BIOTECHNOLOGY AND ITS INNOVATIONS

Biotechnology is any application that uses biological systems or their derivates to make products

The term

Was coined in 1919 by Hungarian engineer Karl Ereky

In the 19th century

Mendel identified the principles of inheritance

And

Koch and Pasteur established institutes for investigating microbial processes

In the early 20th century

Scientists started exploring new ways of manufacturing products

During World War II

Microorganisms began to be used to produce antibiotics

In the 1970s

New gene transfer techniques were developed

And in the 1980s

Insulin was the first commercial product obtained from gene transfer

In the 1990s

Genetically engineered vaccines and hormones and new cloning techniques were introduced

Generally

Biotechnology is a field of applied biology

That

Involves the use of living organisms to solve problems

Today

Biotechnology is used in several areas such as

Agriculture

Medicine

Bioinformatics

Industrial processes

The scientific community

Is divided concerning the extensive use of biotechnological techniques

On the one hand

They lead to remarkable advances

On the other hand

Untested new procedures should be dealt with cautiously