Biotechnology in the 21st Century (Review Paper)

[摘要] The two technologies that will essentiallydetermine the shape of things to come in the present century arebiotechnology and information technology. A merger of biotechnology andinformation technology is happening right now, a significant example ofwhich is the success of the human genome project. Biotechnology can besaid to have started with the unravelling of the structure of DNA in1953. The next decade saw exciting developments in our understanding ofthe fundamentals of functioning of biological system, including the roleof DNA in protein synthesis. The discovery of reverse transcriptase andrestriction enzymes in 1970s paved the way for further advances,including recombinant DNA and hybridoma technologies, often called'genetic engineering'. The discovery of polymerase chain reaction in1986 laid the foundation for large-scale applications of biotechnologyin various fields. The practical applications of mapping of the entirehuman genome would be enormous in terms of better overall health care(diagnosis, therapy and management of disorders). In the field of floraand fauna, it generally happens that biotechnologically-rich countrieshave poor biodiversity and vice versa. But countries like India andChina that have rich biodiversity have, by the use of biotechnology, thepotential to become also biotechnologically rich.

[学科分类] 社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

[关键词] Biotechnology;Biodiversity;DNA;RNA;Molecular biology;Oncogenes;Human genome;Gene mapping;Genetic engineering;Hybridoma technology;Reverse Transcriptase Technology