There are many definitions of biotechnology. It has been described as including any technique that uses living organisms to make or modify products, to improve plants or animals or to develop microorganisms for specific uses. It has also been defined as the industrial exploitation of biological systems or processes. In its broadest sense, biotechnology refers to the use of living systems to develop products. New scientific discoveries are allowing us to better understand fundamental life processes at the cellular and molecular level. Now we can improve selected attributes of microbes, plants, or animals for human use by making precise genetic changes that were not possible with traditional methods.
Given the opportunities that exist in this sector, the presence of trained manpower, strong knowledge base and rich bio-diversity in India, there is little wonder that more and more Indian companies are seriously eyeing this sector. Technology innovation in the life sciences sector is rapid and constant. Thus for biotech companies to survive their current business models, they must pursue profits through products and services, which reflect this rapid rate of change.
Biotechnology has a vast application area, some prominent ones are
Microbes: improve the functionality of key food ingredients, such as enzymes
Plants: enhance to ability of plants to fight disease and pests, remove allergens from food
Animals: enhance the ability of livestock & pets to overcome disease and maintain health
Humans: anticipate & intervene earlier in a disease through new medicines
The Human Genome Project signals a paradigm shift for the global pharmaceutical industry in its search for critical drug discoveries. To take advantage of the opportunities afforded by genomics, several well established Indian pharmaceutical companies such as Nicholas Piramal India Ltd, Ranbaxy Laboratories and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories have decided to enter this fast growing sector.
Bioinformatics is another interdisciplinary research area, which may be defined as the interface between biological and computational sciences. Thus, the people working in this field in most cases either have training in biology or computer science, and they learned about the other field by dealing with problems or using the tools of the other one. This sector is facing a shortage of manpower not only because it is difficult to get people with the right expertise but also because the nature, ethics and methodology of these fields of study distinctly vary.
The main hurdle in this industry is it is highly capital intensive. It is estimated that in US alone, 950 biotechnology firms are in existence as of date and their R&D budget varies from 1000 US$ to 700 million US$.
Modern biotechnology was born at the hands of American scientists Herb Boyer and Stain Cohen, when they developed “recombinant deoxyribonucleotide, (rDNA), [1] for medicinal purposes. Subsequently, biotechnologists started genetically engineering agricultural plants using this technology. A single gene responsible for a certain trait, from one organism (usually a bacterium) is selected altered and then ‘spliced” into the DNA of a plant to create an agricultural crop consisting of that...
As per WHO "The 10 largest drugs companies control over one-third of this market, several with sales of more than US$10 billion a year and profit margins of about 30%. Six are based in the United States and four in Europe. Companies currently spend one-third of all sales revenue on marketing their products - roughly twice what they spend on research and development."
Faboil Ltd has evolved into a relatively successful organisation in the biotechnology field. The success of the company and its paternal approach was adopted by Dr Alfred Brownlow. Dr Brownlow has led from the front in terms of developing the product range for Faboil Ltd. Richard Cranberry (Director of Biotechnology) has driven very hard to maintain the success of the company, although the organisation lag behind in terms of modus operandi technology. At present, the monopoly position of Faboil Ltd has slowly eroded away and faces two competitors. The major causes are that the new products have failed to live up to market expectations and it is at a backward stage only holding a 20% market share. This report will find the causes of issues in the company and give ideas and resolutions on how to fix the problem.
Nucleon is a small biotechnology start-up with a very promising potential product (CRP-1), which is also the first product that Nucleon is planning to go into the clinic market. Nucleon has reached to human clinical trials phase with its product and it has no manufacturing facilities that satisfy the guidelines for these clinical trials and testing. Nucleon is on the verge of making a critical choice of manufacturing strategy, which will affect Nucleon’s survival in the intense competition in the long haul. Nucleon management is aware of the facts that they have a limited budget to start with, the financial environment in biotechnology is rapidly changing and establishing the safety and efficacy of products like CRP-1 is complex, time-consuming and expensive; that’s why they want to evaluate risks and rewards of each manufacturing strategy before making their final decision.
Biotechnology is the request of scientific techniques that help alter and improve plants, animals, and microor¬ganisms to enhance their value. Agricultural biotech¬nology deals with biotechnology that is involved with applica¬tions to agriculture. It helps with the intensification of crop productivity by introducing such advantages as disease that are resistant and have an increase in deficiency tolerance to the crops. So now, research¬ers are able to select genes for disease resistance from other types of species and transfer them to important crops.
