Abstract

OVERVIEW ON BIOTECHNOLOGY

*Michele Vitolo

Abstract

Though humans have developed biotechnology for millenniums (production of beer, wine, bread, cheese etc.), only from the 1970s, when cell fusion and recombinant DNA techniques were invented, this area received a strong push to innovative development. The first bioproduct, recombinant human insulin obtained from Eschericchia coli by fermentation instead of extraction from pig pancreas, appeared in the 1980s. Since then, dozens of new bioproducts have been commercialized, reaching currently global market values higher than one billion dollars. Biotechnology has merged over the years with areas such as electronics, optics, computing, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, mechanics, material sciences, fluid-dynamics, among others, leading to the development of micro-biosensors, optogenetics, medicine in silicon, painless micro-needles, among others. This continuing development will lead to individualized medicine, which is a dream of doctors.

Keywords: Biotechnology, cell fusion, recombinant DNA, biomolecules.