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Biotechnology is a technology based on biology, especially when used in agriculture, food science, and medicine.
Of the many different definitions available, the one formulated by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity is one of the broadest:
This page provides an alphabetical list of articles and other pages (including categories, lists, etc.) about biotechnology.
Adeno-associated virus -- Agricultural biotechnology -- Agrobacterium -- Affimer -- Affymetrix -- Alcoholic beverages -- Category:Alcoholic beverages -- Algal fuel -- Amgen -- Antibiotic -- Antibody drug conjugate -- Antisense RNA -- Aptamer -- Assisted reproductive technology -- Artificial selection
Bacteriology -- Biochemical engineering -- Biochip -- Biochemistry -- Biodiesel -- Bioengineering -- Bioethics -- Biofuel -- Biogas -- Biogen Idec -- Bioindicator -- Bioinformatics -- Category:Bioinformatics -- Bioleaching -- Biological agent -- Biological warfare -- Bioluminescence -- Biomedical Engineering -- Biomimetics -- Biomining -- Bionanotechnology -- Bionics --Biopharmacology -- Biophotonics -- Bioprocessing -- Bioprospecting -- Bioreactor -- Bioremediation -- Biostatistics -- Biostimulation -- Biosynthesis -- Biotechnology -- Category:Biotechnology -- Category:Biotechnology companies -- Category:Biotechnology products -- Bt corn
Cancer immunotherapy -- CAR T cell -- Cell therapy -- Chemogenomics -- Chimera (genetics) -- Chinese hamster -- Chinese Hamster Ovary cell -- Chiron Corp. -- Cloning -- Compost -- Composting -- Computational biology -- Connectomics -- Convention on Biological Diversity -- Chromatography -- CRISPR -- CRISPR gene editing
Designer baby -- Directive on the patentability of biotechnological inventions -- DNA microarray -- DNA sequencing -- Dolly -- Dwarfing
Enzymes -- Electroporation -- Environmental biotechnology -- Ethanol -- Eugenics -- Extremophiles in biotechnology
Gene knockout -- Gene therapy -- Genentech -- Genetic engineering -- Genetically modified crops --Genetically modified food -- Genetically modified food controversies -- Genetically modified maize -- Genetically modified organisms -- Genetics -- Genomics -- Genome editing -- Genzyme -- Global Knowledge Center on Crop Biotechnology - Glycomics -- Golden rice -- Green fluorescent protein
Immunology -- Immunotherapy -- Immune suppression -- Industrial biotechnology -- Interactomics
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Machine learning in bioinformatics -- MedImmune -- Metabolic engineering -- Metabolomics -- Metagenomics -- Microbial Fuel Cell -- Microfluidics -- Millennium Pharmaceuticals -- Model Organism -- Molecular Biology -- Monoclonal antibodies -- Mycofiltration -- Mycoremediation
Penicillin -- Phosphatases -- Pfizer Inc. -- Phage therapy -- Pharmacogenomics -- Pharming (genetics) -- Plant-made pharmaceuticals -- Plantibody -- Proteomics
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Recombinant DNA -- Regulation of the release of genetic modified organisms -- Reporter gene
Selective breeding -- Serono -- Shotgun sequencing -- Stem cell -- STR multiplex systems -- Sustainability -- Sustainable development -- Synthetic biology
Terminator technology -- Transcriptomics -- Transgenic animal -- Transgenic plants -- Transgenic plant production
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| | This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (July 2010) |
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Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services.
A genetically modified organism (GMO) is any organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. The exact definition of a genetically modified organism and what constitutes genetic engineering varies, with the most common being an organism altered in a way that "does not occur naturally by mating and/or natural recombination". A wide variety of organisms have been genetically modified (GM), including animals, plants, and microorganisms.
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including the transfer of genes within and across species boundaries to produce improved or novel organisms. New DNA is obtained by either isolating and copying the genetic material of interest using recombinant DNA methods or by artificially synthesising the DNA. A construct is usually created and used to insert this DNA into the host organism. The first recombinant DNA molecule was made by Paul Berg in 1972 by combining DNA from the monkey virus SV40 with the lambda virus. As well as inserting genes, the process can be used to remove, or "knock out", genes. The new DNA can be inserted randomly, or targeted to a specific part of the genome.
Genetically modified foods, also known as genetically engineered foods, or bioengineered foods are foods produced from organisms that have had changes introduced into their DNA using various methods of genetic engineering. Genetic engineering techniques allow for the introduction of new traits as well as greater control over traits when compared to previous methods, such as selective breeding and mutation breeding.
Molecular genetics is a branch of biology that addresses how differences in the structures or expression of DNA molecules manifests as variation among organisms. Molecular genetics often applies an "investigative approach" to determine the structure and/or function of genes in an organism's genome using genetic screens.
The term modifications in genetics refers to both naturally occurring and engineered changes in DNA. Incidental, or natural mutations occur through errors during replication and repair, either spontaneously or due to environmental stressors. Intentional modifications are done in a laboratory for various purposes, developing hardier seeds and plants, and increasingly to treat human disease. The use of gene editing technology remains controversial.
Synthetic biology (SynBio) is a multidisciplinary field of science that focuses on living systems and organisms, and it applies engineering principles to develop new biological parts, devices, and systems or to redesign existing systems found in nature.
As with all utility patents in the United States, a biological patent provides the patent holder with the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, or importing the claimed invention or discovery in biology for a limited period of time - for patents filed after 1998, 20 years from the filing date.
