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Considering a Masters in Biotechnology Program or reviewing options for Masters Degrees in Biotechnology? A Masters in Biotechnology can openupexciting

Biotechnology is a challenging field that can involve a number of facets of both science and business or law. Many biotechnology master's degree programs focus on aspects of biology, cell biology, chemistry, or biological or chemical engineering. In general, biotechnology degrees involve research whether they are at a Masters or PhD level.

Scientific understanding is rapidly evolving, particularly in areas of cellular and molecular systems. Biotechnology master's students can therefore enjoy rich study opportunities particularly in fields such as genetic engineering, the Human Genome project, the production of new medicinal products, and research into the relationship between genetic malfunction and the origin of disease. These are just a few of the many areas that biotechnology students have the opportunity to explore today.

Another focus of biotechnology masters programs may be to equip students with the combination of science and business knowledge they need to help produce products and move them toward production. Today's complex business environment and government regulations require many steps and people with the ability to both understand and help produce new scientific technologies as well as get them approved and be able to market them.

Master degrees in biotechnology might prepare students to pursue careers in a variety of industries. While many students go on to further research or academic positions, there may also be some demand for biotechnologists outside of academia, both in the government and private sectors. Biotechnologists might pursue careers in anything from research to applied science and manufacturing. Those with specializations in business aspects of biotechnology may be qualified to pursue management positions within organizations attempting to produce and market new biotechnology.

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Masters in Biotechnology Programs and Degrees in Biotechnology

Biotechnology has proven to be an important tool for better sustainability and food security. It helps farmers grow more food while improving the environment. For example, biotechnology reduces the use of costly inputs and improves weed management, allowing farmers to reduce tillage for better soil, water and air quality. Today, roughly 90 percent of corn, cotton and soybeans grown in the U.S. have been improved through biotechnology, and farmers are choosing biotech traits when growing other crops such as alfalfa, sugarbeets and canola.

Despite rapid adoption by farmers and a strong scientific consensus that biotechnology does not pose health and environmental risks, regulatory burdens are slowing research and innovation of new biotech traits and are starting to reduce U.S. farmers international competitive advantage. In addition, activist groups routinely threaten the availability of new traits by blocking science-based regulatory decisions, filing lawsuits and advocating for labeling mandates.

GM crops require less water and fewer chemical applications than conventional crops, and they are better able to survive drought, weeds, and insects.

U.S. agriculture will maintain its competitive advantage in world markets only if we continue to support innovations in technology and grasp opportunities for future biotech products.

To improve regulation of biotechnology, Farm Bureau supports:

Farm Bureau encourages efforts to educate farmers to be good stewards of biotech crops to preserve accessand marketability.

Farm Bureau believes agricultural products grown using approved biotechnology should not be subject to mandatory labeling. We supportexisting FDA labeling policies and opposestate policies on biotech labeling, identification, use and availability.

On July 29, 2016 the president signed S. 764, the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard, into law. While not perfect, S. 764 was a compromise that Farm Bureau endorsed. The law creates a uniform standard for the disclosure of ingredients derived from bioengineering and allows food companies to provide that information through an on-package statement, symbol or electronic disclosure. It also created a strong federal preemption provision to protect interstate commerce and prevent state-by-state labeling laws and was effective on the date of enactment. USDA has two years to develop the disclosure standards and Farm Bureau will be an active participant in the rulemaking process.

Farm Bureau supports active involvement and leadership by the U.S. government in the development of international standards for biotechnology, including harmonization of regulatory standards, testing and LLP policies.

This resource can help set the record straight on GMOs, to correct misinformation and show why biotechnology is so important to agriculture.

Benefits of Biotech Toolkit (PDF)

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3 Biotech is a quarterly, peer-reviewed open access journal published under the brand SpringerOpen.

Continuous Article Publishing (CAP)

3 Biotech will be moving to the Continuous Article Publishing (CAP) in 2016, in which newly accepted papers will be published online with volume and article numbers, shortly after receipt of authors proofs. This change will alleviate the significant backlog of accepted articles that are currently available online as "published ahead of time," but are awaiting formal publication with a volume, issue number and page numbers. To achieve a smooth transition to the CAP model, all papers that have been accepted after June 2015 have been held back and will be published with volume and article numbers from January 2016 onwards. We wish to apologize for this short delay in article processing during this important transition phase, which is designed to speed up the process from acceptance of articles to final publication without the need for articles to be placed in a "published ahead of time" waiting line. In addition, a formal rapid publication from 2016 will ensure that all articles in 3 Biotech are immediately available in indexing services for researchers.

3 Biotech publishes the results of the latest research related to the study and application of biotechnology to:

- Medicine and Biomedical Sciences - Agriculture - The Environment

The focus on these three technology sectors recognizes that complete Biotechnology applications often require a combination of techniques. 3 Biotech not only presents the latest developments in biotechnology but also addresses the problems and benefits of integrating a variety of techniques for a particular application. 3 Biotech will appeal to scientists and engineers in both academia and industry focused on the safe and efficient application of Biotechnology to Medicine, Agriculture and the Environment.

Articles from a huge variety of biotechnology applications are welcome including:

- Cancer and stem cell research - Genetic engineering and cloning - Bioremediation and biodegradation - Bioinformatics and system biology - Biomarkers and biosensors - Biodiversity and biodiscovery - Biorobotics and biotoxins - Analytical biotechnology and the human genome

3 Biotech accepts original and review articles as well as short research reports, protocols and methods, notes to the editor, letters to the editor and book reviews for publication. Up to date topical review articles will also be considered. All the manuscripts are peer-reviewed for scientific quality and acceptance.

NEW:

3Biotech hasrecently receivedits first Impact Factor and is nowcovered by a range of A&I services, including:

- Science Citation Index Expanded - Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition - Biological Abstracts - BIOSIS Previews

Best Paper Award: 3 Biotech is supported by King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) in Saudi Arabia. Every year KACST awards the best paper with the KACST Medal and $5,000. The editors of 3 Biotech have elected the best paper among those published in 2011-2012 and 2012-2013.

- The 2011-2012 winning paper is:

Nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite and zinc-doped hydroxyapatite as carrier material for controlled delivery of ciprofloxacin

Authors: G. Devanand Venkatasubbu and colleagues at Anna University, India.

- The 2012-2013winning paper is: Stress influenced increase in phenolic content and radical scavenging capacity of Rhodotorula glutinis CCY 20-2-26 Authors: Raj Kumar Salar and colleagues at Chaudhary Devi Lal University, India.

Related subjects Agriculture - Biomaterials - Biotechnology - Cancer Research - Cell Biology - Systems Biology and Bioinformatics

Journal Citation Reports, Thomson Reuters

Science Citation Index Expanded (SciSearch), Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition, PubMed, PubMedCentral, EMBASE, Google Scholar, CAB International, AGRICOLA, Biological Abstracts, BIOSIS, CAB Abstracts, DOAJ, Global Health, OCLC, Summon by ProQuest

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3 Biotech - a SpringerOpen journal

Session & Tracks

Track 1:Molecular Biotechnology

Molecular biotechnology is the use of laboratory techniques to study and modify nucleic acids and proteins for applications in areas such as human and animal health, agriculture, and the environment.Molecular biotechnologyresults from the convergence of many areas of research, such as molecular biology, microbiology,biochemistry, immunology, genetics, and cell biology. It is an exciting field fueled by the ability to transfer genetic information between organisms with the goal of understanding important biological processes or creating a useful product.

Related Conferences

11th World Congress onBiotechnology and Biotech IndustriesMeet, July 28-29, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 10thAsia Pacific Biotech CongressJuly 25-27, 2016, Bangkok, Thailand; 13thBiotechnology Congress, Nov 28-30, 2016, San Francisco, USA; GlobalBiotechnology Congress2016, May 11th-14th 2016, Boston, MA, USA;BIO Investor Forum, October 20-21, 2015, San Francisco, USA;BIO Latin America Conference, October 14-16, 2015, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;Bio Pharm America 20158th Annual International Partnering Conference, September 15-17, 2015, Boston, MA, USA.

Track 2:Environmental Biotechnology

The biotechnology is applied and used to study the natural environment. Environmental biotechnology could also imply that one try to harness biological process for commercial uses and exploitation. It is "the development, use and regulation of biological systems for remediation of contaminated environment and forenvironment-friendly processes(green manufacturing technologies and sustainable development). Environmental biotechnology can simply be described as "the optimal use of nature, in the form of plants, animals, bacteria, fungi and algae, to producerenewable energy, food and nutrients in a synergistic integrated cycle of profit making processes where the waste of each process becomes the feedstock for another process".

Related Conferences

11th World Congress onBiotechnology and Biotech IndustriesMeet, July 28-29, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 10thAsia Pacific Biotech CongressJuly 25-27, 2016, Bangkok, Thailand; 11thEuro Biotechnology Congress, November 07-09,2016, Alicante Spain; 13thBiotechnology Congress, Nov 28-30, 2016, San Francisco, USA; GlobalBiotechnology Congress2016, May 11th - 14th 2016, Boston, MA, USA;Biomarker Summit2016, March 21-23, 2016 San Diego, CA, USA; 14thVaccines Research & Development, July 7-8, Boston, USA;Pharmaceutical & BiotechPatent Litigation Forum, Mar 14 - 15, 2016, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Track 3:Animal Biotechnology

It improves the food we eat - meat, milk and eggs. Biotechnology can improve an animals impact on the environment. Animalbiotechnologyis the use of science and engineering to modify living organisms. The goal is to make products, to improve animals and to developmicroorganismsfor specific agricultural uses. It enhances the ability to detect, treat and prevent diseases, include creating transgenic animals (animals with one or more genes introduced by human intervention), using gene knock out technology to make animals with a specific inactivated gene and producing nearly identical animals by somatic cell nuclear transfer (or cloning).

Related Conferences

11th World Congress onBiotechnology and Biotech Industries Meet, July 28-29, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 10thAsia Pacific Biotech CongressJuly 25-27, 2016, Bangkok, Thailand; 11thEuro Biotechnology Congress, November 07-09,2016, Alicante Spain; 13thBiotechnology Congress, Nov 28-30, 2016, San Francisco, USA;Global Biotechnology Congress2016, May 11th - 14th 2016, Boston, MA, USA;Biomarker Summit2016, March 21-23, 2016 San Diego, CA, USA; 14thVaccines Research & Development, July 7-8, Boston, USA;Pharmaceutical & BiotechPatent Litigation Forum, Mar 14 - 15, 2016, Amsterdam, Netherlands; 4thBiomarkers in Diagnostics, Oct 07-08, 2015 Berlin, Germany, DEU.

Track 4:Medical Biotechnology and Biomedical Engineering

Medicine is by means of biotechnology techniques so much in diagnosing and treating dissimilar diseases. It also gives opportunity for the population to defend themselves from hazardous diseases. The pasture of biotechnology, genetic engineering, has introduced techniques like gene therapy, recombinant DNA technologyand polymerase chain retort which employ genes and DNA molecules to make adiagnosis diseasesand put in new and strong genes in the body which put back the injured cells. There are some applications of biotechnology which are live their part in the turf of medicine and giving good results.

Related Conferences

11th World Congress onBiotechnology and Biotech Industries Meet, July 28-29, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 10thAsia Pacific Biotech CongressJuly 25-27, 2016, Bangkok, Thailand; 11thEuro Biotechnology Congress, November 07-09,2016, Alicante Spain; 13thBiotechnology Congress, Nov 28-30, 2016, San Francisco, USA;Global Biotechnology Congress2016, May 11th - 14th 2016, Boston, MA, USA;Biomarker Summit2016, March 21-23, 2016 San Diego, CA, USA; 14thVaccines Research & Development, July 7-8, Boston, USA;Pharmaceutical & Biotech Patent Litigation Forum, Mar 14 - 15, 2016, Amsterdam, Netherlands; 4thBiomarkers in Diagnostics, Oct 07-08, 2015 Berlin, Germany, DEU.

Track 5:Agricultural Biotechnology

Biotechnology is being used to address problems in all areas of agricultural production and processing. This includesplant breedingto raise and stabilize yields; to improve resistance to pests, diseases and abiotic stresses such as drought and cold; and to enhance the nutritional content of foods. Modern agricultural biotechnology improves crops in more targeted ways. The best known technique is genetic modification, but the term agricultural biotechnology (or green biotechnology) also covers such techniques asMarker Assisted Breeding, which increases the effectiveness of conventional breeding.

Related Conferences

3rd GlobalFood Safety Conference, September 01-03, 2016, Atlanta USA; 10thAsia Pacific Biotech CongressJuly 25-27, 2016, Bangkok, Thailand; 11thEuro Biotechnology Congress, November 07-09,2016, Alicante Spain; 12thBiotechnology Congress, Nov 14-15, 2016, San Francisco, USA;Biologically Active Compoundsin Food, October 15-16 2015 Lodz, Poland; World Conference onInnovative Animal Nutrition and Feeding, October 15-17, 2015 Budapest, Hungary; 18th International Conference onFood Science and Biotechnology, November 28 - 29, 2016, Istanbul, Turkey; 18th International Conference on Agricultural Science, Biotechnology,Food and Animal Science, January 7 - 8, 2016, Singapore; International IndonesiaSeafood and Meat, 1517 October 2016, Jakarta, Indonesia.

Track 6:Industrial Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology

Industrial biotechnology is the application of biotechnology for industrial purposes, includingindustrial fermentation. The practice of using cells such as micro-organisms, or components of cells like enzymes, to generate industrially useful products in sectors such as chemicals, food and feed, detergents, paper and pulp, textiles andbiofuels. Industrial Biotechnology offers a premier forum bridging basic research and R&D with later-stage commercialization for sustainable bio based industrial and environmental applications.

Related Conferences

11th World Congress onBiotechnology and Biotech Industries Meet, July 28-29, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 10thAsia Pacific Biotech CongressJuly 25-27, 2016, Bangkok, Thailand; 11thEuro Biotechnology Congress, November 07-09,2016, Alicante Spain; 13thBiotechnology Congress, Nov 28-30, 2016, San Francisco, USA; GlobalBiotechnology Congress2016, May 11th - 14th 2016, Boston, MA, USA;Biomarker Summit2016, March 21-23, 2016 San Diego, CA, USA; 14thVaccines Research & Development, July 7-8, Boston, USA;Pharmaceutical & BiotechPatent Litigation Forum, Mar 14 - 15, 2016, Amsterdam, Netherlands; 4thBiomarkers in Diagnostics, Oct 07-08, 2015 Berlin, Germany, DEU.

Track 8:Microbial and Biochemical Technology

Microorganisms have been exploited for their specific biochemical and physiological properties from the earliest times for baking, brewing, and food preservation and more recently for producingantibiotics, solvents, amino acids, feed supplements, and chemical feedstuffs. Over time, there has been continuous selection by scientists of special strains ofmicroorganisms, based on their efficiency to perform a desired function. Progress, however, has been slow, often difficult to explain, and hard to repeat. Recent developments inmolecular biologyand genetic engineering could provide novel solutions to long-standing problems. Over the past decade, scientists have developed the techniques to move a gene from one organism to another, based on discoveries of how cells store, duplicate, and transfer genetic information.

Related conferences

3rdGlobal Food Safety Conference, September 01-03, 2016, Atlanta USA; 10thAsia Pacific Biotech CongressJuly 25-27, 2016, Bangkok, Thailand; 11thEuro Biotechnology Congress, November 07-09,2016, Alicante Spain; 12thBiotechnology Congress, Nov 14-15, 2016, San Francisco, USA;Biologically Active Compoundsin Food, October 15-16 2015 Lodz, Poland; World Conference onInnovative Animal Nutrition and Feeding, October 15-17, 2015 Budapest, Hungary; 18th International Conference onFood Science and Biotechnology, November 28 - 29, 2016, Istanbul, Turkey; 18th International Conference on Agricultural Science, Biotechnology,Food and Animal Science, January 7 - 8, 2016, Singapore; International IndonesiaSeafood and Meat, 1517 October 2016, Jakarta, Indonesia.

Track 9:Food Processing and Technology

Food processing is a process by which non-palatable and easily perishable raw materials are converted to edible and potable foods and beverages, which have a longer shelf life. Biotechnology helps in improving the edibility, texture, and storage of the food; in preventing the attack of the food, mainly dairy, by the virus likebacteriophage producing antimicrobial effect to destroy the unwanted microorganisms in food that cause toxicity to prevent the formation and degradation of other toxins andanti-nutritionalelements present naturally in food.

Related Conferences

11th World Congress onBiotechnology and Biotech Industries Meet, July 28-29, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 10thAsia Pacific Biotech CongressJuly 25-27, 2016, Bangkok, Thailand; 13thBiotechnology Congress, Nov 28-30, 2016, San Francisco, USA;Global Biotechnology Congress 2016, May 11th-14th 2016, Boston, MA, USA;BIO Investor Forum, October 20-21, 2015, San Francisco, USA;BIO Latin America Conference, October 14-16, 2015, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;Bio Pharm America 20158th Annual International Partnering Conference, September 15-17, 2015, Boston, MA, USA.

Track 10:Genetic Engineering and Molecular Biology

One kind of biotechnology is gene technology, sometimes called 'genetic engineering' or'genetic modification', where the genetic material of living things is deliberately altered to enhance or remove a particular trait and allow the organism to perform new functions. Genes within a species can be modified, or genes can be moved from one species to another. Genetic engineering has applications inmedicine, research, agriculture and can be used on a wide range of plants, animals and microorganisms. It resulted in a series of medical products. The first two commercially prepared products from recombinant DNA technology were insulin andhuman growth hormone, both of which were cultured in the E. coli bacteria.

