, and therapeutic cloning, which points to the treatment of degenerative diseases using stem cells, as an advantage of the method.
Also read about gene therapy.
Biotechnology in Agriculture
Plant tissue culture.
In the agriculture and food sector are the oldest uses of biotechnology, for example, when the being crosses between plant species to obtain other varieties or improve the results of harvest.
"Green Revolution"
In the second half of the 20th century, a model developed mainly in the USA, became internationalized through the so-called “green revolution”.
In Brazil, from the 1960s onwards, following the molds of the "green revolution", transformations began to take place in the rural environment, whose objectives were: to modernize the sector agricultural, increase the supply of food and products for export, and also free up labor to be used by the sector urban-industrial.
Imported technologies that were developed for temperate climates and not for tropical ecosystems, where the soils are very different and there is greater biodiversity, such as the Brazil.
Genetically Modified (GMO) and Transgenic Organisms
The production of transgenics is a reality and the main modified foods are corn, soy and wheat.
THE Soy, for example, is present in most industrialized foods in various forms, it is one of the main transgenic foods and this information is not always correctly passed on to the consumer.
Environmental Biotechnology
The use of environmental biotechnologies are ways to reverse a situation created by human beings and which is growing worldwide, the production of waste from various activities human beings.
It is a way of using controlled natural processes to improve the condition of polluted ecosystems or to create biodegradable solutions that avoid pollution.
Thus, living beings are used: bacteria, algae, plants, among others, to carry out processes such as fermentation, aerobic and anaerobic respiration and control the pollution of a particular environment.
Another interesting application of biotechnology in the environmental area is the reuse of waste agricultural (such as sugarcane bagasse), or solid effluents (sewage) for the production of energy and biofuels.
Advantage or Disadvantage?
Many of the applications of biotechnology can be beneficial to humanity, but they generate controversies regarding the consequences on human and animal health, environmental impacts and society. What is certain is that still not known for sure the long-term effects.
Benefits of Biotechnology
- Increased food production, mainly motivated by the possibility of ending hunger in the world;
- Possibility of obtaining more nutritious foods with medicinal properties;
- Therapeutic techniques for diseases that have no cure yet, such as cancer, or whose treatments are not as effective;
- Production of drugs, in addition to hormones, antibodies and insulin;
- Use of bioremediation to control and eliminate environmental contamination;
- Production of biodegradable products to reduce environmental pollution;
Negative Impacts
- Intensive use of pesticides and inorganic fertilizers;
- Interference in the balance of nature;
- Creation of genetically modified (infertile) seeds;
- "Genetic pollution", since it is not possible to control the effects of the spread of genetically modified organisms in the environment;
- Transgenic foods can cause allergies, among other harm.
- Ethical issues related to cloning living beings;
- The production of stem cells produces cellular stress that can lead to premature aging, among others;
