Biotechnology Between Academic and Technological Concepts
When we started our journey with the concepts of
Biotechnology, we have mentioned an example related to the usage of a certain
type of bacteria so as to clarify the general concepts of Biotechnology in an
article entitled "What is Biotechnology?" In the aforementioned
article, I was trying to simplify the notion of deploying the biological
systems in Biotechnology, "Bioremediation", which is considered as
one of the paramount and reliable methods in the field of Biotechnology to curb
the negative ramifications of pollutant in an effective and Eco-friendly way.
Accordingly, we concluded that Biotechnology is the combination of a wide range
of biological sciences and engineering sciences aiming to apply it, through
analysis and study, to different biological systems whether at the cellular
level or even at a minuter molecular level for the synthesis of bio products or
providing a service for the humanity as a whole.
Related topics: Where is biotechnology? First-year challenges at college
Despite of the explicitness of the Biotechnology field principle, it is hard to incorporate it in the actual domain of the field. Put it down to the nature of the field itself which is tackled beneath two main domains with differences that create specific dimensions for each point apart, whether in the application or in the evaluation and assessment of the final result. To put it simply, in the academic aspect which is crucial for all sciences, all efforts are devoted to the augmentation of ideas, development of a product or improving research. The former aspect is characterized by all the acknowledge scientific research characteristics regarding the approach and solving problems techniques since it takes a long time to do research in certain point that can reach to a ten-year-period or even more to come up with fruitful trustworthy results. As soon as the results appear, the implementation aspect takes over or as I like to call it "The Entrepreneurship". Here comes the entrepreneur role who prepares the product to be launched in the market and tailor it to fit with the consumers' needs. Adding to this, other branches of science such as economics and management should be taken into consideration in order to obtain a complete production cycle.
As for the entrepreneurship part, the bacterial production of the human insulin springs to mind. To illustrate, the insulin production has witnessed numerous challenges. Initially, it was extracted from pigs since the pig insulin shares certain similarity with human insulin, yet it as effective, it provoked an allergic reaction in many patients either instantly or on the long-term use. After that, the bacterial cell factory has replaced the former production method. In other words, by different means of genetic engineering and Biotechnological tools the human insulin is successfully produced in bacteria. So far, human insulin production is immensely profitable and is massively invested in. Consequently, tremendous Biotechnology startups emerged to the surface and started to lead the world in the fields of medicine, agriculture, industry, and environment. It worth mentioning that, when we scrutinize these companies' history, we would find that most of their founders are young biotechnology pioneers who did not wait for the opportunities to knock their doors, yet they were proactive and seized every opportunity the came across to change the world.
Source 1
Translated By: Eman Fathy Abdeltwab
