Importance of Biotechnology

This scientific discipline is based on a general principle: the possibility of creating or manipulating living cells, bacteria or tissues. Its field of action is practically unlimited, from curing diseases, creating consumer goods or transforming crops.

Contrary to what may seem at first glance, biotechnology is not something recent, since the process of fermentation to get new food or drinks. In this sense, fermentation is considered the first step in this area of ​​knowledge.

An interdisciplinary field

Biotechnological techniques and procedures are related to all kinds of areas, such as genetics, chemistry, medicine, math or the veterinarian, among many others. Thus, it is used in agriculture to produce insect-free crops or more nutritious foods.

In the field of veterinary medicine, it is possible to obtain more resistant breeds of animals.

For its part, in the field of medicine, biotechnology allows the diagnosis and treatment of all kinds of diseases, create new drugs or detect genetic disorders.

For the treatment of diabetes

In some countries diabetes is one of the leading causes of death. For decades, the insulin used for its treatment came from various animals, such as pigs and oxes.

Currently the insulin that is used is chemically the same as that of the human being and is obtained from certain yeasts and bacteria through genetic engineering, an area associated with the biotechnology. The so-called human insulin began to be marketed in 1982 and represented an enormous benefit for diabetes patients.

Identifying keys to this science

The discovery of the structure of DNA in 1953 is considered an essential pillar of biotechnology. The subsequent identification of DNA sequences and knowledge of the human genome It was a significant new breakthrough. These achievements have been incorporated by biotechnology to manipulate any living organism.

Today scientists can take DNA sequences from any organism and transfer it to a host cell, such as a virus or microorganism. Thus, the multiplication of the host cell is very rapid and the production of therapeutic proteins increases.

In the pharmaceutical sector it is already possible to decipher the mechanisms of metabolism. Based on this knowledge, it is feasible to create drugs that act specifically on the damaged metabolic issue. This advance has several implications:

1) it is now possible to abandon experiments based on the idea of ​​trial and error,

2) it is feasible to investigate directly in the search for therapeutic molecules and

3) the process of investigation it is much cheaper for the pharmaceutical industry.

Images: Fotolia. Kotkoa – Palau83