Biotechnology uses living organisms or their components to develop useful products. It involves techniques from various scientific fields including engineering, computer science, and molecular biology. Some key applications of biotechnology are improving crops and livestock, developing pharmaceuticals and diagnostics, and environmental restoration. Biotechnology encompasses both modifying organisms through genetic engineering as well as selecting naturally occurring genetic variations.

1. Introduction to
Biotechnology
Dr. S. Rubanraj
Dept of Mathematics
St. Joseph’s College
Trichy

2. Biotechnology
Biotechnology helps to
meet our basic needs.
Food, clothing, shelter,
health and safety

3. Biotechnology
Improvements by using science
Science helps in production of
plants, animals and other
organisms
Also used in maintaining a good
environment that promotes our well
being

4. Biotechnology -Definition
One of the broadest definition of
Biotechnology is the one given at the
United Nations Conference on
Biological Diversity in 1992 as “any
technological application that uses
biological systems, living
organisms, or derivatives thereof, to
make or modify products or
processes for specific use.”

5. Some of these include the use of
microorganisms to make the
antibiotic, penicillin or the dairy
product, yoghurt; the use of
microorganisms to produce amino
acids or enzymes are also
examples of biotechnology.

6. Biotechnology
Using scientific processes to get
new organisms or new products
from organisms.
Large area
Includes many approaches and
methods in science and technology

7. Definitions :
 Any technique that uses living organisms or
substances from those organisms to make or
modify a product, to improve plants or
animals or to develop microorganisms for
specific uses.

8. What is biotechnology?
Biotechnology = bios (life) + logos (study of or
essence)
Literally ‘the study of tools from living things’
CLASSIC: The word "biotechnology" was first used
in 1917 to describe processes using living
organisms to make a product or run a process,
such as industrial fermentations. (Robert Bud, The
Uses of Life: A History of Biotechnology)
LAYMAN: Biotechnology began when humans
began to plant their own crops, domesticate
animals, ferment juice into wine, make cheese,
and leaven bread (Acces Excellence)

9. • GENENTECH: Biotechnology is the process of
harnessing 'nature's own' biochemical tools to make
possible new products and processes and provide
solutions to society's ills (G. Kirk Raab, Former
President and CEO of Genentech)
• WEBSTER’S: The aspect of technology concerned
with the application of living organisms to meet the
needs and ends of man.
• WALL STREET: Biotechnology is the application of
genetic engineering and DNA technology to produce
therapeutic and medical diagnostic products and
processes. Biotech companies have one thing in
common - the use of genetic engineering and
manipulation of organisms at a molecular level.

10. What is biotechnology?
• Using scientific methods with organisms
to produce new products or new forms
of organisms
• Any technique that uses living
organisms or substances from those
organisms or substances from those
organisms to make or modify a product,
to improve plants or animals, or to
develop microorganisms for specific
uses

11. What is biotechnology?
• Using scientific methods with organisms
to produce new products or new forms
of organisms
• Any technique that uses living
organisms or substances from those
organisms or substances from those
organisms to make or modify a product,
to improve plants or animals, or to
develop microorganisms for specific
uses

12. What is biotechnology?
• Biotechnology is a multidisciplinarian in nature,
involving input from
• Engineering
• Computer Science
• Cell and Molecular Biology
• Microbiology
• Genetics
• Physiology
• Biochemistry
• Immunology
• Virology
• Recombinant DNA Technology 
Genetic manipulation of bacteria,
viruses, fungi, plants and animals, often
for the development of specific products

13. What are the stages of
biotechnology?
• Ancient Biotechnology
• early history as related to food and
shelter, including domestication
• Classical Biotechnology
• built on ancient biotechnology
• fermentation promoted food production
• medicine
• Modern Biotechnology
• manipulates genetic information in
organism
• genetic engineering

14. Agricultural View
 All of the applied science based operations in
producing food, fiber, shelter, and related
products
 Milk production
 New horticultural and ornamental plants
 Wildlife, aquaculture, natural resources and
environmental management

15. Multidisciplinary
Involves many disciplines
or branches of learning
Includes all areas of Life
Sciences

16. What are the applications of
biotechnology?
• Production of new and improved
crops/foods, industrial chemicals,
pharmaceuticals and livestock
• Diagnostics for detecting genetic diseases
• Gene therapy (e.g. ADA, CF)
• Vaccine development (recombinant
vaccines)
• Environmental restoration
• Protection of endangered species
• Conservation biology
• Bioremediation
• Forensic applications
• Food processing (cheese, beer)