The field of molecular biology overlaps with biology and chemistry and in particular, genetics and biochemistry. A key area of molecular biology concerns understanding how various cellular systems interact in terms of the way DNA, RNA and protein synthesis function.

Related Conferences

11th World Congress onBiotechnology and Biotech Industries Meet, July 28-29, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 10thAsia Pacific Biotech CongressJuly 25-27, 2016, Bangkok, Thailand; 11thEuro Biotechnology Congress, November 07-09,2016, Alicante Spain; 13thBiotechnology Congress, Nov 28-30, 2016, San Francisco, USA;Global Biotechnology Congress2016, May 11th - 14th 2016, Boston, MA, USA;Biomarker Summit2016, March 21-23, 2016 San Diego, CA, USA; 14thVaccines Research & Development, July 7-8, Boston, USA;Pharmaceutical & BiotechPatent Litigation Forum, Mar 14 - 15, 2016, Amsterdam, Netherlands; 4thBiomarkers in Diagnostics, Oct 07-http://world.biotechnologycongress.com/08, 2015 Berlin, Germany, DEU.

Track 11:Tissue Science and Engineering

Tissue engineering is emerging as a significant potential alternative or complementary solution, whereby tissue and organ failure is addressed by implanting natural, synthetic, orsemisynthetic tissueand organ mimics that are fully functional from the start or that grow into the required functionality. Initial efforts have focused on skin equivalents for treating burns, but an increasing number of tissue types are now being engineered, as well as biomaterials and scaffolds used as delivery systems. A variety of approaches are used to coax differentiated or undifferentiated cells, such as stem cells, into the desired cell type. Notable results includetissue-engineeredbone, blood vessels, liver, muscle, and even nerve conduits. As a result of the medical and market potential, there is significant academic and corporate interest in this technology.

Related Conferences

11th World Congress onBiotechnology and Biotech Industries Meet, July 28-29, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 10thAsia Pacific Biotech CongressJuly 25-27, 2016, Bangkok, Thailand; 11thEuro Biotechnology Congress, November 07-09,2016, Alicante Spain; 13thBiotechnology Congress, Nov 28-30, 2016, San Francisco, USA;Global Biotechnology Congress2016, May 11th - 14th 2016, Boston, MA, USA;Biomarker Summit2016, March 21-23, 2016 San Diego, CA, USA; 14thVaccines Research & Development, July 7-8, Boston, USA;Pharmaceutical & BiotechPatent Litigation Forum, Mar 14 - 15, 2016, Amsterdam, Netherlands; 4thBiomarkers in Diagnostics, Oct 07-08, 2015 Berlin, Germany, DEU.

Track 12:Nano Biotechnology

Nano biotechnology, bio nanotechnology, and Nano biology are terms that refer to the intersection of nanotechnology and biology. Bio nanotechnology and Nano biotechnology serve as blanket terms for various related technologies. The most important objectives that are frequently found inNano biologyinvolve applying Nano tools to relevantmedical/biologicalproblems and refining these applications. Developing new tools, such as peptide Nano sheets, for medical and biological purposes is another primary objective in nanotechnology.

Related Conferences

8thWorldMedicalNanotechnologyCongress& Expo during June 9-11, Dallas, USA; 6thGlobal Experts Meeting and Expo onNanomaterialsand Nanotechnology, April 21-23, 2016 ,Dubai, UAE; 12thNanotechnologyProductsExpo, Nov 10-12, 2016 at Melbourne, Australia; 5thInternationalConference onNanotechand Expo, November 16-18, 2015 at San Antonio, USA; 11thInternational Conference and Expo onNano scienceandMolecular Nanotechnology, September 26-28 2016, London, UK; 18thInternational Conference onNanotechnologyand Biotechnology, February 4 - 5, 2016 in Melbourne, Australia; 16thInternational Conference onNanotechnology, August 22-25, 2016 in Sendai, Japan; International Conference onNano scienceand Nanotechnology, 7-11 Feb 2016 in Canberra, Australia; 18thInternational Conference onNano scienceand Nanotechnology, February 15 - 16, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey; InternationalNanotechnologyConference& Expo, April 4-6, 2016 in Baltimore, USA.

Track 13:Bioinformatics and Biosensors

Bioinformatics is the application of computer technology to the management of biological information. Computers are used to gather, store, analyze and integrate biological and genetic information which can then be applied to gene-based drug discovery and development. The science of Bioinformatics, which is the melding of molecular biology with computer science, is essential to the use of genomic information in understanding human diseases and in the identification of newmolecular targetsfor drug discovery. This interesting field of science has many applications and research areas where it can be applied. It plays an essential role in today's plant science. As the amount of data grows exponentially, there is a parallel growth in the demand for tools and methods indata management, visualization, integration, analysis, modeling, and prediction.

Related conferences

11th World Congress onBiotechnology and Biotech IndustriesMeet, July 28-29, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 10thAsia Pacific Biotech CongressJuly 25-27, 2016, Bangkok, Thailand; 11thEuro Biotechnology Congress, November 07-09,2016, Alicante Spain; 12thBiotechnology Congress, Nov 14-15, 2016, San Francisco, USA;BIO IPCC Conference, Cary, North Carolina, USA; World Congress onIndustrial Biotechnology, April 17-20, 2016, San Diego, CA; 6thBio based Chemicals: Commercialization & Partnering, November 16-17, 2015, San Francisco, CA, USA; The European Forum forIndustrial Biotechnology and Bio economy, 27-29 October 2015, Brussels, Belgium; 4thBiotechnology World Congress, February 15th-18th, 2016, Dubai, United Arab Emirates; International Conference on Advances inBioprocess Engineering and Technology, 20th to 22nd January 2016,Kolkata, India; GlobalBiotechnology Congress2016, May 11th - 14th 2016, Boston, MA, USA

Track 14:Biotechnology investments and Biotech grants

Every new business needs some startup capital, for research, product development and production, permits and licensing and other overhead costs, in addition to what is needed to pay your staff, if you have any. Biotechnology products arise from successfulbiotechcompanies. These companies are built by talented individuals in possession of a scientific breakthrough that is translated into a product or service idea, which is ultimately brought into commercialization. At the heart of this effort is the biotech entrepreneur, who forms the company with a vision they believe will benefit the lives and health of countless individuals. Entrepreneurs start biotechnology companies for various reasons, but creatingrevolutionary productsand tools that impact the lives of potentially millions of people is one of the fundamental reasons why all entrepreneurs start biotechnology companies.

10thAsia Pacific Biotech CongressJuly 25-27, 2016, Bangkok; 11thEuroBiotechnologyCongress, November 7-9, 2016 Alicante, Spain; 11th World Congress onBiotechnology and Biotech IndustriesMeet, July 28-29, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 13thBiotechnologyCongress, November 28-30, 2016 San Francisco, USA; 10thAsia Pacific Biotech CongressJuly 25-27, 2016, Bangkok, UAE;BioInternational Convention, June 6-9, 2016 | San Francisco, CA;BiotechJapan, May 11-13, 2016, Tokyo, Japan;NANO BIOEXPO 2016, Jan. 27 - 29, 2016, Tokyo, Japan;ArabLabExpo2016, March 20-23, Dubai; 14thInternational exhibition for laboratory technology,chemical analysis, biotechnology and diagnostics, 12-14 Apr 2016, Moscow, Russia

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Biotechnology Conferences | USA Biotech events ...

Journal of Biotechnology & Biomaterials is a peer reviewed journal which publishes high quality articles reporting original research, review, commentary, opinion, rapid communication, case report etc. on all aspects of Biotechnology and Biomaterials. Content areas include Plant/Animal/Microbial Biotechnology, Applied Biotechnology, Red/Medical Biotechnology, Green/Agricultural Biotechnology, Environmental Biotechnology, Blue/Marine Biotechnology, White/Industrial Biotechnology, Food Biotechnology, Orthopedic and Dental Biomaterials, Cardiovascular Biomaterials, Ophthalmologic Biomaterials, Bioelectrodes and Biosensors, Burn Dressings and Skin Substitutes, Sutures, Drug Delivery Systems etc. This Biotechnology Journal with highest impact factor offers Open Access option to meet the needs of authors and maximize article visibility.

The journal is an academic journal providing an opportunity to researchers and scientists to explore the advanced and latest research developments in the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology and medicine. The Journal of Biotechnology and Biomaterials is of highest standards in terms of quality and provides a collaborative open access platform to the scientists throughout the world in the field of Biotechnology and Biomaterials. Journal of Biotechnology and Biomaterials is a scholarly Open Access journal and aims to publish the most complete and reliable source of information on the advanced and very latest research topics.

The journal is using the Editorial Manager System for quality in the peer-review process. Editorial Manager System is an online submission and review system, where authors can submit manuscripts and track their progress. Reviewers can download manuscripts and submit their opinions. Editors can manage the whole submission, review, revise & publish process. Publishers can see what manuscripts are in the pipeline awaiting publication.

The Journal assures a 21 days rapid review process with international peer-review standards and with quality reviewers. E-mail is sent automatically to concerned persons when significant events occur. After publishing, articles are freely available through online without any restrictions or any other subscriptions to researchers worldwide.

Applied Biotechnology is gives the major opportunity to study science on the edge of technology, innovation and even science itself. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology focusses on prokaryotic or eukaryotic cells, relevant enzymes and proteins; applied genetics and molecular biotechnology; genomics and proteomics; applied microbial and cell physiology; environmental biotechnology; process and products and more.

Related Journals of Applied Biotechnology

Current Opinion in Biotechnology, Biotechnology Advances, Biotechnology for Biofuels, Journal of Bioprocessing & Biotechniques, Journal of Bioterrorism & Biodefense, Molecular Biology, Biology and Medicine, Crop Breeding and Applied Biotechnology, Applied Mycology and Biotechnology, Asian Biotechnology and Development Review, Biotechnology applications Journals, Journal of Applied Biomaterials & Fundamental Materials.

Biomaterials are commonly used in various medical devices and systems such as drug delivery systems, hybrid organs, tissue cultures, synthetic skin, synthetic blood vessels, artificial hearts, screws, plates, cardiac pacemakers, wires and pins for bone treatments, total artificial joint implants, skull reconstruction, and dental and maxillofacial applications. Among various applications, the application of biomaterials in cardiovascular system is most significant. The use of cardiovascular biomaterials (CB) is subjected to its blood compatibility and its integration with the surrounding environment where it is implanted.

Related Journals of Cardiovascular biomaterials

Journal of Biomimetics Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering, Journal of Advanced Chemical Engineering, Journal of Bioprocessing & Biotechniques, Journal of Biomaterials Science, Polymer Edition, Journal of Biomaterials Applications, Trends in Biomaterials and Artificial Organs, International Journal of Biomaterials and Journal of Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering, Cardiovascular biomaterials Journals.

Biomaterials are used daily in surgery, dental applications and drug delivery. Biomaterial implant is a construct with impregnated pharmaceutical products which can be placed into the body, that permits the prolonged release of a drug over an extended period of time. A biomaterial may also be an autograft, allograft or xenograft used as a transplant material.

Related journals of Biomaterial implants

Advanced Functional Materials, Biomaterials, Advanced healthcare materials, Journal of Biomimetics Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering, Journal of Molecular and Genetic Medicine, Journal of Phylogenetics & Evolutionary Biology, Clinical Oral Implants Research, International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Implants, Journal of Long-Term Effects of Medical Implants and Cochlear Implants International, Biomaterials Journals, Biomaterial implants Journals.

Animal Biotechnology covers the identification and manipulation of genes and their products, stressing applications in domesticated animals. Animals are used in many ways in biotechnology. Biotechnology provides new tools for improving human health and animal health and welfare and increasing livestock productivity. Biotechnology improves the food we eat - meat, milk and eggs. Biotechnology can improve an animals impact on the environment.

Related Journals of Animal biotechnology

Journal of Bioprocessing & Biotechniques, Journal of Molecular and Genetic Medicine, Biology and Medicine, Journal of Advanced Chemical Engineering, Animal Biotechnology, African Journal of Biotechnology, Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Critical Reviews in Biotechnology and Reviews in Environmental Science and Biotechnology, Asian Journal of Microbiology Biotechnology and Environmental Sciences.

A biomaterial is any surface, matter, or construct that interacts with biological systems. The biomaterial science is the study of biomaterials. Biomaterials science encloses elements of medicine, biology, chemistry, tissue engineering and materials science. Biomaterials derived from either nature or synthesized in the laboratory using a different typrs of chemicals utilizing metallic components, polymers, ceramics or composite materials. They are oftenly used for a medical application.

Related Journals of Biomaterials

Biosensors and Bioelectronics, Journal of Bioactive and Compatible Polymers, Journal of Tissue Engineering, Journal of Biomimetics Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering, Journal of Bioterrorism & Biodefense, Fermentation Technology, Journal of Phylogenetics & Evolutionary Biology, International Journal of Nano and Biomaterials, Journal of Biomimetics, Biomaterials, and Tissue Engineering, Journal of Applied Biomaterials and Fundamental Materials, Journal of Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering and International Journal of Biomaterials.

Nanobiotechnology, nanobiology and bionanotechnology are terms that refer to the intersection of nanotechnology and biology. Bionanotechnology and nanobiotechnology serve as blanket terms for various related technologies. This discipline helps to indicate the merger of biological research with various fields of nanotechnology. Concepts enhanced through nanobiology are nanodevices, nanoparticles, and nanoscale phenomena. Nanotechnology uses biological systems as the biological inspirations.

Related Journals of Nano biotechnology

Biopolymers, Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, Journal of Bioprocessing & Biotechniques, Journal of Bioterrorism & Biodefense, Journal of Molecular and Genetic Medicine, Journal of Advanced Chemical Engineering, Journal of Nanobiotechnology, Artificial Cells, Nanomedicine and Biotechnology, IET Nanobiotechnology and Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology, Australian journal of biotechnology, International Journal of Nano & Biomaterials, Nano biotechnology Journals.

Biocatalysis are used as natural catalysts, like protein enzymes, to perform chemical transformations on organic compounds. Both enzymes that have been more or less isolated and enzymes still residing inside living cells are employed for this task. Since biocatalysis deals with enzymes and microorganisms, it is historically classified separately from "homogeneous catalysis" and "heterogeneous catalysis". However, biocatalysis is simply a heterogeneous catalysis.

Related Journals of Biocatalysis

Biology and Medicine, Fermentation Technology, Journal of Advanced Chemical Engineering, Biocatalysis and Biotransformation and Biocatalysis and Agricultural Biotechnology.

Agricultural biotechnology is a collection of scientific techniques used to improve plants, animals and microorganisms. Based on an structure and characteristics of DNA, scientists have developed solutions to increase agricultural productivity. Scientists have learned how to move genes from one organism to another. This has been called genetic modification (GM), genetic engineering (GE) or genetic improvement (GI). Regardless of the name, the process allows the transfer of useful characteristics (such as resistance to a disease) into a plant, animal or microorganism by inserting genes from another organism.

Related Journals of Agricultural biotechnology

Journal of Phylogenetics & Evolutionary Biology, Journal of Molecular and Genetic Medicine, Molecular Biology, Journal of Bioprocessing & Biotechniques, Biocatalysis and Agricultural Biotechnology and Chinese Journal of Agricultural Biotechnology, Plant Biotechnology Journal, Plant Biotechnology Journals.

A biomolecule is any molecule which is present in living organisms, entails large macromolecules like proteins, lipids, polysaccharides, and nucleic acids, as well as small molecules include primary metabolites, secondary metabolites, and natural products. A common name for this class of material is biological materials. Nucleosides are molecules formed by attaching a nucleobase to a ribose or deoxyribose ring. Nucleosides can be phosphorylated by specific kinases in the cell, producing nucleotides.

Related Journals of Bio-molecules

Molecular Biology, Biology and Medicine, Journal of Molecular and Genetic Medicine, Journal of Phylogenetics & Evolutionary Biology, Biomolecules and Therapeutics, Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology - Part B Molecular Biotechnology, Asia-Pacific Journal of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Bio-molecules Journals.

In developing countries, application of biotechnology to food processing is an issue of argument and discussions for a long time. Biotechnological study focuse development and improvement of customary fermentation processes. The application of Biotechnology to solve the environmental problems in the environment and in the ecosystems is called Environmental Biotechnology. It is applied and used to study the natural environment.

Related Journals of Biotechnology applications

NatureBiotechnology, Trends inBiotechnology, MetabolicEngineering, Journal of Bioprocessing & Biotechniques,Journal of Phylogenetics & Evolutionary Biology, Journal ofAdvanced Chemical Engineering, Applied Microbiology andBiotechnology, Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology - PartA Enzyme Engineering and Biotechnology, Biotechnology and AppliedBiochemistry, Applied Biotechnology Journals, Applied Microbiologyand Biotechnology, Systems and Synthetic Biology and IET SyntheticBiology.

Industrial or white biotechnology uses enzymes and micro-organisms to make biobased products in sectors like chemicals, food and feed, detergents, paper and pulp, textiles and bioenergy (such as biofuels or biogas). It uses renewable raw materials and is one of the most promising, newest approaches towards lowering greenhouse gas emissions. Industrial biotechnology application has been proven to make significant contributions towards mitigating the impacts of climate change in these and other sectors.

Related Journals of White/industrial biotechnology

Critical Reviews in Biotechnology, Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Microbial Biotechnology, Journal of Bioprocessing & Biotechniques, Journal of Bioterrorism & Biodefense, Fermentation Technology, Molecular Biology, Journal of Phylogenetics & Evolutionary Biology, Journal of Molecular and Genetic Medicine, Chemical Sciences Journal, Industrial Biotechnology and Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology, White/industrial biotechnology Journals.

