Biotechnology based on genetic and cell engineering
Biotechnology is the technology of producing needed products with living organisms, their cells or biological molecules. Traditional biotechnology includes long-known processes: yoghurt and cheese from milk, bread from dough, vinegar and wine from fruit and grapes (microorganisms take part in these), and also the creation of breeds of animals and varieties of plants. Modern biotechnology relies on genetic and cell engineering: microorganisms are grown in bioreactors and give insulin, growth hormone (somatotropin), interferon, the hepatitis B vaccine, enzymes, vitamins and antibiotics; diagnostic test systems and biodegradable plastics are made. Environmental biotechnology uses microorganisms that break down pollutants in soil and water. In gene therapy a healthy (functional) gene is introduced into the cells of a sick organism; methods that treat some hereditary diseases this way have been developed and are in use, and research continues. Stem cells are unspecialised cells able to become different tissues (J. Thomson, 1998, human embryonic stem cells); ways of growing tissues and organs from them are being studied. Since 2012 the CRISPR/Cas9 method has allowed precise editing of the genome; there are serious ethical limits on changing human heredity.
“Which biotechnology?”: pictures and names (yoghurt, insulin, vaccine, wine, vinegar) are sorted into traditional and modern columns.