17. Monoclonal
Antibodies
Molecular
Biology
Cell
Culture
Genetic
Engineering
Anti-cancer drugs
Diagnostics
Culture of plants
from single cells
Transfer of new
genes into animal
organisms
Synthesis of
specific DNA
probes
Localisation of
genetic disorders
Tracers
Cloning
Gene therapy
Mass prodn. of
human proteins
Resource bank
for rare human
chemicals
Synthesis
of new
proteins
New
antibiotics
New types of
plants and
animals
New types
of food
DNA
technology
Crime solving
Banks of
DNA, RNA
and proteins
Complete
map of the
human
genome

18. Organismic Biotech
Working with complete,
intact organisms or their cells
Organisms are not
genetically changed with
artificial means

19. Organismic Biotech
Help the organism live better
or be more productive
Goal – improve organisms
and the conditions in which
they grow

20. Organismic Biotech
Study and use natural
genetic variations
Cloning is an example of
organismic biotech

21. Cloning
Process of producing a new
organism from cells or
tissues of existing organism.
1997 cloned sheep – “Dolly”
in Edinburgh Scotland

22. Molecular Biotech
Changing the genetic make-up of
an organism
Altering the structure and parts of
cells
Complex!
Uses genetic engineering,
molecular mapping and similar
processes

23. Genetic Engineering
Changing the genetic
information in a cell
Specific trait of one organism
may be isolated,cut, and
moved into the cell of
another organism

24. Transgenic
Results of Gen. Eng. Are
said to be “transgenic”
Genetic material in an
organism has been altered

25. Biotech examples
 Medicine
 Agriculture
 Environment
 Forestry
 Food and beverage
processing

26. Medicine
 Some new developments
delve into the hereditary
material of humans known
as gene therapy

27. Medicine
 Therapeutant - product used to
maintain health or prevent
disease
 Biopharmaceuticals – drug or
vaccine developed through
biotechnology
 Called designer drugs

28. Medicine
 Biopharming – production of
pharmaceuticals in cultured
organisms
 Combination of the
agriculture and
pharmaceutical industries

29. Medicine
 Certain blood – derived
products needed in human
medicine can be produced
in the milk of goats

30. Environment
 Any biotechnological process
that may promote a good
environment
 Organisms developed during
the gulf war to “eat” oil
 Organism used in gold mining
to “eat” contaminants

31. Environmental
 Problems naturally solved
by microorganisms such
as bacteria, fungi break
down contaminant into a
form less harmful or not
harmful

32. Ag and Forestry
 Plant biotech
 Animal biotech

33. Plant biotech
 Improve plants and the
products produced from them
 Insect and disease resistance
 Engineered to have desired
characteristics

34. Plant biotech
 Corn plant produced with
high levels of the amino
acid Lysine

35. Animal Biotech
 Improve animals or the
products they produce
 Animals may be used to
produce products that
promote human health

36. Animal Biotech
 Increase productivity
 Pigs engineered to
produce human
hemoglobin

37. Food and Beverages
 Use of technology in production
and processing
 Some biotech principles have been
employed for hundreds of years
(Yeast in baking bread)
 Genetically altered crops
 rBGH milk

38. Biotechnology
 Helps meet human needs -Food,
clothing and shelter
 Plants and animals are used in
manufacturing food, clothing and
materials for shelter.
 Used to make products more useful or
desirable
 Ex: conversion of milk into cheese or
yogurt

39. Efficiency
 Must keep the cost of improving
products as low as possible
 Biotech results in greater efficiency.
 Inoculating legume seeds with bacteria
that allow the plant to pull nitrogen out
of the air and put it into the soil - Saves
the producer the cost of applying N
fertilizer.
 Results in trees that grow faster and
produce wood that is more desirable.

40. Greater Production
 Increases yields
 bST use in cows to produce
more milk
 Higher crop yields from
drought, disease & insect
resistant crops

41. Health Promoting Foods
 Food with unique traits
 Some contain therapeutants
 Some designed with nutrient
enrichment

42. Safety
 Consumers want foods to
provide needed nutrients and
in some cases, enhanced
foods
 Do not want side effects from
those enhanced foods

43. Easy preparation
 Flavr-Savr Tomato
 Reached the market in early 1990’s
 Engineered to have a longer shelf
life
 Flavr-Savr - No soft spots ;
No rotten spots; Tomato resists
spoilage.

44. Synthetic biology
 Creating lifelike characteristics
through the use of chemicals
 Based on creating structures
similar to those found in living
organisms
 Need for synthetic cells lead to the
development of the vesicle
 Vesicle – tiny rounded structure
with cell like traits

45. Vesicle
 Tiny structures similar to soap
bubbles were created to serve as
the cell membrane
 Visible only with powerful
microscope
 Once the cell membrane has been
successfully developed,
development of the materials within
the cell is initiated.

46. Synthetic biology
 Is important because it
brings science closer to
creating life in the lab
 Cells and tissues may be
developed to treat human
injury and disease