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Biotechnology Journals | Open Access - omicsonline.org

Considering a Masters in Biotechnology Program or reviewing options for Masters Degrees in Biotechnology? A Masters in Biotechnology can openupexciting

Biotechnology is a challenging field that can involve a number of facets of both science and business or law. Many biotechnology master's degree programs focus on aspects of biology, cell biology, chemistry, or biological or chemical engineering. In general, biotechnology degrees involve research whether they are at a Masters or PhD level.

Scientific understanding is rapidly evolving, particularly in areas of cellular and molecular systems. Biotechnology master's students can therefore enjoy rich study opportunities particularly in fields such as genetic engineering, the Human Genome project, the production of new medicinal products, and research into the relationship between genetic malfunction and the origin of disease. These are just a few of the many areas that biotechnology students have the opportunity to explore today.

Another focus of biotechnology masters programs may be to equip students with the combination of science and business knowledge they need to help produce products and move them toward production. Today's complex business environment and government regulations require many steps and people with the ability to both understand and help produce new scientific technologies as well as get them approved and be able to market them.

Master degrees in biotechnology might prepare students to pursue careers in a variety of industries. While many students go on to further research or academic positions, there may also be some demand for biotechnologists outside of academia, both in the government and private sectors. Biotechnologists might pursue careers in anything from research to applied science and manufacturing. Those with specializations in business aspects of biotechnology may be qualified to pursue management positions within organizations attempting to produce and market new biotechnology.

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Masters in Biotechnology Programs and ... - Masters PhD Degrees

Environmental biotechnology is biotechnology that is applied to and used to study the natural environment. Environmental biotechnology could also imply that one try to harness biological process for commercial uses and exploitation. The International Society for Environmental Biotechnology defines environmental biotechnology as "the development, use and regulation of biological systems for remediation of contaminated environments (land, air, water), and for environment-friendly processes (green manufacturing technologies and sustainable development)".[1]

Environmental biotechnology can simply be described as "the optimal use of nature, in the form of plants, animals, bacteria, fungi and algae, to produce renewable energy, food and nutrients in a synergistic integrated cycle of profit making processes where the waste of each process becomes the feedstock for another process".[2]

Science through the IAASTD has called for the advancement of small-scale agro-ecological farming systems and technology in order to achieve food security, climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation and the realisation of the Millennium Development Goals. Environmental biotechnology has been shown to play a significant roll in agroecology in the form of zero waste agriculture and most significantly through the operation of over 15 million biogas digesters worldwide.

Consider an environment in which pollution of a particular type is maximum. Let us consider the effluents of a starch industry which has mixed up with a local water body like a lake or pond. We find huge deposits of starch which are not so easily taken up for degradation by micro-organisms except for a few exemptions. we isolate a few micro-organisms from the polluted site and scan for any significant changes in their genome like mutations or evolutions. The modified genes are then identified. This is done because, the isolate would have adapted itself to degrade/utilize the starch better than other microbes of the same genus. Thus, the resultant genes are cloned onto industrially significant micro-organisms and are used for more economically significant processes like in pharmaceutical industry, fermentations...etc.

Similar situations can be elucitated like in the case of oil spills in the oceans which require cleanup, microbes isolated from oil rich environments like oil wells, oil transfer pipelines...etc. have been found having the potential to degrade oil or use it as an energy source. Thus they serve as a remedy to oil spills.

Still another elucidation would be in the case of microbes isolated from pesticide rich soils These would be capable of utilizing the pesticides as energy source and hence when mixed along with bio-fertilizers, would serve as excellent insurance against increased pesticide-toxicity levels in agricultural platform.

But the counter argument would be that whether these newly introduced microorganisms would create an imbalance in the environment concerned.The mutual harmony in which the organisms in that particular environment existed may have to face alteration and we should be extremely careful so as to not disturb the mutual relationships already existing in the environment of both the benefits and the disadvantages would pave way for an improvised version of environmental biotechnology. After all it is the environment that we strive to protect.

Humans have been manipulating genetic material for centuries. Although many benefits are provided by these manipulations, there can also be unexpected, negative health and environmental outcomes. Environmental biotechnology, then, is all about the balance between the applications that provide for these and the implications of manipulating genetic material.[3] Textbooks address both the applications and implications. Environmental engineering texts addressing sewage treatment and biological principles are often now considered to be environmental biotechnology texts. These generally address the applications of biotechnologies, whereas the implications of these technologies are less often addressed; usually in books concerned with potential impacts and even catastrophic events.

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Environmental biotechnology - Wikipedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Biotechnology Portal

Welcome to the Biotechnology portal. Biotechnology is a technology based on biology, especially when used in agriculture, food science, and medicine.

Of the many different definitions available, the one declared by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity is one of the broadest:

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Portal:Biotechnology/Selected questions/November

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Cloning is the process of creating an identical copy of an original. A clone in the biological sense, therefore, is a single cell (like bacteria, lymphocytes etc.) or multi-cellular organism that is genetically identical to another living organism. Sometimes this can refer to "natural" clones made either when an organism reproduces asexually or when two genetically identical individuals are produced by accident (as with identical twins), but in common parlance the clone is an identical copy by some conscious design. Also see clone (genetics). The term clone is derived from , the Greek word for "twig". In horticulture, the spelling clon was used until the twentieth century; the final e came into use to indicate the vowel is a "long o" instead of a "short o". Since the term entered the popular lexicon in a more general context, the spelling clone has been used exclusively.

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Portal:Biotechnology - Wikipedia

Food and feed generally originates from plants and animals grown and bred by humans for several thousand years. Over time, those plants and animals with the most desirable characteristics were chosen for breeding the next generations of food and feed. This was, for example, the case for plants with an increased resistance to environmental pressures such as diseases or with an increased yield.

These desirable characteristics appeared through naturally occurring variations in the genetic make-up of those plants and animals. In recent times, it has become possible to modify the genetic make-up of living cells and organisms using techniques of modern biotechnology called gene technology. The genetic material is modified artificially to give it a new property (e.g. a plant's resistance to a disease, insect or drought, a plant's tolerance to a herbicide, improving a food's quality or nutritional value, increased yield).

Such organisms are called "genetically modified organisms" (GMOs). Food and feed which contain or consist of such GMOs, or are produced from GMOs, are called "genetically modified (GM) food or feed".

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Genetically Modified Organisms - European Commission

Program Goal:The biotechnology program is designed to prepare students for employment as technicians who will work in a laboratory or industrial setting. Biotechnology is a wide-ranging field encompassing: DNA/RNA and protein isolation, characterization, and sequencing; cell culture; genetic modification of organisms; toxicology; vaccine sterility testing; antibody isolation and production; and the development of diagnostic and therapeutic agents. This hands-on program is designed to meet local, statewide, and national need for laboratory technicians. Graduates are thoroughly grounded in basic laboratory skills and trained in advanced molecular biology techniques. Students are acclimated to both research and industrial environments. The program emphasizes laboratory-based, universal, and scalable technical skills resulting in a thorough and comprehensive understanding of the methodology.

Program Entrance Requirements: To be admitted into the biotechnology Degree Program, a student must have,

Achieved a level of English and reading proficiency which qualifies the student for entry into ENC 1101 or higher as demonstrated by the standard placement criteria currently in use at State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota (SCF)

Achieved a level ofmathematics proficiency which qualifies the student for entry into MAC 1105 or higher as demonstrated by the standard placement criteria currently in use at SCF

Achieved a level of chemistry and biological content proficiency equivalent to that covered in CHM 1025C and BSC 1007C as demonstrated by the standard placement criteria currently in use at SCF

Suggested course of study:

1

3

College Algebra

MAC 1105

3

4

Total Hours

12

4

3

Social and

Behavioral

Sciences

Must be an area III

Socialor Behavioral Science.

3

4

Total Hours

13

4

4

3

Total Hours

11

4

4

5

Total Hours

13

3

5

3

4

Total Hours

12

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Biotechnology A.S. Degree

Track 1:Pharmaceutical Biotechnology

Pharmaceutical Biotechnology is the science that covers all technologies required for producing, manufacturing and registration of biological drugs.Pharmaceutical Biotechnologyis an increasingly important area of science and technology. It contributes in design and delivery of new therapeutic drugs,diagnosticagents for medical tests, and in gene therapy for correcting the medical symptoms of hereditary diseases. The Pharmaceutical Biotechnology is widely spread, ranging from many ethical issues to changes inhealthcarepractices and a significant contribution to the development of national economy.Biopharmaceuticalsconsists of large biological molecules which areproteins. They target the underlying mechanisms and pathways of a disease or ailment; it is a relatively young industry. They can deal with targets in humans that are not accessible with traditional medicines.

RelatedBiotechnology Conferences

6thWorld Congress onBiotechnology, October 05-07, 2016, New Delhi India; 10thAsia PacificBiotechCongress July 25-27, 2016, Bangkok, Thailand; 2ndIndustrialBiotechnologyCongress, July 28-29, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 12thBiotechnologyCongress, Nov 14-15, 2016, San Francisco, USA; Global Biotechnology Congress 2016, May 11th - 14th 2016, Boston, MA, USA;BiomarkerSummit 2016, March 21-23, 2016 San Diego, CA, USA; 14th Vaccines Research & Development, July 7-8, 2016 Boston, USA; Pharmaceutical &Biotech Patent LitigationForum, Mar 14 - 15, 2016, Amsterdam, Netherlands;

Track 2:Biotechnology in Health Care

Biotechnology in health care represents the complex of modern biological approaches in the field of healthcare research and industry. Healthcare Biotechnology methods are used primarily in pharmaceutical industry and modern clinical diagnostics. The research training in this domain is programmed for the candidates intending to develop their careers in scientific-research institutions, clinical anddiagnostic laboratories, analytical services,pharmacologicalandpharmaceutical companies, etc. For the first time in the history of human healthcare, biotechnology is enabling the development and manufacturing of therapies for a number of rare diseases with a genetic origin. Although individually rare, collectively thesediseasesaffect some 20-30 million individuals and their families with 70-80% having a genetic component requiring biotechnology as part of the solution.

RelatedBiotechnology Conferences

6thWorld Congress onBiotechnology, October 05-07, 2016, New Delhi India; 10thAsia PacificBiotechCongress July 25-27, 2016, Bangkok, Thailand; 2ndIndustrialBiotechnologyCongress, July 28-29, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 12thBiotechnologyCongress, Nov 14-15, 2016, San Francisco, USA; 3rd CaribbeanBiomedicalResearch Days, January 16-18, 2016, Rodney Bay, Saint Lucia; GlobalBiotechnologyCongress 2016, May 11th-14th 2016, Boston, MA, USA;BiomarkerSummit 2016, March 21-23, 2016 San Diego, CA, USA; 14thVaccinesResearch & Development, July 7-8, Boston, USA;Pharmaceutical&BiotechPatentLitigation Forum, Mar 14 - 15, 2016, Amsterdam, Netherlands; 4thBiomarkersinDiagnostics, Oct 07-08, 2015 Berlin, Germany, DEU.

Track 3:Food Biotechnology

Food biotechnology is a process scientists use to enhance the production,nutritional value, safety, and taste of foods. It can also benefit the environment by improving crops so that they need fewerpesticides. The concept is not new: For centuries farmers have selectively bred plants to pass on desirable qualities. For example, our ancestors began by replanting only corn seeds from the highest yielding and best tasting corn they grew each year. This process selected desirable genes and fixed them by growing the seeds of the selected crop year after year. The result: the golden, deliciously sweet product we now enjoy. Modernfood biotechnologyis a refined version of this same process. Today, scientists obtain desired traits by adding or removing plant genes. This process is called genetic engineering or recombinant DNA technology. It yields foods that are flavorful, contain more vitamins and minerals, and absorb less fat when cooked, and gives us crops that are more resistant to pests and insects. Food biotechnology holds great promise for the future. Soon, fruits and vegetables may be made to resist drought. We may remove allergens from foods such as nuts. Scientists may develop plants that absorb nitrogen more efficiently and need lessfertilizer. The benefits are nearly limitless!

RelatedBiotechnology Conferences

3rdGlobal Food Safety Conference, September 01-03, 2016, Atlanta USA; 10thAsia PacificBiotechCongress July 25-27, 2016, Bangkok, Thailand; 2ndIndustrialBiotechnologyCongress, July 28-29, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 12thBiotechnologyCongress, Nov 14-15, 2016, San Francisco, USA;BiologicallyActive Compounds inFood, October 15-16 2015 Lodz, Poland; World Conference on InnovativeAnimal NutritionandFeeding, October 15-17, 2015 Budapest, Hungary; 18th International Conference onFood ScienceandBiotechnology, November 28 - 29, 2016, Istanbul, Turkey; 18th International Conference onAgricultural Science,Biotechnology,FoodandAnimal Science, January 7 - 8, 2016, Singapore; International IndonesiaSeafood and Meat, 1517 October 2016, Jakarta, Indonesia; International Conference of Eco-friendlyApplied BiologicalControl ofAgricultural PestsandPhytopathogens, 19 -22 October 2015, Cairo, Egypt;Food Structures,DigestionandHealth3rd International Conference, 28-30 October, Wellington, New Zealand; Conference ofCereal BiotechnologyandBreeding, November 2-4, 2015, Berlin, Germany; AdvancedWater TreatmentforFood & Beverage, November 3-4, 2015 Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Track 4:Industrial and Microbial Biotechnology

Industrial or white biotechnology uses enzymes and micro-organisms to make biobased products in sectors such as chemicals,food and feed, detergents, paper and pulp, textiles andbioenergy. The application of industrial biotechnology has been proven to make significant contributions towards mitigating the impacts of climate change in these and other sectors. In addition to environmental benefits, biotechnology can improve industrys performance and product value and, as the technology develops and matures,white biotechnologywill yield more and more viable solutions for our environment. These innovative solutions bring added benefits for both our climate and our economy.

RelatedBiotechnology Conferences

6thWorld Congress onBiotechnology, October 05-07, 2016, New Delhi India; 10thAsia PacificBiotechCongress July 25-27, 2016, Bangkok, Thailand; 2ndIndustrialBiotechnologyCongress, July 28-29, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 12thBiotechnologyCongress, Nov 14-15, 2016, San Francisco, USA; BIO IPCC Conference, Cary, North Carolina, USA; World Congress onIndustrial Biotechnology, April 17-20, 2016, San Diego, CA; The European Forum forIndustrial Biotechnologyand theBioeconomy, 27-29 October 2015, Brussels, Belgium; 4thBiotechnologyWorld Congress, February 15th-18th, 2016, Dubai, United Arab Emirates; International Conference on Advances inBioprocess EngineeringandTechnology, 20th to 22nd January 2016,Kolkata, India; GlobalBiotechnologyCongress 2016, May 11th - 14th 2016, Boston, MA, USA

Track 5:Nanobiotechnology

Nanobiotechnologyis beginning to allow scientists, engineers, and physicians to work at the cellular and molecular levels to produce major benefits to life sciences and healthcare. In the next century, the emerging field of nanotechnology will lead to new biotechnology based industries and novel approaches in medicine. Nanobiotechnology is that branch of nanotechnology that deals with biological and biochemical applications or uses. Nanobiotechnology often studies existing elements of living organisms and nature to fabricate newnano-devices. Generally, nanobiotechnology refers to the use of nanotechnology to further the goals of biotechnology. Some of the innovative challenges in the field of biology are: New molecular imaging techniques, Quantitative analytical tools, Physical model of the cell as a machine, Better ex-vivo tests and improvement in current laboratory techniques and Better drug delivery systems.

RelatedBiotechnology Conferences

6thWorld Congress onBiotechnology, October 05-07, 2016, New Delhi India; 10thAsia PacificBiotechCongress July 25-27, 2016, Bangkok, Thailand; 2ndIndustrial BiotechnologyCongress, July 28-29, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 12thBiotechnologyCongress, Nov 14-15, 2016, San Francisco, USA;NanoBioTech-Montreux, November 16-18, 2015, Switzerland; International Conference onNanobiotechnology(ICNB'16), April 1-2, 2016, Prague, Czech Republic; InternationalNanotechnologyConference & Expo, April 4-6, 2016 Baltimore, USA;

Track 6:Plant Biotechnology

Plant biotechnology is the technique used to manipulate the plants for specific needs or requirement. In traditional process seed is the major source for germinating a new plant but the advance method is independent that combines multiple needs to get the required traits.Plant biotechnologymeets the challenge that includesgenomics,genetic engineering,tissue culture, andtransgenic cropsetc. These biotechnological applications allow researchers to detect and map genes and discover their functions, selection of specific genes in genetic resources and its breeding and to customize the plant according to the requirement by transferring the genes of specific traits to combine with others to create a new species. The recent advances in plant biotechnology provide potential way to make improvements much more quickly than conventionalplant breedingtechniques. Plant tissue culture is a part of plant biotechnology which is the collection of many techniques that is used to maintain and grow plant, plant cells, plant tissues under controlled sterile conditions over the nutrient medium. Plant tissue culture is the convenient method produce clones of a plant through the process calledmicropropagation. The main advantage of this method is to produce exact and multiple copies of plants with good desired properties like good flowers, fruits and other characters within small span of time. Production of multiple plants without seed, production of genetically modified plants, the tissue culture plants are resistant to the diseases,pathogensand pests, also it is the best method to store the gene pools and many more

RelatedBiotechnology Conferences

6thWorld Congress onBiotechnology, October 05-07, 2016, New Delhi India; 10thAsia PacificBiotechCongress July 25-27, 2016, Bangkok, Thailand; 2ndIndustrialBiotechnologyCongress, July 28-29, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 12thBiotechnologyCongress, Nov 14-15, 2016, San Francisco, USA; 3rd CaribbeanBiomedicalResearch Days, January 16-18, 2016, Rodney Bay, Saint Lucia;Global BiotechnologyCongress 2016, May 11th - 14th 2016, Boston, MA, USA; 18th International Conference onAgricultural Biotechnology, Biological and Biosystems Engineering, January 18-19, 2016, London, United Kingdom; 2nd International Conference on Biotechnology andAgriculture EngineeringApril 08-09 2016 in Tokyo, Japan; Food Structures, Digestion andHealth3rd International Conference, 28-30 October 2015, Wellington, New Zealand; 3rd Conference ofCereal Biotechnologyand Breeding, November 2-4, 2015, Berlin, Germany;

Track 7:Agricultural Biotechnology

Agricultural biotechnologyis the area of biotechnology involving applications to agriculture. Agricultural biotechnology has been practiced for a long time, as people have sought to improve agriculturally important organisms by selection and breeding. An example of traditional agricultural biotechnology is the development of disease-resistant wheat varieties by cross-breeding different wheat types until the desired disease resistance was present in a resulting new variety. Modern agricultural biotechnology improves crops in more targeted ways. The best known technique is genetic modification, but the term agricultural biotechnology (or green biotechnology) also covers such techniques as Marker Assisted Breeding, which increases the effectiveness of conventional breeding. Whatever the particular technology used, the crops may be destined for use for food,biomaterialsor energy production.Genetic modificationmeans that existing genes are modified or new genes included to give plant varieties desirable characteristics, such as resistance to certain pests or herbicides, or forvitaminfortification. Because only a few genes with known traits are transferred, GM methods are more targeted and faster thantraditional breeding. Biotechnology has helped to increase crop productivity by introducing such qualities as disease resistance and increased drought tolerance to the crops.

