What is Biotechnology?
Biotechnology is technology based on biology. It combines biological disciplines like genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry, embryology and cell biology with technical disciplines like chemical engineering, information technology, and robotics.
As information technology drove economic progress in the latter part of the 20th Century, there are expectations that biotechnology will be a significant factor for progress in the early part of the 21st century. Organizations are using biotechnology in drug development, medical treatments, agriculture and food processing, biosecurity and biofuels, with new techniques and applications for biotechnology continuously being discovered.
In agriculture and medicine, biotechnology techniques have produced new and improved foods, virus resistant crop plants and animals, advances in insect resistance, new antibiotics, vaccines for malaria, improved ways of producing insulin, diagnostic tests for hereditary cancers and Huntington's disease and treatments for AIDS.
Increasingly, biotechnology is also being applied to problems in the environment and in energy. Genetically engineered micro-organisms and plants clean up toxic wastes from industrial production and oil spills. Genetic methods are used to identify particular populations of endangered species. Minute traces of animal or plant remains are used to track and convict poachers. Genetic analysis helps botanical gardens, zoos, and game farms improve their breeding programs by determining the genetic diversity of various plant and animal populations. Microbes are making it economically feasible to produce ethanol for running machinery from corn stover, wheat straw, sugar cane waste and other agricultural crop residues.
As information technology drove economic progress in the latter part of the 20th Century, there are expectations that biotechnology will be a significant factor for progress in the early part of the 21st century. Organizations are using biotechnology in drug development, medical treatments, agriculture and food processing, biosecurity and biofuels, with new techniques and applications for biotechnology continuously being discovered.
In agriculture and medicine, biotechnology techniques have produced new and improved foods, virus resistant crop plants and animals, advances in insect resistance, new antibiotics, vaccines for malaria, improved ways of producing insulin, diagnostic tests for hereditary cancers and Huntington's disease and treatments for AIDS.
Increasingly, biotechnology is also being applied to problems in the environment and in energy. Genetically engineered micro-organisms and plants clean up toxic wastes from industrial production and oil spills. Genetic methods are used to identify particular populations of endangered species. Minute traces of animal or plant remains are used to track and convict poachers. Genetic analysis helps botanical gardens, zoos, and game farms improve their breeding programs by determining the genetic diversity of various plant and animal populations. Microbes are making it economically feasible to produce ethanol for running machinery from corn stover, wheat straw, sugar cane waste and other agricultural crop residues.
This course is designed to give students a comprehensive introduction to the scientific concepts and laboratory research techniques currently used in the field of biotechnology. Students attain knowledge about the field of biotechnology and deeper understanding of the biological concepts used. In addition, students develop the laboratory, critical thinking, and communication skills currently used in the biotechnology industry. Furthermore, students will explore and evaluate career opportunities in the field of biotechnology through extensive readings, laboratory experiments, class discussions, research projects, guest speakers, and workplace visits. The objectives covered in this course are both academic and technical in nature and are presented in a progressively rigorous manner.