biotech

Biotech, short for biotechnology, refers to the use of living systems, organisms, or their derivatives to develop or improve products and processes. It spans traditional practices such as fermentation and plant breeding to modern methods that manipulate DNA, proteins, and cells through molecular biology, synthetic biology, and bioinformatics.

In health care, biotechnology enables the development of vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, therapeutic proteins, diagnostic tests, and gene- or cell-based therapies. Advances in sequencing and data analysis support personalized medicine, while regenerative approaches explore tissue repair and stem-cell therapies.

Biotech also supports agriculture through genetically modified crops, improved biofertilizers, and plant protection strategies, contributing to food security. In industry, enzymes, fermentation processes, and microbial production enable sustainable manufacture of chemicals, fuels, and materials, often with lower energy use and waste.

Safety, ethics, and regulatory oversight shape biotechnology development. Intellectual property, biosafety, and privacy considerations influence research and deployment. The field has roots in fermentation science, with rapid expansion following recombinant DNA technology and genome sequencing, and it continues to evolve with synthetic biology, automation, and data-driven discovery.