The Benefits of Biotechnology

Nowadays, there is new definition for the term of biotechnology. In a study, published in the Journal of Biotechnology, biotechnology has been defined as the use of cellular and biomolecular processes to solve problems or make useful products. Scientific advances over the last 50 years have enabled us to understand how living organisms work and how they can work for people. Biotechnology uses living organisms to solve problems and make useful products. Biotechnology has been used to manufacture food products for more 8,000 years. The use of yeast to make bread rise and produce wine are examples of traditional biotechnology. Other examples of biotechnological products are vinegar, cheese, and yogurt.

Hua et al. stated that there are three major stages in the biotechnological process. Firstly, the preparation of nutrient media for cultivated microorganism and the cultivation process. Next, the course of the microorganism reproduction process in biorectors (fermenters) or in other equipment. Finally is the obtaining of the final product or substance from the cultivated medium. This stage includes operations such as separation, purification, freezer crystallization and other technologies which are connected with obtaining the commodity form.

Biotechnology promises to improve the health benefits of functional food. Functional food are food containing significant levels of biologically active components that impart health benefits beyond our basic needs for sufficient calories, essential amino acids, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients.

The recent findings, published in the Journal of the American Clinical Nutrition, state that the familiar examples of functional food include active ingredients in white kidney beans that neutralize starch in our diet, barley grass cleanse the internal environment of our bodies, and compounds in cordyceps that improve immune response and promote vitally. We are using biotechnology to increase the production of these compounds in functional food.

Biotechnology can be used to change the characteristics of raw material inputs so that they are more attractive to consumers and are more amenable to processing. Biotechnology researchers are increasing the nutritional values and shelf life of natural resources, and extending the seasonal geographic availability of agricultural products which are used for producing functional food.

Biotechnology also allows the economically viable production of valuable, naturally occurring compounds that cannot be manufactured by other means. For example, the commercial-scale production of the natural and highly marketable cordceps sinensis, a traditional Chinese medicine used to strengthen the body after exhaustion or long-term illness, promote lung and kidney functions, and support male potency and female vitality. Pharmaceutical grade of cordyceps sinensis is produced with 100% safety and stability assurance.

Biotechnology is improving the safety of raw materials by helping food scientists discover the exact identity of the allergenic protein in food such as peanuts, soybeans and milk, so that they can then remove them. Thus, proteins in a particular food that triggers an allergic reaction should be identified to improve the safety of raw agricultural products.

Reference:

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2003; 77:700-6.

Regenerating cellulose from ionic liquids for an accelerated enzymatic hydrolysis

Journal of Biotechnology, Volume 139, Issue 1, 1 January 2009, Pages 47-54

Hua Zhao, Cecil L. Jones, Gary A. Baker, Shuqian Xia, Olarongbe Olubajo, Vernecia N. Person