RelatedBiotechnology Conferences

6thWorld Congress onBiotechnology, October 05-07, 2016, New Delhi India; 10thAsia PacificBiotechCongress July 25-27, 2016, Bangkok, Thailand; 2ndIndustrialBiotechnologyCongress, July 28-29, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 12thBiotechnologyCongress, Nov 14-15, 2016, San Francisco, USA; Conference onAgricultural Statistics2015, Sarawak, Malaysia; 2nd International Conference onGlobal Food Security, 11-14 October 2015, Ithaca, United States; 5th International Conference onOrganic AgricultureSciences, 14th-17th October 2015, Bratislava, Slovakia; 18thInternational Conference onAgricultural, Biotechnology, Biological and Biosystems Engineering, January 18-19, 2016, London, United Kingdom; 2nd International Conference on Biotechnology andAgriculture EngineeringApril 08-09 2016 in Tokyo, Japan;Food Structures, Digestion andHealth3rd International Conference, 28-30 October 2015, Wellington, New Zealand; 3rd Conference of Cereal Biotechnology andBreeding, November 2-4, 2015, Berlin, Germany; AdvancedWater TreatmentforFood & Beverage, 3-4 Nov 2015, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Track 8:Environmental Biotechnology

Environmental biotechnology is biotechnology that is applied to and used to study the natural environment. Environmental biotechnology could also imply that one try to harness biological process for commercial uses and exploitation. The International Society for Environmental Biotechnology defines environmental biotechnology as "the development, use and regulation of biological systems for remediation of contaminated environments (land, air, water), and for environment-friendly processes (green manufacturing technologies and sustainable development)

RelatedBiotechnology Conferences

5th International Conference onBiodiversity, March 10-12, 2016 at Madrid, Spain; International Conference on Biotechnology andEnvironmental ManagementSeptember 14-15 Milan, Italy; 6thWorld Congress onBiotechnology, October 05-07, 2016, New Delhi India; 10thAsia PacificBiotechCongress July 25-27, 2016, Bangkok, Thailand; 2ndIndustrial BiotechnologyCongress, July 28-29, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 12thBiotechnologyCongress, Nov 14-15, 2016, San Francisco, USA; International Conference onGreen Energy& Expo September 21-23, 2015 Orlando, FL, USA; International Conference on Environment,Energy and Biotechnology, May 25, 2016 Jeju Island, Republic of Korea; International Conference on Energy andEnvironmental Biotechnology, November 24 - 25, 2015 Dubai, UAE; Science for theEnvironmentConference 2015, October 1-2 2016 Aarhus, Denmark; International Conference onEnvironmental Scienceand Technology 14th to 17th May 2016, Antalya, Turkey

Track 9:Marine Biotechnology

Marine Biotechnology is a relatively new field of study, having emerged in the past few years. The Marine Biotechnology is intended to host scientific contributions inmarine sciencethat are based on the enormousbiodiversityof marine ecosystems and the genetic uniqueness of marine organisms to develop useful products and applications.Aquaculture& Marine Biotechnology have been the subject of great importance not only because of the sustainable utilization of their resources to feed the billion people of the world but also for the future challenges for discovery of new products and process development of economic importance through its treasure recognition and diversification. Apart from contributing to high quality and healthy food (aquaculture),nutraceuticalsand medicinal products (anti-cancer andantimicrobials), this sector is expected to contribute to sustainable alternative source of energy (biofuelfrom microalgae) and environmental health. Marine Biotechnology is capable of making an important contribution towards meeting impending challenges like a sustainable supply of food and energy and human health.

RelatedBiotechnology Conferences

5th International Conference on Biodiversity, March 10-12, 2016 at Madrid, Spain; International Conference on Biotechnology and Environmental Management September 14-15, Milan, Italy; 6thWorld Congress onBiotechnology, October 05-07, 2016, New Delhi India; 10thAsia PacificBiotechCongress July 25-27, 2016, Bangkok, Thailand; 2ndIndustrial BiotechnologyCongress, July 28-29, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 12thBiotechnologyCongress, Nov 14-15, 2016, San Francisco, USA;BioMarine2015, 12-14 Oct 2016, Wilmington, NC, United States; International Conference onMarine BiotechnologyandBioprocessing, December 10 - 11, 2015, Sydney, Australia; Annual world congress ofMarine Biotechnology-2015, November 6-8 2015, Qingdao, China;Global BiotechnologyCongress 2016, May 11th - 14th 2016, Boston, MA, USA; Annual InternationalMarine BiotechnologyConference, Nov 20, 2013, Brisbane, Australia

Track 10:Current Scenario of Biotechnology

Due to multidisciplinary nature of the field of biotechnology, a wide range of different branches of science have made significant contributions to the fast development of this field. Some of these disciplines are-biochemical engineering,physiology,biochemistry,food science,material science,bioinformatics,immunology,molecular biology,chemical engineeringetc. Biotechnology is also improving the lives of people around the world. Biotechnology also has affected economy in a positive way due to the creation and growth of small business, generation of new jobs. Agricultural biotechnology has reduced our dependency on pesticides.Bioremediation technologiesare being used to clean our environment by removing toxic substances from contaminated ground water and soils. about 60% of the biotechnology products in the market are healthcare products and 21% are products used in agriculture andanimal husbandry. A considerable amount of efforts in research are on, to use and extract benefit from this interesting and upcoming field for the betterment of human life and the environment. Many biochemical companies are involved in the production of biotechnological products usinggenetic engineeringtechniques.

RelatedBiotechnology Conferences

6thWorld Congress onBiotechnology, October 05-07, 2016, New Delhi India; 10thAsia PacificBiotechCongress July 25-27, 2016, Bangkok, Thailand; 2ndIndustrial BiotechnologyCongress, July 28-29, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 12thBiotechnologyCongress, Nov 14-15, 2016, San Francisco, USA;Global BiotechnologyCongress 2016, May 11th - 14th 2016, Boston, MA, USA;Global BiotechnologyCongress 2016, May 11th - 14th 2016, Boston, MA, USA;

Track 11:Animal Biotechnology

Biotechnology provides new tools for improvinghuman healthand animal health and welfare and increasinglivestock productivity. Biotechnology improves the food we eat-meat, milk and eggs. Biotechnology can improve an animals impact on the environment. And biotechnology enhances ability to detect, treat and prevent diseases. Just like other assistedreproduction techniquessuch asartificial insemination,embryo transferandin vitro fertilization, livestockcloningimproves animal breeding programs allowing farmers and ranchers to produce healthier offspring, and therefore producer healthier, safer and higher quality foods more consistently.

RelatedBiotechnology Conferences|Biotechnology Events|Biochemistry Conferences

6thWorld Congress onBiotechnology, October 05-07, 2016, New Delhi India; 10thAsia PacificBiotechCongress July 25-27, 2016, Bangkok, Thailand; 2ndIndustrial BiotechnologyCongress, July 28-29, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 12thBiotechnologyCongress, Nov 14-15, 2016, San Francisco, USA;Global BiotechnologyCongress 2016, May 11th - 14th 2016, Boston, MA, USA;BiomarkerSummit 2016, March 21-23, 2016 San Diego, CA, USA; 14thVaccinesResearch & Development, July 7-8, Boston, USA;

Track 12:Biomass and Bioenergy

Bioenergyis the chemical energy contained in organic matter (biomass) which can be converted into energy forms that we can use directly, such as electricity, heat and liquid fuel. Biomass is any organic matter of recently living plant or animal origin. Unlike coal, the organic matter is notfossilised.Bioenergy plantscan range from small domestic heating systems to multi-megawatt industrial plants requiring hundreds of thousands of tonnes ofbiomassfuel each year. A variety of technologies exists to release and use the energy contained in biomass. They range from combustion technologies that are well proven and widely used around the world for generating electricity generation, to emerging technologies that convert biomass intoliquid fuelsfor road, sea and air transport.

RelatedBiotechnology Conferences

6thWorld Congress onBiotechnology, October 05-07, 2016, New Delhi India; 10thAsia PacificBiotechCongress July 25-27, 2016, Bangkok, Thailand; 2ndIndustrial BiotechnologyCongress, July 28-29, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 12thBiotechnologyCongress, Nov 14-15, 2016, San Francisco, USA;Global BiotechnologyCongress 2016, May 11th - 14th 2016, Boston, MA, USA; IEABioenergyConference 2016, October 26th-29th2016, Berlin, Germany; Summit onIndustrial biotechnologyandBioenergy, December 7 -9, 2016 San Diego, California; Energy Conference, Des Moines, Oct 13-15 Iowa, USA; EuropeanBiomassConference and Exhibition Amsterdam, 6-9, June, Germany Netherlands; EcoSummit 2016, August 29 - September 01 2016, Montpellier, France; InternationalBioenergyand Bioproducts Conference, October 28-30, 2016 Atlanta, Georgia; 2016 InternationalBiomassConference & Expo, Charlotte, North Carolina;World Bioenergy2016, May 24-26 2016, Stockholm, Sweden; 2016 InternationalFuel EthanolWorkshop & Expo, June 20-23, 2016 Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Track 13:Biotechnology and its Applications

The applications of biotechnology are so broad, and the advantages so compelling, that virtually every industry is using this technology. Developments are underway in areas as diverse aspharmaceuticals, diagnostics,textiles,aquaculture,forestry, chemicals, household products,environmental cleanup,food processingand forensics to name a few. Biotechnology is enabling these industries to make new or better products, often with greater speed, efficiency and flexibility. Biotechnology holds significant promise to the future but certain amount of risk is associated with any area.

RelatedBiotechnology Conferences

6thWorld Congress onBiotechnology, October 05-07, 2016, New Delhi India; 10thAsia PacificBiotechCongress July 25-27, 2016, Bangkok, Thailand; 2ndIndustrial BiotechnologyCongress, July 28-29, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 12thBiotechnologyCongress, Nov 14-15, 2016, San Francisco, USA;Global BiotechnologyCongress 2016, May 11th - 14th 2016, Boston, MA, USA; IEABioenergyConference 2016, October 26th-29th2016, Berlin, Germany; Summit onIndustrial biotechnologyandBioenergy, December 7 -9, 2016 San Diego, California;Global BiotechnologyCongress 2016, May 11th - 14th 2016, Boston, MA, USA;

Track 14:Biotechnology Market

The growth of Biotechnology industry as per Transparency Market Research is estimated to observe substantial growth during 2010 and 2017 as investments from around the world are anticipated to rise, especially from emerging economical regions of the world. The report states that the global market for biotechnology, studied according to its application areas, shall grow at an average annual growth rate of CAGR 11.6% from 2012 to 2017 and reach a value worth USD 414.5 billion by the end of 2017. This market was valued approximately USD 216.5 billion in 2011. The market of bioagriculture, combined with that of bioseeds, is projected to reach a value worthUSD 27.46 billionby 2018. The field of biopharmaceuticals dominated the global biotechnology market and accounted for 60% shares of it in the year 2011. Many biotechnological industries flourished by the technological advancements leading to new discoveries and rising demands from the pharmaceutical and agricultural sectors.

RelatedBiotechnology Conferences

6thWorld Congress onBiotechnology, October 05-07, 2016, New Delhi India; 10thAsia PacificBiotechCongress July 25-27, 2016, Bangkok, Thailand; 2ndIndustrial BiotechnologyCongress, July 28-29, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 12thBiotechnologyCongress, Nov 14-15, 2016, San Francisco, USA;Global BiotechnologyCongress 2016, May 11th - 14th 2016, Boston, MA, USA;BIO Investor Forum, October 20-21, 2015, San Francisco, USA; BIO Latin America Conference, October 14-16, 2015, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; BioPharm Americ 2015-8thAnnual International Partnering Conference, September 15-17, 2015, Boston, MA, USA;

Track 15: Biotech Companies and Market Analysis

The biotechnology community in Europe has seen significant growth in recent years. By establishing itself in several key niche markets, the European biotech and pharma industries have thrived in the global biopharmaceutical market. Europe high standards for their life science educational systems have increased the level of growth and the quality of Europes workforce and broadened Europes reach within the world. With a dedication to innovation and research, Europe has established itself as a leader in biotechnology.

RelatedBiotechnology Conferences

6thWorld Congress onBiotechnology, October 05-07, 2016, New Delhi India; 10thAsia PacificBiotechCongress July 25-27, 2016, Bangkok, Thailand; 2ndIndustrial BiotechnologyCongress, July 28-29, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 12thBiotechnologyCongress, Nov 14-15, 2016, San Francisco, USA;Global BiotechnologyCongress 2016, May 11th - 14th 2016, Boston, MA, USA;BIO Investor Forum, October 20-21, 2015, San Francisco, USA; BIO Latin America Conference, October 14-16, 2015, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; BioPharm Americ 2015-8thAnnual International Partnering Conference, September 15-17, 2015, Boston, MA, USA;

Track 16: Biotech Startups and Funding:

Biotechnology being an emerging industry, game-changing strategies and relevant application of the knowledge-intelligence resource pool, drive the process of growth. Europe Biotechnology seeks to enhance, enrich and encourage newer innovations, path-breaking discoveries and effective solutions in the industry by offering a vibrant global platform for convergence of the key stakeholders - Biotech & Biopharma Companies, research institutions, investors, service providers, policy makers, regulators and analysts.

RelatedBiotechnology Conferences

6thWorld Congress onBiotechnology, October 05-07, 2016, New Delhi India; 10thAsia PacificBiotechCongress July 25-27, 2016, Bangkok, Thailand; 2ndIndustrial BiotechnologyCongress, July 28-29, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 12thBiotechnologyCongress, Nov 14-15, 2016, San Francisco, USA;Global BiotechnologyCongress 2016, May 11th - 14th 2016, Boston, MA, USA;BIO Investor Forum, October 20-21, 2015, San Francisco, USA; BIO Latin America Conference, October 14-16, 2015, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; BioPharm Americ 2015-8thAnnual International Partnering Conference, September 15-17, 2015, Boston, MA, USA;

Track 17: Advances in Biotech Manufacturing

The biotechnology community in Asia has seen significant growth in recent years. By establishing itself in several key niche markets, the European biotech and pharma industries have thrived in the global biopharmaceutical market. Asias high standards for their life science educational systems have increased the level of growth and the quality of Asias workforce and broadened Asias reach within the world. With a dedication to innovation and research, Asia has established itself as a leader in biotechnology.

RelatedBiotechnology Conferences

6thWorld Congress onBiotechnology, October 05-07, 2016, New Delhi India; 10thAsia PacificBiotechCongress July 25-27, 2016, Bangkok, Thailand; 2ndIndustrial BiotechnologyCongress, July 28-29, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 12thBiotechnologyCongress, Nov 14-15, 2016, San Francisco, USA;Global BiotechnologyCongress 2016, May 11th - 14th 2016, Boston, MA, USA;BIO Investor Forum, October 20-21, 2015, San Francisco, USA; BIO Latin America Conference, October 14-16, 2015, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; BioPharm Americ 2015-8thAnnual International Partnering Conference, September 15-17, 2015, Boston, MA, USA;

Track 18: Biotech Investors and Grants

The biotechnology industry hauled in $2.3 billion worth of venture capital investments during the second quarter of this yeara 32% increase over the prior quarter, according to the newest MoneyTree Report from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), with data from Thomson Reuters. The 126 deals struck during the period marked the biggest quarterly investment in biotech since the MoneyTree report first came out in 1995, and it brought the total for the first half to $3.8 billion.

