What is biotechnology?

The word biotechnology is a cross between the Greek words 'bios' (everything to do with life) and
'technikos' (involving human knowledge and skills). The OECD (the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development) defines biotechnology as "the application of scientific and
engineering principles to the processing of materials by biological agents". More simply, it is
using living organisms to make useful products.
Simply put, biotechnology is a toolbox that solves problems.
Biotechnology leverages our understanding of the natural sciences to create novel solutions for
many of our world problems. We use biotechnology to grow our food to feed our families. We use
biotechnology to make medicines and vaccines to fight diseases. And we are now turning to
biotechnology to find alternatives to fossil-based fuels for a cleaner, healthier planet.
http://www.ncbiotech.org/biotech-basics/what-is-biotechnology
Importance or application of Biotechnology
The industry of biotechnology has coined a number of terms that are utilized to refer to particular
areas in which biotechnology already plays an important role.
Blue Biotechnology is the phrase used to describe various applications of biotechnology in
marine environments and other aquatic (water based) phenomena.
Green Biotechnology refers to biotechnological applications in the area of agriculture and
environment. An instance of biotechnology in agriculture is the genetic engineering of crops.
Genetically modified or GM crops are capable of producing pesticides that resist insect attacks,
reducing the environment damaging chemical pesticides which is a topic of debate. Another
instance of biotechnological application in agriculture is the crafting of transgenic plants that are
capable of growing in the presence or absence of particular chemicals.
Red Biotechnology is the phrase that refers to the medical applications of biotechnology. This
area includes engineering organisms to generate antibiotics, manipulation of genetic code to
produce cells utilized in gene therapy and so on. There are several ethical issues regarding
genetic modification, particularly with human genes.
Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary area which attempts to find solutions to biological problems
utilizing sophisticated and much studied computational methodologies. As a result huge amounts
of biological data can be organized very swiftly for analysis which is aided by computing
techniques.

Applications of Biotechnology in Medicine

Applications of Biotechnology in Agriculture
Applications of Biotechnology in Food Processing

In Calamba, Laguna
19 June 1861
JOSE RIZAL, the seventh child of Francisco Mercado Rizal and Teodora Alonso y
Quintos, was born in Calamba, Laguna.
22 June 1861
He was baptized JOSE RIZAL MERCADO at the Catholic of Calamba by the parish
priest Rev. Rufino Collantes with Rev. Pedro Casaas as the sponsor.
28 September 1862
The parochial church of Calamba and the canonical books, including the book in
which Rizals baptismal records were entered, were burned.
1864
Barely three years old, Rizal learned the alphabet from his mother.
1865
When he was four years old, his sister Conception, the eight children in the Rizal
family, died at the age of three. It was on this occasion that Rizal remembered
having shed real tears for the first time.
1865 1867
During this time his mother taught him how to read and write. His father hired a
classmate by the name of Leon Monroy who, for five months until his (Monroy)
death, taught Rizal the rudiments of Latin.
At about this time two of his mothers cousin frequented Calamba. Uncle Manuel
Alberto, seeing Rizal frail in body, concerned himself with the physical development
of his young nephew and taught the latter love for the open air and developed in
him a great admiration for the beauty of nature, while Uncle Gregorio, a scholar,
instilled into the mind of the boy love for education. He advised Rizal: "Work hard
and perform every task very carefully; learn to be swift as well as thorough; be
independent in thinking and make visual pictures of everything."
6 June 1868
With his father, Rizal made a pilgrimage to Antipolo to fulfill the vow made by his
mother to take the child to the Shrine of the Virgin of Antipolo should she and her
child survive the ordeal of delivery which nearly caused his mothers life.
From there they proceeded to Manila and visited his sister Saturnina who was at the
time studying in the La Concordia College in Sta. Ana.
1869
At the age of eight, Rizal wrote his first poem entitled "Sa Aking Mga Kabata." The
poem was written in tagalog and had for its theme "Love of Ones Language."