What is Biotechnology?

-Biotechnology is defined as the use of living things or their parts or products to improve other living
organisms or make products that are useful to man.
-Biotechnology had been used by man since time immemorial initially through fermentation to improve
food flavor.
-Later on, selection, domestication and hybridization of plants and animals were consciously practiced to
cope with the requirements of growing human population, increasing quantity and improving quality of
food at the same time.
-For years, man honed his skills in a traditional way to produce desirable or beneficial products.
-The continuous developments in genetic engineering have resulted to the modernization of
biotechnology, overcoming inter-specific barriers of traditional hybridization.

Two Kinds of Biotechnology

Traditional biotechnology
-Includes the most primitive type of accidental fermentation process which is still being used now to
produce varieties of food products such as cheese, “bagoong” (fish paste), “patis” (fish sauce), wine,
“nata de coco” (coconut gel), fermented fish and vegetables.
-This technology was later applied in the field of medicine to produce antibiotics and vaccines from
microorganisms. In agriculture, traditional plant and animal breeding is still being used.
Modern Biotechnology
-Makes use of more advanced knowledge on molecular biology
-Some techniques, such as DNA fingerprinting and somatic nuclear transfer do not involve gene
manipulation. Molecular biology kits for the detection and diagnosis of diseases and cloned animals are
products of modern biotechnology
-The most recent modern biotechnology employs methods of genetic engineering that essentially
construct and design hereditary units of information to produce desired outcomes in a predictable and
controllable way in target organisms
-A plant, animal or microorganism that has received a constructed or altered gene which shows a new
characteristic is called a genetically modified or transgenic organism