RelatedBiotechnology Conferences

6thWorld Congress onBiotechnology, October 05-07, 2016, New Delhi India; 10thAsia PacificBiotechCongress July 25-27, 2016, Bangkok, Thailand; 2ndIndustrial BiotechnologyCongress, July 28-29, 2016, Berlin, Germany; 12thBiotechnologyCongress, Nov 14-15, 2016, San Francisco, USA;Global BiotechnologyCongress 2016, May 11th - 14th 2016, Boston, MA, USA;BIO Investor Forum, October 20-21, 2015, San Francisco, USA; BIO Latin America Conference, October 14-16, 2015, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; BioPharm Americ 2015-8thAnnual International Partnering Conference, September 15-17, 2015, Boston, MA, USA;

8th Euro Biotechnology Congress (Euro Biotechnology-2015) was held during August 18-20, 2015 at Flemings Conference Hotel, Frankfurt, Germany. The conference was marked with the attendance of Editorial Board Members of supported OMICS Group Journals, Scientists, young and brilliant researchers, business delegates and talented student communities representing more than 30 countries, who made this conference fruitful and productive.

This conference was based on the theme Biotechnology for a Better Tomorrow which included the following scientific tracks:

Biotechnology in Health Care Environmental Biotechnology Industrial Aspects of Biotechnology Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine Marine Biotechnology and Aquaculture Agriculture Biotechnology Animal Biotechnology Food and Bio Process Biotechnology Cell and Molecular Biology Nanobiotechnology Genetic Engineering and rDNA Technology Current Scenarios and other allied areas of Biotechnology

We are thankful to our below Honourable guests and Keynote Speakers for their generous support and suggestions.

Manfred T Reetz Philipps-University, Germany

W Tim Miller - Echelon-Frontier Scientific Inc, USA

Wilfried Schwab - Technische Universitt Mnchen, Germany

Aline Zimmer- Merck Millipore, Germany

The conference proceedings were carried out through various Scientific-sessions and plenary lectures, of which the following topics were highlighted as Keynote-presentations:

Increasing the efficiency of directed evolution of enzymes: Manfred T Reetz, Philipps-University of Marburg, Germany

Trade secrets and laboratory security: Frontier Scientific Inc, USA

Aroma glucoside production: Wilfried Schwab, Technische Universitt Mnchen, Germany

Chemically modified cysteine in fed-batch processes and impact on CHO specific productivity: Aline Zimmer, Merck Millipore, USA

Synthetic mRNAs present a rapidly growing technology: Optimized tool for stem cell generation and for manipulating cellular phenotypes : Guido Krupp, Amptec GmbH, Germany

Novel synthetic anti-microbial defensins through confrontational selection and screening of yeast libraries: K Yankulov, University of Guelph, Canada

Long acting recombinant glycoprotein hormones: From bench to clinics, Fuad Fares, University of Haifa, Israel

Poster Session was judged by K Yankulov, University of Guelph, Canada

The esteemed guests, Keynote speakers, well-known researchers and delegates shared their innovative research and vast experience through their fabulous presentations at the podium of grand Euro Biotechnology-2015. We are glad to inform that all accepted abstracts for the conference have been published in OMICS Group Journal of Biotechnology & Biomaterials as a special issue.

We are also obliged to various delegate experts, company representatives and other eminent personalities who supported the conference by facilitating active discussion forums. We sincerely thank the Organizing Committee Members for their gracious presence, support, and assistance. With the unique feedback from the conference, OMICS Group would like to announce the commencement of the 11th Euro Biotechnology Congress" to be held during November 07-09, 2016 at Alicante, Spain

Let us meet Again @ Euro Biotechnology-2016

Biotechnology-2014

OMICS Group Conferencessuccessfully hosted its premier5thWorld Congress on Biotechnologyduring June25-27, 2014 Valencia Conference centre, Valencia Spain

This World congress was accomplished by the support of European Biotechnology Thematic Network Association (EBTNA), Valencia Bioregion (BIOVAL), Federation of Spanish Biotechnologist (FEBiotec) and Societ Italo-Latinoamericana di Etnomedicina (SILAE). Biotechnology-2014 marked with the attendance of Editorial Board Members of supported OMICS Group Journals, Scientists, young and brilliant researchers, business delegates and talented student communities representing more than 25 countries, who made this conference fruitful and productive.

This5thWorld Congress on Biotechnologywas based on the theme the theme Biotechnology: Meeting the Needs of a Changing World which has covered the below scientific sessions:

The conference was greeted by the welcome message ofProf. Cheorl-Ho KimSung Kyun Kwan University, Korea and moderated byProf. Martin J. DSouza, Mercer University, USA. The support was extended by the below honourable guest Em. Prof.Marc Van Montagu, (World Food Laureate 2013) University of Gent, Belgium, Prof.Roberto Gaxiola, Arizona State University, USA, Prof.Ara Kanekanian, Cardiff Metropolitan University, UK, Prof.Manuel P. Alonso,University of Valencia, Spain, Prof.Cheorl-H. Kim,Sung Kyun Kwan University,Dr. Srinubabu Gedela, OMICS Group Inc, USA and below keynote lectures:

OMICS GroupInternational acknowledge the support of below Chairs and Co-chairs foe whom we were able to run smoothly the scientific sessions includes: Alain Goossens, Ghent University, Belgium, Oscar Vicente, IBMCP, Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain, Ara Kanekanian, Cardiff Metropolitan University, UK, Ana M. Hortigela, Instituto de Medicina Genmica, Spain, Cheorl-H Kim, Sung Kyun Kwan University, Korea, Martin J. DSouza, Mercer University, USA, Marina V. Frontasyeva, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Russian Federation, Zlatka Alexieva, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria, Salvador Ventura, Universitat Autnoma de Barcelona, Spain, Giuseppe Manco, Institute of Protein Biochemistry, National Research Council (CNR), Italy, Aihua Liu, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy & Bioprocess, CAS, China, Amparo Pascual-Ahuir Giner, Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, Spain.

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Biotechnology Conferences | Biotechnology Events - Europe

UMBC Biotechnology Graduate Programs

The Masters in Professional Studies in Biotechnology prepares science professionals to fill management and leadership roles in biotechnology-related companies or agencies.

UMBCs Biotechnology curriculum is intended to address changes in the needs of the biotechology industry through experiential learning, by providing advanced instruction in the life sciences, in addition to coursework in regulatory affairs, leadership, management, and financial management in a life science-oriented business.

Global challenges in human health, food security, sustainable industrial production and environmental protection continues to fuel the biosciences industry, creating new opportunities within the four primary sub sectors:

UMBC's Biotechnology Graduate Program and its strong academic programs in the life sciences are led by a distinguished faculty of nearly fifty members spanning the departments of:

This established academic and research expertise in the biosciences provides a foundation for programs in biotechnology management and biochemical regulatory engineering.

Over the past decade the industry has added nearly 111,000 new, high-paying jobs or 7.4 percent to its employment base, according to the latest Battelle/BIO report.

Economic output of the bioscience industry has expanded significantly with 17 percent growth for the biosciences since 2007, nearly twice the national private sector nominal output growth.

UMBC Division of Professional Studies 1000 Hilltop Circle, Sherman Hall East 4th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21250 410-455-2336 dps@umbc.edu

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Biotechnology at UMBC

Broadly speaking, biotechnology is any technique that uses living organisms or substances from these organisms to make or modify a product for a practical purpose (Box 2). Biotechnology can be applied to all classes of organism - from viruses and bacteria to plants and animals - and it is becoming a major feature of modern medicine, agriculture and industry. Modern agricultural biotechnology includes a range of tools that scientists employ to understand and manipulate the genetic make-up of organisms for use in the production or processing of agricultural products.

Some applications of biotechnology, such as fermentation and brewing, have been used for millennia. Other applications are newer but also well established. For example, micro-organisms have been used for decades as living factories for the production of life-saving antibiotics including penicillin, from the fungus Penicillium, and streptomycin from the bacterium Streptomyces. Modern detergents rely on enzymes produced via biotechnology, hard cheese production largely relies on rennet produced by biotech yeast and human insulin for diabetics is now produced using biotechnology.

Biotechnology is being used to address problems in all areas of agricultural production and processing. This includes plant breeding to raise and stabilize yields; to improve resistance to pests, diseases and abiotic stresses such as drought and cold; and to enhance the nutritional content of foods. Biotechnology is being used to develop low-cost disease-free planting materials for crops such as cassava, banana and potato and is creating new tools for the diagnosis and treatment of plant and animal diseases and for the measurement and conservation of genetic resources. Biotechnology is being used to speed up breeding programmes for plants, livestock and fish and to extend the range of traits that can be addressed. Animal feeds and feeding practices are being changed by biotechnology to improve animal nutrition and to reduce environmental waste. Biotechnology is used in disease diagnostics and for the production of vaccines against animal diseases.

Clearly, biotechnology is more than genetic engineering. Indeed, some of the least controversial aspects of agricultural biotechnology are potentially the most powerful and the most beneficial for the poor. Genomics, for example, is revolutionizing our understanding of the ways genes, cells, organisms and ecosystems function and is opening new horizons for marker-assisted breeding and genetic resource management. At the same time, genetic engineering is a very powerful tool whose role should be carefully evaluated. It is important to understand how biotechnology - particularly genetic engineering - complements and extends other approaches if sensible decisions are to be made about its use.

This chapter provides a brief description of current and emerging uses of biotechnology in crops, livestock, fisheries and forestry with a view to understanding the technologies themselves and the ways they complement and extend other approaches. It should be emphasized that the tools of biotechnology are just that: tools, not ends in themselves. As with any tool, they must be assessed within the context in which they are being used.

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1. What is agricultural biotechnology? - GreenFacts

What are some average salaries for jobs in the Biotechnology industry? These pages lists all of the job titles in the Biotechnology industry for which we have salary information. If you know the pay grade of the job you are searching for you can narrow down this list to only view Biotechnology industry jobs that pay less than $30K, $30K-$50K, $50K-$80K, $80K-$100K, or more than $100K. If you are unsure how much your Biotechnology industry job pays you can choose to either browse all Biotechnology industry salaries below or you can search all salaries.

Category: All Accounting Administrative, Support, and Clerical Advertising Aerospace and Defense Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing Architecture Arts and Entertainment Automotive Aviation and Airlines Banking Biotechnology Clergy Construction and Installation Consulting Services Customer Services Education Energy and Utilities Engineering Entry Level Environment Executive and Management Facilities, Maintenance, and Repair Financial Services Fire, Law Enforcement, and Security Food, Beverage, and Tobacco Government Graphic Arts Healthcare -- Administrative Healthcare -- Nursing Healthcare -- Practitioners Healthcare -- Technicians Hotel, Gaming, Leisure, and Travel Human Resources Insurance Internet and New Media IT -- All IT -- Computers, Hardware IT -- Computers, Software IT -- Executive, Consulting IT -- Manager IT -- Networking Legal Services Library Services Logistics Manufacturing Marketing Materials Management Media -- Broadcast Media -- Print Military Mining Non-Profit and Social Services Personal Care and Service Pharmaceuticals Planning Printing and Publishing Public Relations Purchasing Real Estate Restaurant and Food Services Retail/Wholesale Sales Science and Research Skilled and Trades Sports and Recreation Telecommunications Training Transportation and Warehousing

Industry: Aerospace & Defense Biotechnology Business Services Chemicals Construction Edu., Gov't. & Nonprofit Energy & Utilities Financial Services Healthcare Hospitality & Leisure Insurance Internet Media MFG Durable MFG Nondurable Pharmaceuticals Retail & Wholesale Software & Networking Telecom Transportation

Income Level: All $100,000+ $80,000 - $100,000 $50,000 - $80,000 $30,000 - $50,000 $10,000 - $30,000

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Biotechnology Industry Salaries, Bonuses and Benefits ...

Related Links http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk

The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) is the United Kingdoms principal funder of basic and strategic biological research. To deliver its mission, the BBSRC supports research and training in universities and research centers and promotes knowledge transfer from research to applications in business, industry and policy, and public engagement in the biosciences. The site contains extensive articles on the ethical and social issues involved in animal biotechnology.

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) provides leadership on food, agriculture, natural resources and related issues through public policy, the best available science and efficient management. The National Institute of Food and Agriculture is part of the USDA; its site contains information about the science behind animal biotechnology and a glossary of terms. Related topics also are searchable, including animal breeding, genetics and many others.

The Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology is an independent, objective source of information on agricultural biotechnology. Funded by a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts to the University of Richmond, it advocates neither for nor against agricultural biotechnology. Instead, the initiative is committed to providing information and encouraging dialogue so consumers and policy-makers can make their own informed decisions.

Animal biotechnology is the use of science and engineering to modify living organisms. The goal is to make products, to improve animals and to develop microorganisms for specific agricultural uses.

Examples of animal biotechnology include creating transgenic animals (animals with one or more genes introduced by human intervention), using gene knock out technology to make animals with a specific inactivated gene and producing nearly identical animals by somatic cell nuclear transfer (or cloning).

The animal biotechnology in use today is built on a long history. Some of the first biotechnology in use includes traditional breeding techniques that date back to 5000 B.C.E. Such techniques include crossing diverse strains of animals (known as hybridizing) to produce greater genetic variety. The offspring from these crosses then are bred selectively to produce the greatest number of desirable traits. For example, female horses have been bred with male donkeys to produce mules, and male horses have been bred with female donkeys to produce hinnies, for use as work animals, for the past 3,000 years. This method continues to be used today.

The modern era of biotechnology began in 1953, when American biochemist James Watson and British biophysicist Francis Crick presented their double-helix model of DNA. That was followed by Swiss microbiologist Werner Arbers discovery in the 1960s of special enzymes, called restriction enzymes, in bacteria. These enzymes cut the DNA strands of any organism at precise points. In 1973, American geneticist Stanley Cohen and American biochemist Herbert Boyer removed a specific gene from one bacterium and inserted it into another using restriction enzymes. That event marked the beginning of recombinant DNA technology, or genetic engineering. In 1977, genes from other organisms were transferred to bacteria, an achievement that led eventually to the first transfer of a human gene.

Animal biotechnology in use today is based on the science of genetic engineering. Under the umbrella of genetic engineering exist other technologies, such as transgenics and cloning, that also are used in animal biotechnology.

Transgenics (also known as recombinant DNA) is the transferal of a specific gene from one organism to another. Gene splicing is used to introduce one or more genes of an organism into a second organism. A transgenic animal is created once the second organism incorporates the new DNA into its own genetic material.

In gene splicing, DNA cannot be transferred directly from its original organism, the donor, to the recipient organism, or the host. Instead, the donor DNA must be cut and pasted, or recombined, into a compatible fragment of DNA from a vector an organism that can carry the donor DNA into the host. The host organism often is a rapidly multiplying microorganism such as a harmless bacterium, which serves as a factory where the recombined DNA can be duplicated in large quantities. The subsequently produced protein then can be removed from the host and used as a genetically engineered product in humans, other animals, plants, bacteria or viruses. The donor DNA can be introduced directly into an organism by techniques such as injection through the cell walls of plants or into the fertilized egg of an animal.

This transferring of genes alters the characteristics of the organism by changing its protein makeup. Proteins, including enzymes and hormones, perform many vital functions in organisms. Individual genes direct an animals characteristics through the production of proteins.

Scientists use reproductive cloning techniques to produce multiple copies of mammals that are nearly identical copies of other animals, including transgenic animals, genetically superior animals and animals that produce high quantities of milk or have some other desirable trait. To date, cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, horses, mules, cats, rats and mice have been cloned, beginning with the first cloned animal, a sheep named Dolly, in 1996.

Reproductive cloning begins with somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). In SCNT, scientists remove the nucleus from an egg cell (oocyte) and replace it with a nucleus from a donor adult somatic cell, which is any cell in the body except for an oocyte or sperm. For reproductive cloning, the embryo is implanted into a uterus of a surrogate female, where it can develop into a live being.

In addition to the use of transgenics and cloning, scientists can use gene knock out technology to inactivate, or knock out, a specific gene. It is this technology that creates a possible source of replacement organs for humans. The process of transplanting cells, tissues or organs from one species to another is referred to as xenotransplantation. Currently, the pig is the major animal being considered as a viable organ donor to humans. Unfortunately, pig cells and human cells are not immunologically compatible. Pigs, like almost all mammals, have markers on their cells that enable the human immune system to recognize them as foreign and reject them. Genetic engineering is used to knock out the pig gene responsible for the protein that forms the marker to the pig cells.

Animal biotechnology has many potential uses. Since the early 1980s, transgenic animals have been created with increased growth rates, enhanced lean muscle mass, enhanced resistance to disease or improved use of dietary phosphorous to lessen the environmental impacts of animal manure. Transgenic poultry, swine, goats and cattle that generate large quantities of human proteins in eggs, milk, blood or urine also have been produced, with the goal of using these products as human pharmaceuticals. Human pharmaceutical proteins include enzymes, clotting factors, albumin and antibodies. The major factor limiting the widespread use of transgenic animals in agricultural production systems is their relatively inefficient production rate (a success rate of less than 10 percent).

A specific example of these particular applications of animal biotechnology is the transfer of the growth hormone gene of rainbow trout directly into carp eggs. The resulting transgenic carp produce both carp and rainbow trout growth hormones and grow to be one-third larger than normal carp. Another example is the use of transgenic animals to clone large quantities of the gene responsible for a cattle growth hormone. The hormone is extracted from the bacterium, is purified and is injected into dairy cows, increasing their milk production by 10 to 15 percent. That growth hormone is called bovine somatotropin or BST.

Another major application of animal biotechnology is the use of animal organs in humans. Pigs currently are used to supply heart valves for insertion into humans, but they also are being considered as a potential solution to the severe shortage in human organs available for transplant procedures.

