WHAT IS BIOTECHNOLOGY?

The word "biotechnology" is the result of the union of two others: "biology" and "technology".
And biotechnology is exactly that: biological technology. If you stop to think about it, living
things can be considered biological machinery. We use biological machinery in the form of
molecules to move, get energy from what we eat, breathe, think ... But, what if we could use
that machinery to solve problems of our daily life ?.
Biotechnology consists precisely in the use of the biological machinery of other living beings
in a way that results in a benefit for the human being, either because a valuable product is
obtained or because an industrial process is improved. Through biotechnology, scientists
are looking for ways to harness "living technology" for living organisms to produce healthier
foods, better drugs, tougher or less polluting materials, more productive crops, renewable
energy sources and even systems to eliminate pollution .
Biotechnology in health: the medicine made to measure.
Biotechnology is present in medicine and animal health, participating in both diagnosis and
treatment of diseases. With Biotechnology, the concept of Health is changed, towards an
increasingly personalized medicine. This means that we can have "tailor made" treatments
for us, thus healing us more effectively. More and more drugs in our home are of
biotechnological origin.
But when did Biotechnology in Medicine begin? From the discovery of DNA by Watson and
Crick, began to develop what is called Molecular Biology, which has allowed to discover
genes, determine their role in the body and study their involvement in the development of
diseases. Thus, sequencing of the Human Genome has marked a before and after in
medical history by allowing the study of the genetic basis of disease (80% of adult diseases
have a genetic basis influenced by environmental factors and exist Thousands of genes
related to disease development). In fact, gene and protein research (genomics and
proteomics), genetic engineering and their applications have enabled the development of
new tools that are revolutionizing the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure of diseases.
Health biotechnology currently applies to molecular diagnostics for the detection of
infections and diseases of genetic origin. It is also used for the development of new drugs,
designing and producing new proteins that can be used to treat a large number of diseases
such as infections, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and even cancer. Within this section,
the so-called "personalized medicine", which consists of the study of the response of each
patient to the drugs, based on their genetic profile, is becoming increasingly important.
Biotechnology has also changed the way in which vaccines are designed. Traditionally,
vaccinations were performed by inactivating the virus for which vaccination was desired,
then injecting it into people. Vaccines are now genetically engineered and contain isolated
molecules that induce the immune response.
Cell therapy is also biotechnology and involves the use of stem cells to treat diseases.
These same stem cells are used in tissue engineering, which consists of building biological
substitutes for organs and tissues in the laboratory. An example of tissue engineering is the
manufacture of skin in the laboratory to implant the burned.
One application of biotechnology still under development is gene therapy, which consists
of the introduction of genetic material into the cells of a human being to prevent or cure
certain diseases.
Biotechnology in Food: from food to food to food to be healthy
The interest in our current and future food is growing as new technologies and in particular
Biotechnology are being introduced into the food sector.
There has never been a food supply as varied, as safe and of such quality as the present,
which leads to an increase in life expectancy and a decrease in food poisoning, and this is
due in large part to Biotechnology.
Food Biotechnology uses techniques and processes that use living organisms or their
substances to produce or modify a food, to improve the plants or animals from which they
come, or to develop microorganisms involved in its elaboration. It also participates in the
control and safety of the food we eat.
Since almost everything we eat (animals, vegetables or fermented foods) has a biological
origin, food biotechnology is undoubtedly the oldest of all biotechnologies. The first men to
use biotechnology were the Sumerians 7,000 years ago, since they produced foods such as
beer, wine, bread, yogurt and cheese using the bioprocess of fermentation (using bacteria
and yeasts that process milk And they transform it into yogurt and cheese, or process grapes
or barley and turn it into wine or beer).
What is changing in the food sector is that today we want what we eat maintain our energy
constant and satisfy our sensory appetites, but we also pretend that it is beneficial to our
health. In this context, new developments in food such as probiotics or nutraceuticals arise.
Biotechnology in Agriculture: in harmony since the beginning of civilization

