Information on Biotech Companies

Biotech companies are those that make use of biotechnology for producing goods and services. They make use of science, chemicals etc for the manufacture of their products. There are several biotech companies across the globe. These companies like all other companies have to be approved by the government to start operating. There is a list of biotech companies on the internet. They solely operate on organism related to biology. Their research is base on organisms and the equipments used by them are much more different than the other completely different form the other companies.

Usually not all biotech companies make a huge profit. Study says that only one out of ten of these companies earn profits. They aim at improving the standard of life of people unlike other companies. Due to recessions the funding for these companies had been stopped due the deterioration in funds. The funds required by them is considerably large because their research in done on trial and error basis to attain the required results. New biotech companies are being opened and they are recruiting expert staff for delivering products and services to the people.

These companies blend science and engineering together to get their work done. They focus on the welfare of the society and are involved in the production of drugs, foodstuff, recycling, etc. There are divided into three sections industrial biotechnology, agricultural biotechnology and medical biotechnology. They staff recruited by them are highly educated in either science or engineering and sometimes both. These companies are continuously working towards finding cures for the different types of harmful diseases that are known to cause irreparable damage.

If you are looking for a career in biotechnology then you first need to decide which field you want to get into. The you can get your research done on the internet to find the best universities that provide education for the required field. Once you get your decrees there are several companies that provide internships so that you are expertly trained for the job you have applied for.

The funding for new biotech companies are still on a hold up to some extent because banks have issued a limit on private funding. If the products manufactured by these are of the right quality and are very beneficial to the people then these companies become popular and their demand increases. Like other companies they too have to make expenses on promotion and advertisement. The government should make arrangements for giving them capital as in turn they may also benefit if the company starts making a considerable amount of profit.

Scientists aim at earning an income by making living life easy for the other. Their research is based humans, plants, animal, and all other living organisms. It is being predicted that in the near future these companies will find cures for disease like cancer, tuberculosis, AID's etc. They continue functioning for the benefit of the society even if the profits earned by them are very low.

One of the hard hits of the recent economic recession has been the slow-down of private funding for new biotech companies. With a general haze of uncertainty hovering in the economic climate, comes an apprehensive attitude toward emergent industry.

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Biotechnology in Agriculture

The term agriculture refers to cultivation of plants, animals for food, fuels, clothes, medicine and other products which are essential for our living. Conventional agriculture is practiced in several ways by different people around the globe. It is well known that agricultural products have different quality from place to place and some of the agricultural products are not seen in some parts of the world, while they are abundant in the rest of the world. This difference is due to several factors including climatic conditions, weather, availability of water, mineral content in the soil, and last but not least political and geographical factors. Another factor which led to the development of modern agriculture is the need to increase yield of plant products, disease, pest, drought resistance in plant products.

Biotechnology has emerged from traditional science to overcome the problems in every aspect of life, from plant breeding to genetic engineering. Out of the vast applications of Biotechnology, Agricultural Biotechnology is one. It involves the development of plants in such a way that, plants produce high yields of products such as grains, vegetables, fruits, leaves (leafy vegetables) and they can tolerate extreme conditions such as high temperature, high salinity in water and high humidity in the air. Furthermore we can produce plant products as per our needs, and we can control the features like color, taste, odor and size of fruits and vegetables. All this is made possible by exploiting the properties of the miracle molecules called DNA (De Oxy Ribose Nucleic Acid). Since the discovery of DNA, scientists have developed the solutions to overcome the problems in Agriculture, by modifying the genetic structure of the DNA.

The crops whose DNA has been modified are called "Transgenic Plants" or "Transgenic Crops", and the products derived from these plants are called Genetically Modified plant products. So, how is this done? All the living beings, including animals, plants, bacteria, fungi and microorganisms have DNA, which guides their development and the pathway to their survival. This DNA in turn is divided in "genes", which are specific for each and every feature and function of a living organism. This means, if we modify the genes, we are actually modifying any particular 'feature' or 'function' of that organism or any part of that organism. The same principle is applied in Agricultural Biotechnology as well. If we are looking to enhance the color of the flowers produced by a plant, we can alter the genetic structure of gene which is responsible for that color. This procedure can be done using any plant part, another example would be increasing the sweetness of a fruit, in this case we modify the gene responsible for production of fructose. Fructose is a sugar which gives sweetness to fruits, in theory, if we change the gene to produce more fructose, and then the fruit will become sweeter.

The major breakthrough in Agriculture was seen, when the "Flavr Savr" tomatoes were introduced into the US markets on May 21, 1994. This discovery led to the foundation for storing vegetables and fruits without a refrigerator for several days. An enzyme called Polyglacturonase is responsible to dissolve the pectin of the cell-wall. A gene complimentary to the Polyglacturonase gene, can be cloned using antisense RNA technology. This antisense gene will block the Polyglacturonase produced by its gene and thus stops the decaying of fruits and vegetables. As the cell wall decaying enzyme is produced in very little quantities, the delay in spoilage of fruits and vegetables is increased. Now this revolutionary technology is used to save millions of dollars every year, by reducing the wastage of fruits and vegetables during transport.

We have discussed only a very few applications from the huge database of Biotechnological applications in Agriculture. While we have seen only the benefits of Biotechnology, at the same time everything in this world has its own pros and cons and Biotechnology is no exception for this. Non Scientific community has said much about the potential risks of Biotechnology to us and our environment, but so far there is little evidence from the scientific studies that the risks are real. At the same time we experience the range of benefits offered by transgenic plants, beyond the ones which emerged from traditional Agricultural practices.

The author blogs at HourlyBook.com, an open source portal for Science reference & education.

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Dr. C. Ford Runge Discusses Agricultural Biotechnology

View video of biotech expert Dr. C. Ford Runge discussing agricultural biotechnology economic aspects. The conversations about plant biotechnology Web site offers video discussions with farmers and experts from around the world on subsistence farming and other Ag biotech issues.

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