Biotech - Case Study Example

Download file to see previous pages At the beginning of my lessons, I learnt that biotechnology involves the utilization of bioprocesses and living organisms in medicine, technology and engineering. This knowledge shook my lay knowledge of what the term means. I realized that the chief objective of biotech was the modification of the organism in order to fulfill human needs and purposes (Jefferis 47). The application of technical and scientific advances in the development of products is the entire business of biotech. It is imperative to note that biotech does not only draw its entire knowledge from pure biological sciences, but also from information technology, chemical engineering and bio-robotics. I was amazed to realize the numerous fields that biotech finds useful applicability, and this paper will shift its focus to provide a brief overview and highlight these uses. The initial applicability of biotech is in the field of medicine. Although I had a faint clue that biotech was useful in medicine, I was not sure how the two fields were connected. Therefore, I took a keen interest in lessons; the lessons revealed that biotech was the pillar of pharmacogenomics and the synthesis of pharmaceutical products, which can be regarded as essential in medicine (Jefferis 50). Further, biotech solves issues that arise from genetics testing, and it is used to settle cases that involve identity and parenting disagreements. Furthermore, biotech holds the lifeline for gene therapy and cloning; the latter is widely applied to create clones that donate organs to people, prolonging their life. The world faces the danger of food crisis as a result of rapid growth of the population; the rate of population growth beats the capacity of the planet to produce subsistence. Further, pest and crop diseases result to crop failure, not forgetting erratic, unfavorable weather conditions. Biotech stepped in to address the issues that face agriculture. In agriculture, Biotechnology is applied to improve crop yields in a remarkable way; this ensures plenty of yields from a small area of land. I was able to understand how biotech has facilitated the development of drought resistant and pest resistant crops (Jefferis 56). These crops were well advanced that they could withstand environmental stresses, and give yields that have advanced nutritional qualities. Further, biotech has enabled scientists to minimize pesticide and fertilizer dependency. As such, the crops that grow under this technology can be altered to produce plenty of substances that tend to be novel. Livestock breeding and cross breeding has strong associations with biotechnology; it facilitates the production of high producing animals, which are also resistance to diseases and parasites. Furthermore, I learnt how bioremediation facilitates a safe way of reclaiming an environment that has been contaminated through developing organisms that clean up the mess. These organisms do not have negative impacts on the environment. Further, biodegradation is extremely significant in decomposing wastes to allow release of humus (Jefferis 62). This process is essential in enhancing the flow of the energy cycle. This technology allows the development of strains of bacteria, which attack wastes and allow for more disposals. The above knowledge was extremely helpful to me because it opened my eyes and my brain to plenty of knowledge, which I had taken for granted for a long ...Download file to see next pagesRead More