A biopharmaceutical, also known as a biological medical product, or biologic, is any pharmaceutical drug product manufactured in, extracted from, or semisynthesized from biological sources. Different from totally synthesized pharmaceuticals, they include vaccines, whole blood, blood components, allergenics, somatic cells, gene therapies, tissues, recombinant therapeutic protein, and living medicines used in cell therapy. Biologics can be composed of sugars, proteins, nucleic acids, or complex combinations of these substances, or may be living cells or tissues. They are isolated from living sources—human, animal, plant, fungal, or microbial. They can be used in both human and animal medicine.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to biotechnology:
Gene targeting is a biotechnological tool used to change the DNA sequence of an organism. It is based on the natural DNA-repair mechanism of Homology Directed Repair (HDR), including Homologous Recombination. Gene targeting can be used to make a range of sizes of DNA edits, from larger DNA edits such as inserting entire new genes into an organism, through to much smaller changes to the existing DNA such as a single base-pair change. Gene targeting relies on the presence of a repair template to introduce the user-defined edits to the DNA. The user will design the repair template to contain the desired edit, flanked by DNA sequence corresponding (homologous) to the region of DNA that the user wants to edit; hence the edit is targeted to a particular genomic region. In this way Gene Targeting is distinct from natural homology-directed repair, during which the ‘natural’ DNA repair template of the sister chromatid is used to repair broken DNA. The alteration of DNA sequence in an organism can be useful in both a research context – for example to understand the biological role of a gene – and in biotechnology, for example to alter the traits of an organism.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to genetics:
Genetically modified animals are animals that have been genetically modified for a variety of purposes including producing drugs, enhancing yields, increasing resistance to disease, etc. The vast majority of genetically modified animals are at the research stage while the number close to entering the market remains small.
A geneticist is a biologist or physician who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a scientist or a lecturer. Geneticists may perform general research on genetic processes or develop genetic technologies to aid in the pharmaceutical or and agriculture industries. Some geneticists perform experiments in model organisms such as Drosophila, C. elegans, zebrafish, rodents or humans and analyze data to interpret the inheritance of biological traits. A basic science geneticist is a scientist who usually has earned a PhD in genetics and undertakes research and/or lectures in the field. A medical geneticist is a physician who has been trained in medical genetics as a specialization and evaluates, diagnoses, and manages patients with hereditary conditions or congenital malformations; and provides genetic risk calculations and mutation analysis.
Molecular cloning is a set of experimental methods in molecular biology that are used to assemble recombinant DNA molecules and to direct their replication within host organisms. The use of the word cloning refers to the fact that the method involves the replication of one molecule to produce a population of cells with identical DNA molecules. Molecular cloning generally uses DNA sequences from two different organisms: the species that is the source of the DNA to be cloned, and the species that will serve as the living host for replication of the recombinant DNA. Molecular cloning methods are central to many contemporary areas of modern biology and medicine.
Genome editing, or genome engineering, or gene editing, is a type of genetic engineering in which DNA is inserted, deleted, modified or replaced in the genome of a living organism. Unlike early genetic engineering techniques that randomly inserts genetic material into a host genome, genome editing targets the insertions to site-specific locations. The basic mechanism involved in genetic manipulations through programmable nucleases is the recognition of target genomic loci and binding of effector DNA-binding domain (DBD), double-strand breaks (DSBs) in target DNA by the restriction endonucleases, and the repair of DSBs through homology-directed recombination (HDR) or non-homologous end joining (NHEJ).
Genetic engineering is the science of manipulating genetic material of an organism. The first artificial genetic modification accomplished using biotechnology was transgenesis, the process of transferring genes from one organism to another, first accomplished by Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen in 1973. It was the result of a series of advancements in techniques that allowed the direct modification of the genome. Important advances included the discovery of restriction enzymes and DNA ligases, the ability to design plasmids and technologies like polymerase chain reaction and sequencing. Transformation of the DNA into a host organism was accomplished with the invention of biolistics, Agrobacterium-mediated recombination and microinjection. The first genetically modified animal was a mouse created in 1974 by Rudolf Jaenisch. In 1976 the technology was commercialised, with the advent of genetically modified bacteria that produced somatostatin, followed by insulin in 1978. In 1983 an antibiotic resistant gene was inserted into tobacco, leading to the first genetically engineered plant. Advances followed that allowed scientists to manipulate and add genes to a variety of different organisms and induce a range of different effects. Plants were first commercialized with virus resistant tobacco released in China in 1992. The first genetically modified food was the Flavr Savr tomato marketed in 1994. By 2010, 29 countries had planted commercialized biotech crops. In 2000 a paper published in Science introduced golden rice, the first food developed with increased nutrient value.
Genetic engineering techniques allow the modification of animal and plant genomes. Techniques have been devised to insert, delete, and modify DNA at multiple levels, ranging from a specific base pair in a specific gene to entire genes. There are a number of steps that are followed before a genetically modified organism (GMO) is created. Genetic engineers must first choose what gene they wish to insert, modify, or delete. The gene must then be isolated and incorporated, along with other genetic elements, into a suitable vector. This vector is then used to insert the gene into the host genome, creating a transgenic or edited organism.
CRISPR gene editing is a genetic engineering technique in molecular biology by which the genomes of living organisms may be modified. It is based on a simplified version of the bacterial CRISPR-Cas9 antiviral defense system. By delivering the Cas9 nuclease complexed with a synthetic guide RNA (gRNA) into a cell, the cell's genome can be cut at a desired location, allowing existing genes to be removed and/or new ones added in vivo.
