Biotechnology

We explain what biotechnology is, its history, types and uses. Also, differences between traditional and modern biotechnology.

What is biotechnology?

Biotechnology is the industrial use of biology, that is, the application of principles and knowledge about the functioning of life, to the resolution of daily problems of human beings. Another way of understanding it is that biotechnology It is the science that uses living organisms or their derivatives for technological and industrial purposes.

Biotechnology is based on the knowledge of chemistry, physics, engineering, biology, medicine and veterinary medicine, to use the processes of life as a transformative tool, applied to organic and inorganic compounds and materials. This does not always involve genetic modification, so the two fields should not be confused.

This type of procedures and knowledge constitute an extremely old industry, which in recent times has acquired its greatest historical potential. So created the need for legislation on the matter through international treaties and local laws, to prevent industrial ambition from bringing biological or health problems to humanity or the environment.

See also: Bioethics

History of biotechnology

Modifying the biological course of other species for the benefit of humanity It began at the beginning of civilization with the first agricultural cultures. The domestication of the first animal species (dogs, cats, cows, etc.) and plants (corn, wheat, sorghum, etc.) adapted them to coexist closely with humans.

Thus, humans also had access to numerous substances of animal and plant origin, many of which could, in turn, be modified as desired through the use of certain microorganisms: yeast for bread, bacteria for cheese or drinks. alcoholic. So biotechnology is not exactly new in our history.

However, What is understood today as biotechnology emerged in the mid-20th century with the birth of cellular technologies in the 60s and 70s, especially with regard to the production of pharmacological products.

In this development, the invention of techniques for intervention of the DNA of microorganisms had a special relevance, which allowed them to be used as a biochemical factory, thus obtaining certain proteins or substances for medical use, such as insulins, hormones, etc.

The success of this stage of biotechnology development later allowed the creation of gene therapies and other mechanisms for fighting diseases that exploit the body's own resources, or that allow them to be stopped even before they can develop properly. In this, nanotechnology appears as the future field of development.

At the same time, World agriculture has turned massively to biotechnology as a source of genetically modified seeds, to plant products that are more resistant to pests, with larger fruits and other similar benefits.

This is how transgenic food emerged, which is at the beginning of the 21st century in the eye of the debate regarding its impact on human health and its impoverishing effect on the genetics of cultivated plant species, since technological superseeds benefit from the artificial selection by humans, putting ordinary seeds at risk of extinction.

Types of biotechnology

Biotechnology is classified according to its areas of interest, using a system that assigns each one a specific color:

• Red or medical biotechnology Also called BioMedicine, it consists of obtaining substances and procedures that allow the preservation of human life, curing diseases or preventing them.
• Green or agricultural biotechnology That which has to do with the agricultural sector of the productive chain and that seeks to influence human nutrition, through obtaining more productive, more resistant species or with new additional properties.
• Blue or marine biotechnology It is dedicated to the exploration of the oceans and their diverse ecosystems as a possible source of important biotechnological materials.
• White or industrial biotechnology It is one that is interested in obtaining energy, materials or catalysts that can be used by humans, such as bioreactors, biofuels, etc.
• Gray or ecological biotechnology. Unlike the others, its main objective is the preservation of the environment, through the design and production of solutions for environmental disasters, such as pollution or oil spills, among others.
• Golden biotechnology or computing It constitutes the electronic and computer wing of all these processes, which is linked with computing to design mechanisms for processing information of biological origin.
• Brown or desert biotechnology Like the navy, it understands deserts as important sources of biotechnological resources that can be used by humanity.
• Orange or informational biotechnology It fulfills an informative and pedagogical function, by transmitting in the best possible way the beneficial activities of biotechnology, and also educating about its risks.
• Yellow or nutritional biotechnology That which is dedicated to the food industry, that is, to obtaining healthier, more resistant, nutritious and/or tasty foods, by incorporating elements of biological origin.
• Purple or legal biotechnology It consists of the legal, juridical and ethical branch of biotechnology as a whole, in charge of regulating the activities of the other branches so that they are carried out in an ethical manner.
• Black or war biotechnology The most dangerous of all and the most immoral is that which concerns the development of biological weapons, intended for war or bioterrorism. Its consequences may well be catastrophic and unpredictable.

Importance of biotechnology

Biotechnology has played a vital role in our historical development as a species. It has allowed us to design a world more suited to our desires, which makes our lives easier and longer giving us a huge percentage of control – for better and for worse – over the way biological processes occur around us and within our body.

This does not mean that we are all-powerful, but it does mean that we have been able to solve many of our medical, nutritional, pharmaceutical or consumer needs by manipulating other forms of animal and plant life.

Uses and applications of biotechnology

Some specific uses of biotechnology are:

• Industrial production of food or drugs Through the management of certain species and materials, we can produce substances of biochemical origin that are useful to humanity. For example, using certain fungi known as yeasts, we make bread dough rise; or by placing certain bacteria in the presence of certain fungi, we can make the latter secrete antibiotic substances (in fact, this is how penicillin was accidentally discovered).
• Selective crossing of breeding species Choosing the desired traits to transmit to their offspring, human beings have managed to crossbreed certain domestic species at will, to obtain, for example, fatter cows or those that give more milk, dogs with certain aesthetic traits or gentleness or ferocity. , etc.
• Obtaining raw materials Through the management of certain animal, plant or microorganism species, we can have access to materials that only they are capable of making, as we have done for centuries with the milk of cows or the silk of butterflies, raw material for dairy or textile industry, respectively. The same can be done at a microscopic level with certain types of carbohydrates, useful for pharmaceuticals; or with plant cellulose, useful as raw material for biofuels.
• Genetic improvement or genetic engineering By manipulating the genetic information of microscopic species, we can “program” them to synthesize desired substances on a massive scale, or to transmit some type of coding information to other cells (there are therapies that use viruses as cellular injectors), and we can even design embryos. animals and plants endowed with novel traits that benefit, in our opinion, the species as a whole.

Traditional biotechnology

Traditional biotechnology is that which human beings have carried out since early times, through domestication, selective breeding, controlled crossing and other traditional techniques that modify the manipulated species slowly and gradually, through artificial selection.

Bacterial fermentation techniques to obtain alcoholic beverages are a perfect example of something that the ancient Egyptians already carried out in their time.

modern biotechnology

Modern biotechnology, on the other hand, is that linked to modern science and engineering. It was born thanks to the specialized knowledge of modern biochemistry, genetics, medicine and pharmacology, which require specialized laboratories and techniques very different from the artisanal ones used in ancient times.

Modern biotechnology has a much greater scope, a greater speed of obtaining results and, at the same time, a much greater risk factor for humanity and other species.

Continue with: Biophysics

References

• “Biotechnology” on Wikipedia.
• “What is biotechnology” (video) at Industry University Research Center (INDUNIV) in Puerto Rico.
• “Definition and applications of biotechnology” in the Association of Agricultural Plant Biotechnology (AGRO-BIO).
• “Introduction to biotechnology” by Enrique Iáñez Pareja at the University of Granada (Spain).
• “Biotechnology” in The Encyclopaedia Britannica.