Agriculture aims to grow and produce food that we incorporate into our diet and provide us
with energy and nutrients. Agriculture is a very primitive activity and suggests that it does
not have much to do with science, technology and biotechnology. However, the reality is
very different.
The beginnings of agriculture were more than 10,000 years ago in the Middle East, when
man abandoned his nomadic habits, became sedentary and began to use agriculture and
livestock to produce food, consciously but intuitively taming natural species to Obtain better
species of wheat, barley or rye.
The biotechnological revolution reaches crops in the 20th century. Since the 1960s,
technological advances, such as the use of fertilizers that have been enriched by chemical
processes, have led to an increase in the productivity of crops throughout the world, for
example the world cereal market. In the last decade, transgenic plants have led to more
efficient and more profitable crops, productive, nutritious and economic, and are more
environmentally friendly.
The new crop products that biotechnological techniques are generating, including GMOs,
before being marketed undergo extensive studies to demonstrate that they are safe for the
health of the consumer or the environment and therefore safe. In Spain, the Ministries of
Health and Consumption, and Environment, Rural and Marine are the national authorities,
as in other European Union countries, assess the food presented to them and give their
authorization for consumption.
Biotechnology in the Environment: the place for friendship
With the Industrial Revolution (eighteenth century), Modern History evolves dramatically
from an agrarian and artisan economy to an industry-dominated economy in which there is
an exponential increase in world population. All this will require a vertiginous increase in the
use of natural resources, as well as the obtaining of huge amounts of polluting waste and
with that the beginnings of the real harmful to the environment.
Two centuries later, aware of the damage being done to the planet, citizens demand the
preservation of the environment as a universal right, which led in the 1990s to the
development of environmental biotechnology.
Environmental biotechnology is not only positive but really necessary to protect natural
resources and the environment, as it helps to reduce, control and resolve environmental
disasters due to inadequate human action through "bio-prevention" and "bioremediation"
strategies.
Environmental biotechnology is responsible, for example, for the treatment of waste water
and waste using microorganisms. You can also clean and correct natural disasters - such
as spills in the sea from fossil fuels or the recovery of calcined soils - using bacteria and
plants or working in conjunction with Industrial Biotechnology for the production of biofuels
from vegetable raw materials or use Enzymes for industrial activities, which significantly
reduces pollution and allows better compliance with environmental protection regulations.

Biotechnology to support Industry: efficiency and respect for the environment

A living being is a machine capable of processing compounds to transform them into energy,
biomass and other by-products.
What makes this machine so special is that the raw materials it uses and the final products
it generates are integrated into natural cycles in which waste is reused and thus closes the
cycle without generating polluting final waste. In addition, these reactions occur at very
optimum conditions: at room temperature, in non-toxic aqueous phases and without the
need for high energy input.
All these special characteristics of the living being are used by Industrial Biotechnology for
the manufacture of substances and products with the least possible environmental impact
and in a highly effective way.
The solutions provided by Industrial Biotechnology improve industrial processes as follows:

Compounds are synthesized and made using biological reactions involving enzymes and
microorganisms, rather than chemical reactions. Such is the case of the production of
Vitamin C or citric acid for the food industry, the synthesis of adipic acid (precursor of nylon)
through reactions involving microorganisms or the production of amino acids for animal feed.
Renewable raw materials and sources of energy of biological origin are used, both by
definition inexhaustible, eliminating the dependence of fossil sources like coal or petroleum.
Such is the case of biofuels, obtained from vegetable raw materials, which are already used
as car fuels in some countries, or the use of biomaterials instead of plastic.
Use of agricultural, forestry or industrial waste, which adds value for reuse and prevents
accumulation or disposal in a toxic way. For example, from agricultural crop or food waste,
compost can be produced or protein extracts can be produced to produce animal feed
products through bioprocesses involving microorganisms and enzymes
There is greater respect for the environment, as less toxic waste is generated, less energy
is consumed and less greenhouse gases emitted in industrial production. For example, the
use of biodetergents allows the reactions to be done at a lower temperature, reduces the
energy and water expenditure by 50% and less toxic substances are released into the water.

With all this, Industrial Biotechnology brings to the maximum the idea of sustainability and
respect for the environment to the industrial sector, improving the economic performance of
its products and the cost / benefit ratio.