Biotechnology is biology-based technology that uses cellular and biomolecular processes to create technologies and products that help us live better lives and improve the health of our planet. We've relied on microorganisms' biological processes to make vital food products like bread and cheese, as well as to preserve dairy goods, for about 6,000 years.
Now, biotech is becoming a game changer, and it is booming right now. According to the economist, one biotech index on the Nasdaq has jumped in value five times in the last decade. All while the total number of biotech companies has more than doubled with 27 billion dollars invested in last year.
So, Here are the top 10 reasons that show why biotech is booming.
10. Bioplastics
We've been excavating and filling our planet's grave since 1979.
Single-use plastic accounts for half of the annual global plastic production of 300 million tonnes. That is to say, it is discarded entirely. Petroleum-based plastic does not degrade, thus it accumulates in landfills, lawns, and trees. Plastic has found its way into both terrestrial and aquatic natural environments. Plastics eventually became an unavoidable human concern. Biotechnology has provided a remedy to this problem.
The concept of bioplastics was then introduced by biotech. Renewable biomass sources, such as plants, vegetable fats and oils, corn starch, and recycled garbage, are used to make bioplastics. In theory, they may take the place of petroleum-based plastics in a variety of applications. Bioplastics are becoming a more promising option in most nations, thanks to rules that limit the use of conventional plastics and encourage the use of more sustainably generated materials.
9. Role in food Production
Biotechnology is widely employed in the food industry to manufacture a variety of food items, including genetically modified foods, in order to improve the taste, yield, shelf life, and nutritional content. Biotechnology is used in the food industry to create a variety of enzymes. Biotechnology-produced enzymes are employed in food production and processing.
Biotechnology offers farmers with a tool that allows them to develop high-yielding crops with increased nutritional content and the ability to withstand biological and physical challenges. Biotechnology has provided new approaches to controlling and overcoming these problems. Developments in several sectors of biotechnology are also helping to significantly increase efforts to develop an alternative to synthetic feeding, as well as new breakthroughs in traditional plant breeding technologies.
8. Biotech has the potential to eradicate cancer
Biotechnology, which has sparked revolutions in a variety of disciplines, has sparked high hopes for the future, particularly in the pharmaceutical sector for the treatment of a variety of disorders. Cancer is the main cause of mortality worldwide, and due to its complexity and uniqueness, there are a number of obstacles that impede the development of novel anticancer medicines, making cancer treatment research one of the most exploited in the medical profession.
Faced with a tremendous need for new treatment modalities in oncology, biotech researchers around the world laboriously investigate everything from immunotherapies and small molecules that target specific mutations in tumor DNA to genetically modified viruses that deliver cancer-fighting agents into cancer cells, as well as the development of flexible treatment platforms that can evolve to meet the needs of individual patients. From monoclonal antibodies to immuno-oncology, CAR-T, and everything in between, biotech has played and will continue to play an important part in cancer research.
7. Gene Editing
Modern biotechnology and gene technology research and development span a wide range of topics, from stem cell research to the creation of medical genetic testing to the usage of genetically engineered plants, microbes (including viruses), and animals. Modern biotechnology has the potential to bring innovative answers in a variety of areas, including health care, agricultural production, and the legal system. Simultaneously, some developments are regarded with skepticism by academics and the public.
Biotech plays a significant role in gene editing, since it has contributed crucial tools and procedures to the field. Gene editing has the potential to elucidate the role of genetics in disease by facilitating the development of more precise cellular and animal models of pathogenic processes, and it has already shown great promise in a number of domains.
6. Role in environmental protection
Because all living organisms rely on it for their survival and needs, the environment is crucial in every element of life. Extinction and pollution are being caused by man-made environmental disruptions, which is dangerous for biodiversity as well as us people. As a result, biotechnology applications in environmental protection can play a significant part in achieving a sustainable development path.
Biotechnology can help right away by changing solid, liquid, and gaseous waste, either through recycling or the creation of new goods, to make the end result less damaging to the environment. Another option to lessen our damaging impact on the environment is to replace chemicals with biological materials via biotechnology.
