Changing Dimensions of Biotechnology

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CHANGING DIMENSIONS OF BIOTECHNOLOGY Introduction: Scientific understanding of how living things are put together and how they grow and develop based on instructions coded in their DNA is advancing rapidly. The knowledge already acquired and being accumulated offers mankind prospects by longer, healthier lives; plentiful and safe food and water; and agriculture and industry that produce in harmony with the environment. Karl Ereky, a Hungarian engineer, coined the term ‘biotechnology’ in 1919 to refer to the science and that method that permit products to be produced from raw materials with the aid of living organisms. Although biotechnology any is often equated with DNA and genetic engineering, it is probably best seen as part of continuum that began centuries ago, when plants and animals began to be selectively breed and microorganisms were used to make beer and wine, cheese and bread. The cleansing of waste water through microbial degradation, dating from the 19th century is among the oldest large scale applications of biotechnology by industrial societies. By the end of 19th century, biotechnology was flourishing. Not only had micro organisms isolated and identified, but Mendel’s work on genetics was accomplished and institutes for investigating, fermentation and other microbias process was founded by Pasteur and others. In 1945, the first direct evidence that DNA carried genetic information appeared. The structure off DNA and the way genetic information is passed from generation to generation remained a mystery until Watson and Crick produced their double helix model in 1953. ‘Modern’ biotechnology began with their discovery. Since 1980, biotechnology evolved from a scientific curiosity towards commercial applications and today modern biotech plays a role in medicine, fuel production, farming and food preparation, forensics and the environment.

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