While predicting the future is inherently risky, some things can be said with certainty about the future of animal biotechnology. The government agencies involved in the regulation of animal biotechnology, mainly the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), likely will rule on pending policies and establish processes for the commercial uses of products created through the technology. In fact, as of March 2006, the FDA was expected to rule in the next few months on whether to approve meat and dairy products from cloned animals for sale to the public. If these animals and animal products are approved for human consumption, several companies reportedly are ready to sell milk, and perhaps meat, from cloned animals most likely cattle and swine. It also is expected that technologies will continue to be developed in the field, with much hope for advances in the use of animal organs in human transplant operations.

The potential benefits of animal biotechnology are numerous and include enhanced nutritional content of food for human consumption; a more abundant, cheaper and varied food supply; agricultural land-use savings; a decrease in the number of animals needed for the food supply; improved health of animals and humans; development of new, low-cost disease treatments for humans; and increased understanding of human disease.

Yet despite these potential benefits, several areas of concern exist around the use of biotechnology in animals. To date, a majority of the American public is uncomfortable with genetic modifications to animals.

According to a survey conducted by the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology, 58 percent of those polled said they opposed scientific research on the genetic engineering of animals. And in a Gallup poll conducted in May 2004, 64 percent of Americans polled said they thought it was morally wrong to clone animals.

Concerns surrounding the use of animal biotechnology include the unknown potential health effects to humans from food products created by transgenic or cloned animals, the potential effects on the environment and the effects on animal welfare.

Before animal biotechnology will be used widely by animal agriculture production systems, additional research will be needed to determine if the benefits of animal biotechnology outweigh these potential risks.

The main question posed about the safety of food produced through animal biotechnology for human consumption is, Is it safe to eat? But answering that question isnt simple. Other questions must be answered first, such as, What substances expressed as a result of the genetic modification are likely to remain in food? Despite these questions, the National Academies of Science (NAS) released a report titled Animal Biotechnology: Science-Based Concerns stating that the overall concern level for food safety was determined to be low. Specifically, the report listed three specific food concerns: allergens, bioactivity and the toxicity of unintended expression products.

The potential for new allergens to be expressed in the process of creating foods from genetically modified animals is a real and valid concern, because the process introduces new proteins. While food allergens are not a new issue, the difficulty comes in how to anticipate these adequately, because they only can be detected once a person is exposed and experiences a reaction.

Another food safety issue, bioactivity, asks, Will putting a functional protein like a growth hormone in an animal affect the person who consumes food from that animal? As of May 2006, scientists cannot say for sure if the proteins will.

Finally, concern exists about the toxicity of unintended expression products in the animal biotechnology process. While the risk is considered low, there is no data available. The NAS report stated it still needs be proven that the nutritional profile does not change in these foods and that no unintended and potentially harmful expression products appear.

Another major concern surrounding the use of animal biotechnology is the potential for negative impact to the environment. These potential harms include the alteration of the ecologic balance regarding feed sources and predators, the introduction of transgenic animals that alter the health of existing animal populations and the disruption of reproduction patterns and their success.

To assess the risk of these environmental harms, many more questions must be answered, such as: What is the possibility the altered animal will enter the environment? Will the animals introduction change the ecological system? Will the animal become established in the environment? and Will it interact with and affect the success of other animals in the new community? Because of the many uncertainties involved, it is challenging to make an assessment.

To illustrate a potential environmental harm, consider that if transgenic salmon with genes engineered to accelerate growth were released into the natural environment, they could compete more successfully for food and mates than wild salmon. Thus, there also is concern that genetically engineered organisms will escape and reproduce in the natural environment. It is feared existing species could be eliminated, thus upsetting the natural balance of organisms.

The regulation of animal biotechnology currently is performed under existing government agencies. To date, no new regulations or laws have been enacted to deal with animal biotechnology and related issues. The main governing body for animal biotechnology and their products is the FDA. Specifically, these products fall under the new animal drug provisions of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA). In this use, the introduced genetic construct is considered the drug. This lack of concrete regulatory guidance has produced many questions, especially because the process for bringing genetically engineered animals to market remains unknown.

Currently, the only genetically engineered animal on the market is the GloFish, a transgenic aquarium fish engineered to glow in the dark. It has not been subject to regulation by the FDA, however, because it is not believed to be a threat to the environment.

Many people question the use of an agency that was designed specifically for drugs to regulate live animals. The agencys strict confidentiality provisions and lack of an environmental mandate in the FDCA also are concerns. It still is unclear how the agencys provisions will be interpreted for animals and how multiple agencies will work together in the regulatory system.

When animals are genetically engineered for biomedical research purposes (as pigs are, for example, in organ transplantation studies), their care and use is carefully regulated by the Department of Agriculture. In addition, if federal funds are used to support the research, the work further is regulated by the Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals.

Whether products generated from genetically engineered animals should be labeled is yet another controversy surrounding animal biotechnology. Those opposed to mandatory labeling say it violates the governments traditional focus on regulating products, not processes. If a product of animal biotechnology has been proven scientifically by the FDA to be safe for human consumption and the environment and not materially different from similar products produced via conventional means, these individuals say it is unfair and without scientific rationale to single out that product for labeling solely because of the process by which it was made.

On the other hand, those in favor of mandatory labeling argue labeling is a consumer right-to-know issue. They say consumers need full information about products in the marketplace including the processes used to make those products not for food safety or scientific reasons, but so they can make choices in line with their personal ethics.

On average, it takes seven to nine years and an investment of about $55 million to develop, test and market a new genetically engineered product. Consequently, nearly all researchers involved in animal biotechnology are protecting their investments and intellectual property through the patent system. In 1988, the first patent was issued on a transgenic animal, a strain of laboratory mice whose cells were engineered to contain a cancer-predisposing gene. Some people, however, are opposed ethically to the patenting of life forms, because it makes organisms the property of companies. Other people are concerned about its impact on small farmers. Those opposed to using the patent system for animal biotechnology have suggested using breed registries to protect intellectual property.

Ethical and social considerations surrounding animal biotechnology are of significant importance. This especially is true because researchers and developers worry the future market success of any products derived from cloned or genetically engineered animals will depend partly on the publics acceptance of those products.

Animal biotechnology clearly has its skeptics as well as its outright opponents. Strict opponents think there is something fundamentally immoral about the processes of transgenics and cloning. They liken it to playing God. Moreover, they often oppose animal biotechnology on the grounds that it is unnatural. Its processes, they say, go against nature and, in some cases, cross natural species boundaries.

Still others question the need to genetically engineer animals. Some wonder if it is done so companies can increase profits and agricultural production. They believe a compelling need should exist for the genetic modification of animals and that we should not use animals only for our own wants and needs. And yet others believe it is unethical to stifle technology with the potential to save human lives.

While the field of ethics presents more questions than it answers, it is clear animal biotechnology creates much discussion and debate among scientists, researchers and the American public. Two main areas of debate focus on the welfare of animals involved and the religious issues related to animal biotechnology.

Perhaps the most controversy and debate regarding animal biotechnology surrounds the animals themselves. While it has been noted that animals might, in fact, benefit from the use of animal biotechnology through improved health, for example the majority of discussion is about the known and unknown potential negative impacts to animal welfare through the process.

For example, calves and lambs produced through in vitro fertilization or cloning tend to have higher birth weights and longer gestation periods, which leads to difficult births that often require cesarean sections. In addition, some of the biotechnology techniques in use today are extremely inefficient at producing fetuses that survive. Of the transgenic animals that do survive, many do not express the inserted gene properly, often resulting in anatomical, physiological or behavioral abnormalities. There also is a concern that proteins designed to produce a pharmaceutical product in the animals milk might find their way to other parts of the animals body, possibly causing adverse effects.

Animal telos is a concept derived from Aristotle and refers to an animals fundamental nature. Disagreement exists as to whether it is ethical to change an animals telos through transgenesis. For example, is it ethical to create genetically modified chickens that can tolerate living in small cages? Those opposed to the concept say it is a clear sign we have gone too far in changing that animal.

Those unopposed to changing an animals telos, however, argue it could benefit animals by fitting them for living conditions for which they are not naturally suited. In this way, scientists could create animals that feel no pain.

Religion plays a crucial part in the way some people view animal biotechnology. For some people, these technologies are considered blasphemous. In effect, God has created a perfect, natural order, they say, and it is sinful to try to improve that order by manipulating the basic ingredient of all life, DNA. Some religions place great importance on the integrity of species, and as a result, those religions followers strongly oppose any effort to change animals through genetic modification.

Not all religious believers make these assertions, however, and different believers of the same religion might hold differing views on the subject. For example, Christians do not oppose animal biotechnology unanimously. In fact, some Christians support animal biotechnology, saying the Bible teaches humanitys dominion over nature. Some modern theologians even see biotechnology as a challenging, positive opportunity for us to work with God as co-creators.

Transgenic animals can pose problems for some religious groups. For example, Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus are forbidden to eat certain foods. Such religious requirements raise basic questions about the identity of animals and their genetic makeup. If, for example, a small amount of genetic material from a fish is introduced into a melon (in order to allow it grow to in lower temperatures), does that melon become fishy in any meaningful sense? Some would argue all organisms share common genetic material, so the melon would not contain any of the fishs identity. Others, however, believe the transferred genes are exactly what make the animal distinctive; therefore the melon would be forbidden to be eaten as well.

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Animal Biotechnology | Bioscience Topics | About Bioscience

Biotechnology is the application of scientific and engineering principles to the processing of materials by biological agents to provide goods and services.[1] From its inception, biotechnology has maintained a close relationship with society. Although now most often associated with the development of drugs, historically biotechnology has been principally associated with food, addressing such issues as malnutrition and famine. The history of biotechnology begins with zymotechnology, which commenced with a focus on brewing techniques for beer. By World War I, however, zymotechnology would expand to tackle larger industrial issues, and the potential of industrial fermentation gave rise to biotechnology. However, both the single-cell protein and gasohol projects failed to progress due to varying issues including public resistance, a changing economic scene, and shifts in political power.

Yet the formation of a new field, genetic engineering, would soon bring biotechnology to the forefront of science in society, and the intimate relationship between the scientific community, the public, and the government would ensue. These debates gained exposure in 1975 at the Asilomar Conference, where Joshua Lederberg was the most outspoken supporter for this emerging field in biotechnology. By as early as 1978, with the development of synthetic human insulin, Lederberg's claims would prove valid, and the biotechnology industry grew rapidly. Each new scientific advance became a media event designed to capture public support, and by the 1980s, biotechnology grew into a promising real industry. In 1988, only five proteins from genetically engineered cells had been approved as drugs by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but this number would skyrocket to over 125 by the end of the 1990s.

The field of genetic engineering remains a heated topic of discussion in today's society with the advent of gene therapy, stem cell research, cloning, and genetically modified food. While it seems only natural nowadays to link pharmaceutical drugs as solutions to health and societal problems, this relationship of biotechnology serving social needs began centuries ago.

Biotechnology arose from the field of zymotechnology or zymurgy, which began as a search for a better understanding of industrial fermentation, particularly beer. Beer was an important industrial, and not just social, commodity. In late 19th-century Germany, brewing contributed as much to the gross national product as steel, and taxes on alcohol proved to be significant sources of revenue to the government.[2] In the 1860s, institutes and remunerative consultancies were dedicated to the technology of brewing. The most famous was the private Carlsberg Institute, founded in 1875, which employed Emil Christian Hansen, who pioneered the pure yeast process for the reliable production of consistent beer. Less well known were private consultancies that advised the brewing industry. One of these, the Zymotechnic Institute, was established in Chicago by the German-born chemist John Ewald Siebel.

The heyday and expansion of zymotechnology came in World War I in response to industrial needs to support the war. Max Delbrck grew yeast on an immense scale during the war to meet 60 percent of Germany's animal feed needs.[2] Compounds of another fermentation product, lactic acid, made up for a lack of hydraulic fluid, glycerol. On the Allied side the Russian chemist Chaim Weizmann used starch to eliminate Britain's shortage of acetone, a key raw material for cordite, by fermenting maize to acetone.[3] The industrial potential of fermentation was outgrowing its traditional home in brewing, and "zymotechnology" soon gave way to "biotechnology."

With food shortages spreading and resources fading, some dreamed of a new industrial solution. The Hungarian Kroly Ereky coined the word "biotechnology" in Hungary during 1919 to describe a technology based on converting raw materials into a more useful product. He built a slaughterhouse for a thousand pigs and also a fattening farm with space for 50,000 pigs, raising over 100,000 pigs a year. The enterprise was enormous, becoming one of the largest and most profitable meat and fat operations in the world. In a book entitled Biotechnologie, Ereky further developed a theme that would be reiterated through the 20th century: biotechnology could provide solutions to societal crises, such as food and energy shortages. For Ereky, the term "biotechnologie" indicated the process by which raw materials could be biologically upgraded into socially useful products.[4]

This catchword spread quickly after the First World War, as "biotechnology" entered German dictionaries and was taken up abroad by business-hungry private consultancies as far away as the United States. In Chicago, for example, the coming of prohibition at the end of World War I encouraged biological industries to create opportunities for new fermentation products, in particular a market for nonalcoholic drinks. Emil Siebel, the son of the founder of the Zymotechnic Institute, broke away from his father's company to establish his own called the "Bureau of Biotechnology," which specifically offered expertise in fermented nonalcoholic drinks.[1]

The belief that the needs of an industrial society could be met by fermenting agricultural waste was an important ingredient of the "chemurgic movement."[4] Fermentation-based processes generated products of ever-growing utility. In the 1940s, penicillin was the most dramatic. While it was discovered in England, it was produced industrially in the U.S. using a deep fermentation process originally developed in Peoria, Illinois.[5] The enormous profits and the public expectations penicillin engendered caused a radical shift in the standing of the pharmaceutical industry. Doctors used the phrase "miracle drug", and the historian of its wartime use, David Adams, has suggested that to the public penicillin represented the perfect health that went together with the car and the dream house of wartime American advertising.[2] Beginning in the 1950s, fermentation technology also became advanced enough to produce steroids on industrially significant scales.[6] Of particular importance was the improved semisynthesis of cortisone which simplified the old 31 step synthesis to 11 steps.[7] This advance was estimated to reduce the cost of the drug by 70%, making the medicine inexpensive and available.[8] Today biotechnology still plays a central role in the production of these compounds and likely will for years to come.[9][10]

Even greater expectations of biotechnology were raised during the 1960s by a process that grew single-cell protein. When the so-called protein gap threatened world hunger, producing food locally by growing it from waste seemed to offer a solution. It was the possibilities of growing microorganisms on oil that captured the imagination of scientists, policy makers, and commerce.[1] Major companies such as British Petroleum (BP) staked their futures on it. In 1962, BP built a pilot plant at Cap de Lavera in Southern France to publicize its product, Toprina.[1] Initial research work at Lavera was done by Alfred Champagnat,[11] In 1963, construction started on BP's second pilot plant at Grangemouth Oil Refinery in Britain.[11]

As there was no well-accepted term to describe the new foods, in 1966 the term "single-cell protein" (SCP) was coined at MIT to provide an acceptable and exciting new title, avoiding the unpleasant connotations of microbial or bacterial.[1]

The "food from oil" idea became quite popular by the 1970s, when facilities for growing yeast fed by n-paraffins were built in a number of countries. The Soviets were particularly enthusiastic, opening large "BVK" (belkovo-vitaminny kontsentrat, i.e., "protein-vitamin concentrate") plants next to their oil refineries in Kstovo (1973) [12][13] and Kirishi (1974).[citation needed]

By the late 1970s, however, the cultural climate had completely changed, as the growth in SCP interest had taken place against a shifting economic and cultural scene (136). First, the price of oil rose catastrophically in 1974, so that its cost per barrel was five times greater than it had been two years earlier. Second, despite continuing hunger around the world, anticipated demand also began to shift from humans to animals. The program had begun with the vision of growing food for Third World people, yet the product was instead launched as an animal food for the developed world. The rapidly rising demand for animal feed made that market appear economically more attractive. The ultimate downfall of the SCP project, however, came from public resistance.[1]

This was particularly vocal in Japan, where production came closest to fruition. For all their enthusiasm for innovation and traditional interest in microbiologically produced foods, the Japanese were the first to ban the production of single-cell proteins. The Japanese ultimately were unable to separate the idea of their new "natural" foods from the far from natural connotation of oil.[1] These arguments were made against a background of suspicion of heavy industry in which anxiety over minute traces of petroleum was expressed. Thus, public resistance to an unnatural product led to the end of the SCP project as an attempt to solve world hunger.

Also, in 1989 in the USSR, the public environmental concerns made the government decide to close down (or convert to different technologies) all 8 paraffin-fed-yeast plants that the Soviet Ministry of Microbiological Industry had by that time.[citation needed]

In the late 1970s, biotechnology offered another possible solution to a societal crisis. The escalation in the price of oil in 1974 increased the cost of the Western world's energy tenfold.[1] In response, the U.S. government promoted the production of gasohol, gasoline with 10 percent alcohol added, as an answer to the energy crisis.[2] In 1979, when the Soviet Union sent troops to Afghanistan, the Carter administration cut off its supplies to agricultural produce in retaliation, creating a surplus of agriculture in the U.S. As a result, fermenting the agricultural surpluses to synthesize fuel seemed to be an economical solution to the shortage of oil threatened by the Iran-Iraq war. Before the new direction could be taken, however, the political wind changed again: the Reagan administration came to power in January 1981 and, with the declining oil prices of the 1980s, ended support for the gasohol industry before it was born.[1]

Biotechnology seemed to be the solution for major social problems, including world hunger and energy crises. In the 1960s, radical measures would be needed to meet world starvation, and biotechnology seemed to provide an answer. However, the solutions proved to be too expensive and socially unacceptable, and solving world hunger through SCP food was dismissed. In the 1970s, the food crisis was succeeded by the energy crisis, and here too, biotechnology seemed to provide an answer. But once again, costs proved prohibitive as oil prices slumped in the 1980s. Thus, in practice, the implications of biotechnology were not fully realized in these situations. But this would soon change with the rise of genetic engineering.