Genomics and the Human Genome Project are having huge positive effects on the economy of many places like China, Germany, France, Spain and many more. The Human Genome Project has brought in over $800 million dollars since 1990 and given about 4 million jobs since 2003 which has enabled m...
Jonas Salk once said that things such as the sun and his polio vaccine should belong “to the people”. These “things” also include the genes that the Human Genome Project and all its collaborators have isolated thus far. The Human Genome Project’s mission is to sequence and map all of the genes that make up the human genome in order to improve medical treatment for genetic diseases and, quite possibly, eradicate them. However, companies who are involved in the isolation of individual genes are lobbying for the right to patent said genes. These companies are trying to establish a monopoly on something that is as much a creation of nature as it is the human body.
Taylor, Michael R. “Rethinking US Leadership In Food Biotechnology.” Nature Biotechnology 21.8 (2003): 852-854. Academic Search Premier. Web. 2 Nov. 2011.
Technology is changing the way the world works in profound ways at an unprecedented rate. As we speak, scientists in labs around the world are decoding the remaining portion of the genome map. One day (even now), with the information compiled in GenBank, scientists can discover new drugs, new methods of gene therapy, and other preventive measures which will vastly improve the quality of life (NCBI ¶1). David Smith, previously a director of the Department of Energy, said, "These are exciting and challenging times for biological researchers. The wealth of information and capabilities now being generated by the various genome projects and other biological endeavors will lead over the next two decades to more insights into living systems than have been amassed in the past two millennia. Biology is truly undergoing a revolution" (Walters 545).
The patenting issue gained some attention when President Bill Clinton and Prime Minster Tony Blair jointly called for the release of raw genetic data into the public domain (CQ 405). I will argue in this paper that the aggressive competition among biotechnology firms to patent genes is impeding development being made in biomedical sector. The main problem with patenting genes is that companies are filing patents for strands of DNA they discover without fully knowing their functions (Kluger 51). The current attitude in the biotechnology sector seems to be, to gain exclusive access to as much of the human genome as possible first and then figure out the functions of the genes later. Despite the questionable attitude in the biotechnology sector, the current patent laws are allowing companies to continue with their practices. The patents laws are not able to deal with new complications that arise of from patenting genes. As I will argue in this paper, there is a pressing need to modify these laws to permit the HGP and its consequences to benefit everyone rather than lining the pockets of few corporations.
Many people feel that biology has become more advanced than physics. Biology has in fact become the new focus of the future as we tend to use it a lot in our daily lives. The study of Biotechnology is known as the branch of molecular biology that studies the use of microorganisms to perform specific industrial processes. This study shows that our lives can be transformed.
For a number of years now the United States has been the mainstay in the push for biotechnology research and testing...
I have always been fascinated by Biology and Computer Science which propelled me to take up my undergraduate studies in the field of Bioinformatics. As a part of my undergraduate curriculum, I have been exposed to a variety of subjects such as “Introduction to Algorithms”, “System Biology”, “PERL for Bioinformatics”, “Python”, “Structure and Molecular Modeling” and “Genomics and Proteomics” which had invoked my interest in areas such as docking algorithms, protein structure prediction, practical aspects of setting and running simulation, gene expression prediction through computational analysis. These fields have both a strong computational flavour as well as the potential for research which is what attracts me towards them.
The various industrial exposers prompted me to obtain higher degree (MS and Ph.D) and to explore the untapped fields in biotechnology which may prove beneficial to the industry and ultimately to human kinds at large. Hopefully, I find your kind consideration to fulfill my desires to grow in the research field that would help me in working on the field of my interest.
The myriad mysteries of science can be unraveled by the emerging technologies including Biotechnology. Science has always been my interest and forte thus, the choice of Biotechnology as my academic option was the ideal decision. I had prepared for the highly competitive entrance exam AIET to get admission into the integrated Masters Degree in Biotechnology and Bioinformatics at Dr. D.Y. Patil University and secured 87th all over India rank and was proud to gain admission to this venerated university. The academic curriculum has introduced me to amazing subjects like ‘Microbiology’, ‘Molecular Biology’, ‘Biochemistry’, ‘Genetics’ and ‘Industrial Biotechnology’. Although many seminal biological events have been explained in theory during the past century, the technology to harness their potential for benefiting humankind has only been possible during the past few decades. This is testament to the great improvements in biotechnologies and I am glad to be a part of this grand scientific experience.