What is Biotechnology?

Biotechnology in one form or another has flourished since prehistoric times. When the first human beings realized that they could plant their own crops and breed their own animals, they learned to use biotechnology. The discovery that fruit juices fermented into wine, or that milk could be converted into cheese or yogurt, or that beer could be made by fermenting solutions of malt and hops began the study of biotechnology. When the first bakers found that they could make a soft, spongy bread rather than a firm, thin cracker, they were acting as fledgling biotechnologists. The first animal breeders, realizing that different physical traits could be either magnified or lost by mating appropriate pairs of animals, engaged in the manipulations of biotechnology.

What then is biotechnology? The term brings to mind many different things. Some think of developing new types of animals. Others dream of almost unlimited sources of human therapeutic drugs. Still others envision the possibility of growing crops that are more nutritious and naturally pest-resistant to feed a rapidly growing world population. The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity defines biotechnology as:"Any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use." In other terms: «The industrial application of microorganisms, cells, or cell components to make a useful product" is biotechnology.

In its purest form, the term "biotechnology" refers to the use of living organisms or their products to modify human health and the human environment. Prehistoric biotechnologists did this as they used yeast cells to raise bread dough and to ferment alcoholic beverages, and bacterial cells to make cheeses and yogurts and as they bred their strong, productive animals to make even stronger and more productive offspring.

Throughout human history, we have learned a great deal about the different organisms that our ancestors used so effectively. The marked increase in our understanding of these organisms and their cell products gains us the ability to control the many functions of various cells and organisms. Using the techniques of gene splicing and recombinant DNA technology, we can now actually combine the genetic elements of two or more living cells. Functioning lengths of DNA can be taken from one organism and placed into the cells of another organism. As a result, for example, we can cause bacterial cells to produce human molecules. Cows can produce more milk for the same amount of feed. And we can synthesize therapeutic molecules that have never before existed.

Vocabulary

Biotechnology, science, technique, cell, microorganism, yeast, DNA, gene, bacterial cell, animals, breed, growing crops, therapeutic drugs, ferment.

Task. Recognizing tenses

Complete the texts using the verbs in the box.

Can make ’s studying lives teaches wants loves doesn’t have

Enrique (1)______ in Puebla6 a town in Mexico. He’s a student. He (2) ______medicine because he (3)______to be a doctor. He’s married, but he (4) any children. His wife, Silvia, (5)______in a primary school. Enrique (6)_____ cooking. He (7)_____ an excellent cook.

Has like come live ’re listening ’m sitting ’m going to study doesn’t work

Hi! My name’s Rumi and I (1)_____from Osaka in Japan. I (2)_____with my parents. My father (3)_____ a business, but my mother (4)_____. Next year I (5)_____economics at university. I (6)_____going out with my friends. In the picture I (7)_____in a bar with Noriko and Toshi. We (8)_____to music.

’re playing emigrated didn’t like have ’re going went live was born

Bruce is Australian. He (1)_____ in England, but he (2)_____ to Australia when he was six. He (3)_____ back to England once, but he (4)_____it because it was so cold after Australia! He and his brother (5)_____with their parents in Melbourne. They (6)_____a big house not far from the beach. In the picture he’s on the beach with his friends. They (7)_____volleyball. Tonight he’s going out with his girlfriend. They (8)_____ to the cinema.

3-4 Practical lesson

Read and translate the text about history of biotechnology.