The origins of biotechnology culminated with the birth of genetic engineering. There were two key events that have come to be seen as scientific breakthroughs beginning the era that would unite genetics with biotechnology. One was the 1953 discovery of the structure of DNA, by Watson and Crick, and the other was the 1973 discovery by Cohen and Boyer of a recombinant DNA technique by which a section of DNA was cut from the plasmid of an E. coli bacterium and transferred into the DNA of another.[14] This approach could, in principle, enable bacteria to adopt the genes and produce proteins of other organisms, including humans. Popularly referred to as "genetic engineering," it came to be defined as the basis of new biotechnology.

Genetic engineering proved to be a topic that thrust biotechnology into the public scene, and the interaction between scientists, politicians, and the public defined the work that was accomplished in this area. Technical developments during this time were revolutionary and at times frightening. In December 1967, the first heart transplant by Christian Barnard reminded the public that the physical identity of a person was becoming increasingly problematic. While poetic imagination had always seen the heart at the center of the soul, now there was the prospect of individuals being defined by other people's hearts.[1] During the same month, Arthur Kornberg announced that he had managed to biochemically replicate a viral gene. "Life had been synthesized," said the head of the National Institutes of Health.[1] Genetic engineering was now on the scientific agenda, as it was becoming possible to identify genetic characteristics with diseases such as beta thalassemia and sickle-cell anemia.

Responses to scientific achievements were colored by cultural skepticism. Scientists and their expertise were looked upon with suspicion. In 1968, an immensely popular work, The Biological Time Bomb, was written by the British journalist Gordon Rattray Taylor. The author's preface saw Kornberg's discovery of replicating a viral gene as a route to lethal doomsday bugs. The publisher's blurb for the book warned that within ten years, "You may marry a semi-artificial man or womanchoose your children's sextune out painchange your memoriesand live to be 150 if the scientific revolution doesnt destroy us first."[1] The book ended with a chapter called "The Future If Any." While it is rare for current science to be represented in the movies, in this period of "Star Trek", science fiction and science fact seemed to be converging. "Cloning" became a popular word in the media. Woody Allen satirized the cloning of a person from a nose in his 1973 movie Sleeper, and cloning Adolf Hitler from surviving cells was the theme of the 1976 novel by Ira Levin, The Boys from Brazil.[1]

In response to these public concerns, scientists, industry, and governments increasingly linked the power of recombinant DNA to the immensely practical functions that biotechnology promised. One of the key scientific figures that attempted to highlight the promising aspects of genetic engineering was Joshua Lederberg, a Stanford professor and Nobel laureate. While in the 1960s "genetic engineering" described eugenics and work involving the manipulation of the human genome, Lederberg stressed research that would involve microbes instead.[1] Lederberg emphasized the importance of focusing on curing living people. Lederberg's 1963 paper, "Biological Future of Man" suggested that, while molecular biology might one day make it possible to change the human genotype, "what we have overlooked is euphenics, the engineering of human development."[1] Lederberg constructed the word "euphenics" to emphasize changing the phenotype after conception rather than the genotype which would affect future generations.

With the discovery of recombinant DNA by Cohen and Boyer in 1973, the idea that genetic engineering would have major human and societal consequences was born. In July 1974, a group of eminent molecular biologists headed by Paul Berg wrote to Science suggesting that the consequences of this work were so potentially destructive that there should be a pause until its implications had been thought through.[1] This suggestion was explored at a meeting in February 1975 at California's Monterey Peninsula, forever immortalized by the location, Asilomar. Its historic outcome was an unprecedented call for a halt in research until it could be regulated in such a way that the public need not be anxious, and it led to a 16-month moratorium until National Institutes of Health (NIH) guidelines were established.

Joshua Lederberg was the leading exception in emphasizing, as he had for years, the potential benefits. At Asilomar, in an atmosphere favoring control and regulation, he circulated a paper countering the pessimism and fears of misuses with the benefits conferred by successful use. He described "an early chance for a technology of untold importance for diagnostic and therapeutic medicine: the ready production of an unlimited variety of human proteins. Analogous applications may be foreseen in fermentation process for cheaply manufacturing essential nutrients, and in the improvement of microbes for the production of antibiotics and of special industrial chemicals."[1] In June 1976, the 16-month moratorium on research expired with the Director's Advisory Committee (DAC) publication of the NIH guidelines of good practice. They defined the risks of certain kinds of experiments and the appropriate physical conditions for their pursuit, as well as a list of things too dangerous to perform at all. Moreover, modified organisms were not to be tested outside the confines of a laboratory or allowed into the environment.[14]

Atypical as Lederberg was at Asilomar, his optimistic vision of genetic engineering would soon lead to the development of the biotechnology industry. Over the next two years, as public concern over the dangers of recombinant DNA research grew, so too did interest in its technical and practical applications. Curing genetic diseases remained in the realms of science fiction, but it appeared that producing human simple proteins could be good business. Insulin, one of the smaller, best characterized and understood proteins, had been used in treating type 1 diabetes for a half century. It had been extracted from animals in a chemically slightly different form from the human product. Yet, if one could produce synthetic human insulin, one could meet an existing demand with a product whose approval would be relatively easy to obtain from regulators. In the period 1975 to 1977, synthetic "human" insulin represented the aspirations for new products that could be made with the new biotechnology. Microbial production of synthetic human insulin was finally announced in September 1978 and was produced by a startup company, Genentech.[15] Although that company did not commercialize the product themselves, instead, it licensed the production method to Eli Lilly and Company. 1978 also saw the first application for a patent on a gene, the gene which produces human growth hormone, by the University of California, thus introducing the legal principle that genes could be patented. Since that filing, almost 20% of the more than 20,000 genes in the human DNA have been patented.[citation needed]

The radical shift in the connotation of "genetic engineering" from an emphasis on the inherited characteristics of people to the commercial production of proteins and therapeutic drugs was nurtured by Joshua Lederberg. His broad concerns since the 1960s had been stimulated by enthusiasm for science and its potential medical benefits. Countering calls for strict regulation, he expressed a vision of potential utility. Against a belief that new techniques would entail unmentionable and uncontrollable consequences for humanity and the environment, a growing consensus on the economic value of recombinant DNA emerged.[citation needed]

With ancestral roots in industrial microbiology that date back centuries, the new biotechnology industry grew rapidly beginning in the mid-1970s. Each new scientific advance became a media event designed to capture investment confidence and public support.[15] Although market expectations and social benefits of new products were frequently overstated, many people were prepared to see genetic engineering as the next great advance in technological progress. By the 1980s, biotechnology characterized a nascent real industry, providing titles for emerging trade organizations such as the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO).

The main focus of attention after insulin were the potential profit makers in the pharmaceutical industry: human growth hormone and what promised to be a miraculous cure for viral diseases, interferon. Cancer was a central target in the 1970s because increasingly the disease was linked to viruses.[14] By 1980, a new company, Biogen, had produced interferon through recombinant DNA. The emergence of interferon and the possibility of curing cancer raised money in the community for research and increased the enthusiasm of an otherwise uncertain and tentative society. Moreover, to the 1970s plight of cancer was added AIDS in the 1980s, offering an enormous potential market for a successful therapy, and more immediately, a market for diagnostic tests based on monoclonal antibodies.[16] By 1988, only five proteins from genetically engineered cells had been approved as drugs by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA): synthetic insulin, human growth hormone, hepatitis B vaccine, alpha-interferon, and tissue plasminogen activator (TPa), for lysis of blood clots. By the end of the 1990s, however, 125 more genetically engineered drugs would be approved.[16]

Genetic engineering also reached the agricultural front as well. There was tremendous progress since the market introduction of the genetically engineered Flavr Savr tomato in 1994.[16] Ernst and Young reported that in 1998, 30% of the U.S. soybean crop was expected to be from genetically engineered seeds. In 1998, about 30% of the US cotton and corn crops were also expected to be products of genetic engineering.[16]

Genetic engineering in biotechnology stimulated hopes for both therapeutic proteins, drugs and biological organisms themselves, such as seeds, pesticides, engineered yeasts, and modified human cells for treating genetic diseases. From the perspective of its commercial promoters, scientific breakthroughs, industrial commitment, and official support were finally coming together, and biotechnology became a normal part of business. No longer were the proponents for the economic and technological significance of biotechnology the iconoclasts.[1] Their message had finally become accepted and incorporated into the policies of governments and industry.

According to Burrill and Company, an industry investment bank, over $350 billion has been invested in biotech since the emergence of the industry, and global revenues rose from $23 billion in 2000 to more than $50 billion in 2005. The greatest growth has been in Latin America but all regions of the world have shown strong growth trends. By 2007 and into 2008, though, a downturn in the fortunes of biotech emerged, at least in the United Kingdom, as the result of declining investment in the face of failure of biotech pipelines to deliver and a consequent downturn in return on investment.[17]

Excerpt from:
History of biotechnology - Wikipedia

"Bioscience" redirects here. For the scientific journal, see BioScience. For life sciences generally, see life science.

Biotechnology is the use of living systems and organisms to develop or make products, or "any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use" (UN Convention on Biological Diversity, Art. 2).[1] Depending on the tools and applications, it often overlaps with the (related) fields of bioengineering, biomedical engineering, biomanufacturing, molecular engineering, etc.

For thousands of years, humankind has used biotechnology in agriculture, food production, and medicine.[2] The term is largely believed to have been coined in 1919 by Hungarian engineer Kroly Ereky. In the late 20th and early 21st century, biotechnology has expanded to include new and diverse sciences such as genomics, recombinant gene techniques, applied immunology, and development of pharmaceutical therapies and diagnostic tests.[2]

The wide concept of "biotech" or "biotechnology" encompasses a wide range of procedures for modifying living organisms according to human purposes, going back to domestication of animals, cultivation of the plants, and "improvements" to these through breeding programs that employ artificial selection and hybridization. Modern usage also includes genetic engineering as well as cell and tissue culture technologies. The American Chemical Society defines biotechnology as the application of biological organisms, systems, or processes by various industries to learning about the science of life and the improvement of the value of materials and organisms such as pharmaceuticals, crops, and livestock.[3] As per European Federation of Biotechnology, Biotechnology is the integration of natural science and organisms, cells, parts thereof, and molecular analogues for products and services.[4] Biotechnology also writes on the pure biological sciences (animal cell culture, biochemistry, cell biology, embryology, genetics, microbiology, and molecular biology). In many instances, it is also dependent on knowledge and methods from outside the sphere of biology including:

Conversely, modern biological sciences (including even concepts such as molecular ecology) are intimately entwined and heavily dependent on the methods developed through biotechnology and what is commonly thought of as the life sciences industry. Biotechnology is the research and development in the laboratory using bioinformatics for exploration, extraction, exploitation and production from any living organisms and any source of biomass by means of biochemical engineering where high value-added products could be planned (reproduced by biosynthesis, for example), forecasted, formulated, developed, manufactured and marketed for the purpose of sustainable operations (for the return from bottomless initial investment on R & D) and gaining durable patents rights (for exclusives rights for sales, and prior to this to receive national and international approval from the results on animal experiment and human experiment, especially on the pharmaceutical branch of biotechnology to prevent any undetected side-effects or safety concerns by using the products).[5][6][7]

By contrast, bioengineering is generally thought of as a related field that more heavily emphasizes higher systems approaches (not necessarily the altering or using of biological materials directly) for interfacing with and utilizing living things. Bioengineering is the application of the principles of engineering and natural sciences to tissues, cells and molecules. This can be considered as the use of knowledge from working with and manipulating biology to achieve a result that can improve functions in plants and animals.[8] Relatedly, biomedical engineering is an overlapping field that often draws upon and applies biotechnology (by various definitions), especially in certain sub-fields of biomedical and/or chemical engineering such as tissue engineering, biopharmaceutical engineering, and genetic engineering.

Although not normally what first comes to mind, many forms of human-derived agriculture clearly fit the broad definition of "'utilizing a biotechnological system to make products". Indeed, the cultivation of plants may be viewed as the earliest biotechnological enterprise.

Agriculture has been theorized to have become the dominant way of producing food since the Neolithic Revolution. Through early biotechnology, the earliest farmers selected and bred the best suited crops, having the highest yields, to produce enough food to support a growing population. As crops and fields became increasingly large and difficult to maintain, it was discovered that specific organisms and their by-products could effectively fertilize, restore nitrogen, and control pests. Throughout the history of agriculture, farmers have inadvertently altered the genetics of their crops through introducing them to new environments and breeding them with other plants one of the first forms of biotechnology.

These processes also were included in early fermentation of beer.[9] These processes were introduced in early Mesopotamia, Egypt, China and India, and still use the same basic biological methods. In brewing, malted grains (containing enzymes) convert starch from grains into sugar and then adding specific yeasts to produce beer. In this process, carbohydrates in the grains were broken down into alcohols such as ethanol. Later other cultures produced the process of lactic acid fermentation which allowed the fermentation and preservation of other forms of food, such as soy sauce. Fermentation was also used in this time period to produce leavened bread. Although the process of fermentation was not fully understood until Louis Pasteur's work in 1857, it is still the first use of biotechnology to convert a food source into another form.

Before the time of Charles Darwin's work and life, animal and plant scientists had already used selective breeding. Darwin added to that body of work with his scientific observations about the ability of science to change species. These accounts contributed to Darwin's theory of natural selection.[10]

For thousands of years, humans have used selective breeding to improve production of crops and livestock to use them for food. In selective breeding, organisms with desirable characteristics are mated to produce offspring with the same characteristics. For example, this technique was used with corn to produce the largest and sweetest crops.[11]

In the early twentieth century scientists gained a greater understanding of microbiology and explored ways of manufacturing specific products. In 1917, Chaim Weizmann first used a pure microbiological culture in an industrial process, that of manufacturing corn starch using Clostridium acetobutylicum, to produce acetone, which the United Kingdom desperately needed to manufacture explosives during World War I.[12]

Biotechnology has also led to the development of antibiotics. In 1928, Alexander Fleming discovered the mold Penicillium. His work led to the purification of the antibiotic compound formed by the mold by Howard Florey, Ernst Boris Chain and Norman Heatley to form what we today know as penicillin. In 1940, penicillin became available for medicinal use to treat bacterial infections in humans.[11]

The field of modern biotechnology is generally thought of as having been born in 1971 when Paul Berg's (Stanford) experiments in gene splicing had early success. Herbert W. Boyer (Univ. Calif. at San Francisco) and Stanley N. Cohen (Stanford) significantly advanced the new technology in 1972 by transferring genetic material into a bacterium, such that the imported material would be reproduced. The commercial viability of a biotechnology industry was significantly expanded on June 16, 1980, when the United States Supreme Court ruled that a genetically modified microorganism could be patented in the case of Diamond v. Chakrabarty.[13] Indian-born Ananda Chakrabarty, working for General Electric, had modified a bacterium (of the Pseudomonas genus) capable of breaking down crude oil, which he proposed to use in treating oil spills. (Chakrabarty's work did not involve gene manipulation but rather the transfer of entire organelles between strains of the Pseudomonas bacterium.

Revenue in the industry is expected to grow by 12.9% in 2008. Another factor influencing the biotechnology sector's success is improved intellectual property rights legislationand enforcementworldwide, as well as strengthened demand for medical and pharmaceutical products to cope with an ageing, and ailing, U.S. population.[14]

Rising demand for biofuels is expected to be good news for the biotechnology sector, with the Department of Energy estimating ethanol usage could reduce U.S. petroleum-derived fuel consumption by up to 30% by 2030. The biotechnology sector has allowed the U.S. farming industry to rapidly increase its supply of corn and soybeansthe main inputs into biofuelsby developing genetically modified seeds which are resistant to pests and drought. By boosting farm productivity, biotechnology plays a crucial role in ensuring that biofuel production targets are met.[15]

Biotechnology has applications in four major industrial areas, including health care (medical), crop production and agriculture, non food (industrial) uses of crops and other products (e.g. biodegradable plastics, vegetable oil, biofuels), and environmental uses.

For example, one application of biotechnology is the directed use of organisms for the manufacture of organic products (examples include beer and milk products). Another example is using naturally present bacteria by the mining industry in bioleaching. Biotechnology is also used to recycle, treat waste, clean up sites contaminated by industrial activities (bioremediation), and also to produce biological weapons.

A series of derived terms have been coined to identify several branches of biotechnology; for example:

The investment and economic output of all of these types of applied biotechnologies is termed as "bioeconomy".

In medicine, modern biotechnology finds applications in areas such as pharmaceutical drug discovery and production, pharmacogenomics, and genetic testing (or genetic screening).