5. It changes the way in which medicines are made and prescribed
It's easy to understand how biotechnology could be applied to medicine. The discovery of technologies to modify and mend mutant genes, as well as knowledge of our species' genetic makeup and the genetic foundation of heritable disorders, has provided approaches to treat the disease. Because medications can be manufactured in higher quantities from existing genetic sources, modern biotechnology can be used to make drugs more easily and cheaply. Before giving treatment through genetic testing, genetic diagnosis entails testing for potential genetic abnormalities.
4. Its role in healthcare
Biotechnology has had a huge impact on health care over the last three decades. This trend is likely to continue in the foreseeable future, as researchers gain a better understanding of the pathophysiology of many currently incurable diseases, governments around the world continue to advance biotech innovation initiatives, and business practices evolve to manage the costly, time-consuming, and risky process of product development.
The ongoing growth of biotechnology into chronic diseases, which included 106 new biotech medicines and fifty-nine second or third indications for existing biologic drugs, was a significant feature of the 2000s. 3 The commercialization of biotech therapies for chronic diseases with an immunological etiology was emphasized in the 2000s. Diabetes was treated with medications that had a novel mode of action, such as GLP-1 mediators that influenced pancreatic cells to promote insulin release.
Continuing to create "personalized medicine," or pharmacogenomics, in which a patient's genetics convey the disease's expected response to a biologic treatment, will be a critical endeavor in the future.
3. The Human Genome Project
Biotech's success is largely due to the human genome project. Through its integrated big science approach to interpreting a reference human genome sequence as well as the entire sequencing of essential model organisms, the Human Genome Project has revolutionized biology. The initiative demonstrates the importance, power, and success of large-scale, coordinated, cross-disciplinary efforts directed at difficult main objectives (so-called "big science").
It adopted an open approach to data sharing and open-source software, making the project's data available to everyone. Genome sequences from microbes, plants, and animals have revolutionized various fields of study, including microbiology, virology, infectious disease, and plant biology. Furthermore, medical therapy has begun to be influenced by a greater understanding of human sequence diversity. Following the Human Genome Project, large-scale data collection programs such as the International HapMap Project, 1000 Genomes, and The Cancer Genome Atlas, as well as the newly announced Human Brain Project and the upcoming Human Proteome Project, have sprung up.
2. Everybody wants to invest in the next Moderna or BioNTech
These days, investors invest for reasons other than profit. In reality, socially responsible investment is becoming increasingly popular around the world. You look for and invest in firms that are making a positive difference in the world when you practice socially responsible investing.
Some socially conscious investors are interested in solar stocks to help the environment or financial literacy stocks to help close the wealth gap. Others contribute to the development of life-saving and life-changing therapeutic alternatives by investing in the biotech sector. Since Moderna and BioNTech developed the first COVID vaccines, most people desire to invest in these firms.
1. It's role in fighting COVID-19
In these latter days, we are all living in uncertain circumstances. Our regular routines and way of life have been disrupted unexpectedly. While we may all help to stop the pandemic by taking basic steps like remaining at home, the virus is actively being fought by a major portion of the world's population. In addition to the medical community's bravery and commitment, the scientific community is doubling down on its efforts and resources to learn more about the coronavirus and devise measures to combat it based on a thorough understanding of its biology.
Biotechnology has played a significant impact in the current coronavirus scenario. The development of therapeutic responses to the virus is a major priority. Biotechnologists increase their grasp of viral mechanisms by examining their genomes and converting this information into knowledge and instruments to find a vaccine by working with human cells and gene systems. Unlike traditional vaccinations, which are preventative in nature, biotech vaccines may elicit a rapid immune response in symptomatic individuals. Clinical trials for these vaccinations are underway in China, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
Biotechnology is active in the struggle in additional ways than therapeutic research. In fact, "PCR" and "genome" are two of the most commonly used expressions in COVID-19-related news. Both are biotechnological words that have a prominent role in the coronavirus outbreak.
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