Bio-Technology is the use of living things, especially cells and bacteria in industrial process. It covers a wide variety of subjects like Genetics, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Immunology, Virology, Chemistry and Engineering and is also concerned with many other subjects like Health and Medicine, Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Cropping system and Crop Management, Ecology, Cell Biology, Soil science and Soil Conservation, Bio-statistics, Plant Physiology, Seed Technology etc.
The applications include developing various medicines, vaccines and diagnostics, increasing productivity, improving energy production and conservation. Biotechnology's intervention in the area of animal husbandry has improved animal breeding. It also helps to improve the quality of seeds, insecticides and fertilizers. Environmental biotechnology helps for pollution control and waste management.
The setting up of a separate Department of Biotechnology (DBT) in 1986 under the Ministry of Science and Technology gave a new boost to the development of the of modern biology and biotechnology in India.
More than 6000 biotechnologists of higher skill are required, the department of Biotechnology (DBT) has highlighted the need to set up a regulatory body for the maintenance of standard education under the name of 'All- India Board of Biotechnology Education and Training' under the AICTE.
Branches and Application of Biotechnology
Today, Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary activity involving, chemists, biologists, engineers and many other specialists. It scope is enormous. There are sophisticated new drugs produced in the milk of transgenic sheep, microbial cocktails that can clean up contaminated land transgenic plants and fish that yield more food or resist disease - and hundreds of different micro-organism able to produce fermentation products such as amino acids, vitamins, enzymes and antibiotics.
It is playing a major role in serving the mankind. Be it in forms of improved plant varieties or developing vaccines. It is widely used in food industry, enabling cattle to grow faster and produce new enzymes and making cheese. Some of the prominent areas of its application are given below:
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