Pharmacogenomics (a combination of pharmacology and genomics) is the technology that analyses how genetic makeup affects an individual's response to drugs.[17] It deals with the influence of genetic variation on drug response in patients by correlating gene expression or single-nucleotide polymorphisms with a drug's efficacy or toxicity.[18] By doing so, pharmacogenomics aims to develop rational means to optimize drug therapy, with respect to the patients' genotype, to ensure maximum efficacy with minimal adverse effects.[19] Such approaches promise the advent of "personalized medicine"; in which drugs and drug combinations are optimized for each individual's unique genetic makeup.[20][21]

Biotechnology has contributed to the discovery and manufacturing of traditional small molecule pharmaceutical drugs as well as drugs that are the product of biotechnology biopharmaceutics. Modern biotechnology can be used to manufacture existing medicines relatively easily and cheaply. The first genetically engineered products were medicines designed to treat human diseases. To cite one example, in 1978 Genentech developed synthetic humanized insulin by joining its gene with a plasmid vector inserted into the bacterium Escherichia coli. Insulin, widely used for the treatment of diabetes, was previously extracted from the pancreas of abattoir animals (cattle and/or pigs). The resulting genetically engineered bacterium enabled the production of vast quantities of synthetic human insulin at relatively low cost.[22][23] Biotechnology has also enabled emerging therapeutics like gene therapy. The application of biotechnology to basic science (for example through the Human Genome Project) has also dramatically improved our understanding of biology and as our scientific knowledge of normal and disease biology has increased, our ability to develop new medicines to treat previously untreatable diseases has increased as well.[23]

Genetic testing allows the genetic diagnosis of vulnerabilities to inherited diseases, and can also be used to determine a child's parentage (genetic mother and father) or in general a person's ancestry. In addition to studying chromosomes to the level of individual genes, genetic testing in a broader sense includes biochemical tests for the possible presence of genetic diseases, or mutant forms of genes associated with increased risk of developing genetic disorders. Genetic testing identifies changes in chromosomes, genes, or proteins.[24] Most of the time, testing is used to find changes that are associated with inherited disorders. The results of a genetic test can confirm or rule out a suspected genetic condition or help determine a person's chance of developing or passing on a genetic disorder. As of 2011 several hundred genetic tests were in use.[25][26] Since genetic testing may open up ethical or psychological problems, genetic testing is often accompanied by genetic counseling.

Genetically modified crops ("GM crops", or "biotech crops") are plants used in agriculture, the DNA of which has been modified with genetic engineering techniques. In most cases the aim is to introduce a new trait to the plant which does not occur naturally in the species.

Examples in food crops include resistance to certain pests,[27] diseases,[28] stressful environmental conditions,[29] resistance to chemical treatments (e.g. resistance to a herbicide[30]), reduction of spoilage,[31] or improving the nutrient profile of the crop.[32] Examples in non-food crops include production of pharmaceutical agents,[33]biofuels,[34] and other industrially useful goods,[35] as well as for bioremediation.[36][37]

Farmers have widely adopted GM technology. Between 1996 and 2011, the total surface area of land cultivated with GM crops had increased by a factor of 94, from 17,000 square kilometers (4,200,000 acres) to 1,600,000km2 (395 million acres).[38] 10% of the world's crop lands were planted with GM crops in 2010.[38] As of 2011, 11 different transgenic crops were grown commercially on 395 million acres (160 million hectares) in 29 countries such as the USA, Brazil, Argentina, India, Canada, China, Paraguay, Pakistan, South Africa, Uruguay, Bolivia, Australia, Philippines, Myanmar, Burkina Faso, Mexico and Spain.[38]

Genetically modified foods are foods produced from organisms that have had specific changes introduced into their DNA with the methods of genetic engineering. These techniques have allowed for the introduction of new crop traits as well as a far greater control over a food's genetic structure than previously afforded by methods such as selective breeding and mutation breeding.[39] Commercial sale of genetically modified foods began in 1994, when Calgene first marketed its Flavr Savr delayed ripening tomato.[40] To date most genetic modification of foods have primarily focused on cash crops in high demand by farmers such as soybean, corn, canola, and cotton seed oil. These have been engineered for resistance to pathogens and herbicides and better nutrient profiles. GM livestock have also been experimentally developed, although as of November 2013 none are currently on the market.[41]

There is a scientific consensus[42][43][44][45] that currently available food derived from GM crops poses no greater risk to human health than conventional food,[46][47][48][49][50] but that each GM food needs to be tested on a case-by-case basis before introduction.[51][52][53] Nonetheless, members of the public are much less likely than scientists to perceive GM foods as safe.[54][55][56][57] The legal and regulatory status of GM foods varies by country, with some nations banning or restricting them, and others permitting them with widely differing degrees of regulation.[58][59][60][61]

GM crops also provide a number of ecological benefits, if not used in excess.[62] However, opponents have objected to GM crops per se on several grounds, including environmental concerns, whether food produced from GM crops is safe, whether GM crops are needed to address the world's food needs, and economic concerns raised by the fact these organisms are subject to intellectual property law.

Industrial biotechnology (known mainly in Europe as white biotechnology) is the application of biotechnology for industrial purposes, including industrial fermentation. It includes the practice of using cells such as micro-organisms, or components of cells like enzymes, to generate industrially useful products in sectors such as chemicals, food and feed, detergents, paper and pulp, textiles and biofuels.[63] In doing so, biotechnology uses renewable raw materials and may contribute to lowering greenhouse gas emissions and moving away from a petrochemical-based economy.[64]

The environment can be affected by biotechnologies, both positively and adversely. Vallero and others have argued that the difference between beneficial biotechnology (e.g. bioremediation to clean up an oil spill or hazard chemical leak) versus the adverse effects stemming from biotechnological enterprises (e.g. flow of genetic material from transgenic organisms into wild strains) can be seen as applications and implications, respectively.[65] Cleaning up environmental wastes is an example of an application of environmental biotechnology; whereas loss of biodiversity or loss of containment of a harmful microbe are examples of environmental implications of biotechnology.

The regulation of genetic engineering concerns approaches taken by governments to assess and manage the risks associated with the use of genetic engineering technology, and the development and release of genetically modified organisms (GMO), including genetically modified crops and genetically modified fish. There are differences in the regulation of GMOs between countries, with some of the most marked differences occurring between the USA and Europe.[66] Regulation varies in a given country depending on the intended use of the products of the genetic engineering. For example, a crop not intended for food use is generally not reviewed by authorities responsible for food safety.[67] The European Union differentiates between approval for cultivation within the EU and approval for import and processing. While only a few GMOs have been approved for cultivation in the EU a number of GMOs have been approved for import and processing.[68] The cultivation of GMOs has triggered a debate about coexistence of GM and non GM crops. Depending on the coexistence regulations incentives for cultivation of GM crops differ.[69]

In 1988, after prompting from the United States Congress, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (National Institutes of Health) (NIGMS) instituted a funding mechanism for biotechnology training. Universities nationwide compete for these funds to establish Biotechnology Training Programs (BTPs). Each successful application is generally funded for five years then must be competitively renewed. Graduate students in turn compete for acceptance into a BTP; if accepted, then stipend, tuition and health insurance support is provided for two or three years during the course of their Ph.D. thesis work. Nineteen institutions offer NIGMS supported BTPs.[70] Biotechnology training is also offered at the undergraduate level and in community colleges.

The literature about Biodiversity and the GE food/feed consumption has sometimes resulted in animated debate regarding the suitability of the experimental designs, the choice of the statistical methods or the public accessibility of data. Such debate, even if positive and part of the natural process of review by the scientific community, has frequently been distorted by the media and often used politically and inappropriately in anti-GE crops campaigns.

Domingo, Jos L.; Bordonaba, Jordi Gin (2011). "A literature review on the safety assessment of genetically modified plants" (PDF). Environment International. 37: 734742. doi:10.1016/j.envint.2011.01.003. In spite of this, the number of studies specifically focused on safety assessment of GM plants is still limited. However, it is important to remark that for the first time, a certain equilibrium in the number of research groups suggesting, on the basis of their studies, that a number of varieties of GM products (mainly maize and soybeans) are as safe and nutritious as the respective conventional non-GM plant, and those raising still serious concerns, was observed. Moreover, it is worth mentioning that most of the studies demonstrating that GM foods are as nutritional and safe as those obtained by conventional breeding, have been performed by biotechnology companies or associates, which are also responsible of commercializing these GM plants. Anyhow, this represents a notable advance in comparison with the lack of studies published in recent years in scientific journals by those companies.

Krimsky, Sheldon (2015). "An Illusory Consensus behind GMO Health Assessment" (PDF). Science, Technology, & Human Values: 132. doi:10.1177/0162243915598381. I began this article with the testimonials from respected scientists that there is literally no scientific controversy over the health effects of GMOs. My investigation into the scientific literature tells another story.

And contrast:

Panchin, Alexander Y.; Tuzhikov, Alexander I. (January 14, 2016). "Published GMO studies find no evidence of harm when corrected for multiple comparisons". Critical Reviews in Biotechnology. doi:10.3109/07388551.2015.1130684. ISSN0738-8551. Here, we show that a number of articles some of which have strongly and negatively influenced the public opinion on GM crops and even provoked political actions, such as GMO embargo, share common flaws in the statistical evaluation of the data. Having accounted for these flaws, we conclude that the data presented in these articles does not provide any substantial evidence of GMO harm.

The presented articles suggesting possible harm of GMOs received high public attention. However, despite their claims, they actually weaken the evidence for the harm and lack of substantial equivalency of studied GMOs. We emphasize that with over 1783 published articles on GMOs over the last 10 years it is expected that some of them should have reported undesired differences between GMOs and conventional crops even if no such differences exist in reality.

and

Yang, Y.T.; Chen, B. (2016). "Governing GMOs in the USA: science, law and public health". Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. 96: 18511855. doi:10.1002/jsfa.7523. It is therefore not surprising that efforts to require labeling and to ban GMOs have been a growing political issue in the USA (citing Domingo and Bordonaba, 2011).

Overall, a broad scientific consensus holds that currently marketed GM food poses no greater risk than conventional food... Major national and international science and medical associations have stated that no adverse human health effects related to GMO food have been reported or substantiated in peer-reviewed literature to date.

Despite various concerns, today, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the World Health Organization, and many independent international science organizations agree that GMOs are just as safe as other foods. Compared with conventional breeding techniques, genetic engineering is far more precise and, in most cases, less likely to create an unexpected outcome.

Pinholster, Ginger (October 25, 2012). "AAAS Board of Directors: Legally Mandating GM Food Labels Could "Mislead and Falsely Alarm Consumers"". American Association for the Advancement of Science. Retrieved February 8, 2016.

"REPORT 2 OF THE COUNCIL ON SCIENCE AND PUBLIC HEALTH (A-12): Labeling of Bioengineered Foods" (PDF). American Medical Association. 2012. Retrieved March 19, 2016. Bioengineered foods have been consumed for close to 20 years, and during that time, no overt consequences on human health have been reported and/or substantiated in the peer-reviewed literature.

GM foods currently available on the international market have passed safety assessments and are not likely to present risks for human health. In addition, no effects on human health have been shown as a result of the consumption of such foods by the general population in the countries where they have been approved. Continuous application of safety assessments based on the Codex Alimentarius principles and, where appropriate, adequate post market monitoring, should form the basis for ensuring the safety of GM foods.

"Genetically modified foods and health: a second interim statement" (PDF). British Medical Association. March 2004. Retrieved March 21, 2016. In our view, the potential for GM foods to cause harmful health effects is very small and many of the concerns expressed apply with equal vigour to conventionally derived foods. However, safety concerns cannot, as yet, be dismissed completely on the basis of information currently available.

When seeking to optimise the balance between benefits and risks, it is prudent to err on the side of caution and, above all, learn from accumulating knowledge and experience. Any new technology such as genetic modification must be examined for possible benefits and risks to human health and the environment. As with all novel foods, safety assessments in relation to GM foods must be made on a case-by-case basis.

Members of the GM jury project were briefed on various aspects of genetic modification by a diverse group of acknowledged experts in the relevant subjects. The GM jury reached the conclusion that the sale of GM foods currently available should be halted and the moratorium on commercial growth of GM crops should be continued. These conclusions were based on the precautionary principle and lack of evidence of any benefit. The Jury expressed concern over the impact of GM crops on farming, the environment, food safety and other potential health effects.

The Royal Society review (2002) concluded that the risks to human health associated with the use of specific viral DNA sequences in GM plants are negligible, and while calling for caution in the introduction of potential allergens into food crops, stressed the absence of evidence that commercially available GM foods cause clinical allergic manifestations. The BMA shares the view that that there is no robust evidence to prove that GM foods are unsafe but we endorse the call for further research and surveillance to provide convincing evidence of safety and benefit.

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Biotechnology - Wikipedia

Recruitment and Retention

To succeed and grow in the 21st century economy, biotechnology employers need to fill each position in their companies - from entry-level to the most advanced - with qualified and skilled individuals. Because the industry is experiencing such rapid growth, biotechnology firms often demand more skilled workers than are available and are projected to need more workers than are currently enrolled in training programs.

Skills Competencies and Training

While there may be instances where locally industry-driven career ladders and competency models exist, there is a challenge with the lack of nationally-recognized articulated skills competencies and career ladders as well as sources of training. However, the biotechnology industry's challenges in this area are complicated by the rapidly changing environment in which the industry operates. Advances in the underlying sciences have a continuous effect on the technology and processes used by the biotechnology industry; making it necessary for employees working in the industry to upgrade their skills to maintain productivity.

Image and Outreach to the Public

There is a need for clear information about career options within the biotechnology industry geared towards youth, educators and job seekers for career exploration and recruitment activities. Currently this lack of available information results in a disconnect between these groups and presents a challenge for the industry because the lack of definition and outreach limits the number of people who consider the biotechnology field to be a viable career option.

(Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Survey of the Use of Biotechnology in U.S. Industry and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2006-07 Career Guide to Industries)

In June 2003, ETA announced the High Growth Job Training Initiative to engage businesses with local education providers and the local/regional workforce investment system to find solutions that address changing talent development needs in various industries.

In October 2005, the Community-Based Job Training Grants were announced to improve the role of community colleges in providing affordable, flexible and accessible education for the nation's workforce.

ETA is investing more than $260 million in 26 different regions across the United States in support of the WIRED (Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development) Initiative. Through WIRED, local leaders design and implement strategic approaches to regional economic development and job growth. WIRED focuses on catalyzing the creation of high skill, high wage opportunities for American workers through an integrated approach to economic and talent development.

These initiatives reinforce ETA's commitment to transform the workforce system through engaging business, education, state and local governments and other federal agencies with the goal of creating a skilled workforce to meet the dynamic needs of today's economy.

ETA has invested $33,985,520 in the biotechnology industry. This includes 16 High Growth Job Training Initiative grants totaling $22,921,599 and seven Community-Based Job Training Grants totaling $11,063,921. Leveraged resources from all of the grantees total $23,847,037.

For additional background information about the industry and details on the grants, information about employment and training opportunities and workforce development tools for employers, educators and workforce professionals, please visit: http://www.doleta.gov/business/, http://www.careeronestop.org, and http://www.workforce3one.org.

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High Growth Industry Profile - Biotechnology

BIO is undertaking an aggressive effort to promote the value of biopharmaceutical innovations and ensure that all patients have access to the drugs they need. A vital component of this campaign is holding insurers and their allies accountable for standing in the way of that access. For months, weve blown the whistle on their discriminatory practices, high cost-sharing and cost-shifting, and their blatant falsehoods on whats driving their premium increases, and today, were introducing a ReadMore>

Last week, the Washington Post published an article titled Alzheimers Drug Trial Sparks Optimism which highlighted new findings from a paper published in Nature. They shared exciting news of positive early trial results for a potential new Alzheimers treatment. Overall this is the best news that weve had in my 25 years doing Alzheimers clinical research and it brings new hope for patients and families most affected by the disease, said one of the studys ReadMore>

Before innovative therapies can start helping patients, successful matches between investors and entrepreneurs seeking to develop new medicines must occur. Without access to capital, potentially lifesaving drugs will exist only as ideas. Every fall investors looking for good prospects in the biotech sector gather at the BIO Investor Forum in San Franciscothe birthplace of biotechnology and home to over 1,600 life sciences companies. Many of these companies and others from around the country come to ReadMore>

Casey Whitaker, Communications Coordinator, Animal Agriculture Alliance | 09/08/2016

I have always been a perfectionist when it comes to my work, so its no surprise I found my passion in an industry that also strives for perfection. Animal agriculture never stops reaching for the highest quality of animal care, environmental stewardship and food safety possible. The industry strives for perfection, but also knows that perfection is hard to come by in agriculture because farmers, ranchers, veterinarians and all those involved in the farm-to-fork process ReadMore>

Hans Sauer, Deputy General Counsel, Intellectual Property, Legal, BIO | 09/07/2016

The topic of inter partes reviews (IPRs) has dominated conversation in patent circles for the last several years (see our archive for some of our past articles on the subject). As uncertainty grows in the biopharma community about IPR procedures and the future of innovation, BIO will make IPRs a major topic of discussion at our upcoming IP and Diagnostics Symposium (BIO IPDX) as well as BIOs IP Counsels Committee Meeting in November. An administrative ReadMore>

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BIOtechNow

Objective

Seeks capital appreciation.

Investing primarily in companies engaged in the research, development, manufacture, and distribution of various biotechnological products, services, and processes and companies that benefit significantly from scientific and technological advances in biotechnology. Normally investing at least 80% of assets in securities of companies principally engaged in these activities. Normally investing primarily in common stocks.

Stock markets, especially foreign markets, are volatile and can decline significantly in response to adverse issuer, political, regulatory, market, or economic developments. Foreign securities are subject to interest rate, currency exchange rate, economic, and political risks. Focus funds can be more volatile because of their narrow concentration in a specific industry. The biotechnology industry can be significantly affected by patent considerations, intense competition, rapid technological change and obsolescence, and government regulation. The fund may have additional volatility because it can invest a significant portion of assets in securities of a small number of individual issuers.

This description is only intended to provide a brief overview of the mutual fund. Read the fund's prospectus for more detailed information about the fund.

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FBIOX - Fidelity Select Biotechnology Portfolio | Fidelity ...