Biotechnology is technology based on biology,

especially when used in agriculture, food science, and medicine.

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.

Biotechnology is often used to refer to genetic

engineering technology of the 21st century, however the term

encompasses a wider range and history of procedures for

modifying biological organisms according to the needs of

humanity, going back to the initial modifications of native plants

into improved food crops through artificial selection and

hybridization. Bioengineering is the science upon which all

biotechnological applications are based. With the development of

new approaches and modern techniques, traditional

biotechnology industries are also acquiring new horizons,

enabling them to improve the quality of their products and

increase the productivity of their systems. Before 1971, the term

biotechnology was primarily used in food processing and

agriculture industries. Since the 1970s, it began to be used by the

Western scientific establishment to refer to laboratory-based

techniques being developed in biological research, such as

recombinant DNA or tissue culture-based processes, or horizontal

gene transfer in living plants, using vectors such as the

Agrobacterium bacteria to transfer DNA into a host organism. In

fact, the term should be used in a much broader sense to describe

the whole range of methods, both ancient and modern, used to

manipulate organic materials to reach the demands of food

production.

Internet: wikipedia.org (adapted).