What is biotechnology?

Using biology to make things

At its core, biotechnology harnesses the capabilities of living systems — whole organisms, cells, or molecules such as enzymes — to produce useful products or perform processes. This includes long-standing practices like using yeast to ferment bread and beverages, as well as cutting-edge methods like engineering microorganisms to manufacture proteins. The unifying idea is putting biological processes to practical use.

A long history

Biotechnology is far older than the term itself. Fermentation to make bread, cheese, beer, and wine has been used for thousands of years, and selective breeding of plants and animals is an ancient form of applied biology.

The modern era began with the rise of molecular biology and, especially, recombinant DNA technology in the 1970s, which allowed organisms to be precisely engineered and transformed biotechnology into a powerful, fast-moving field.

Colours of biotechnology

Biotechnology is often organised by application using an informal colour scheme. Red biotechnology covers medical and pharmaceutical research applications; green biotechnology covers agriculture and plants; and white (or industrial) biotechnology covers processes such as making enzymes, biofuels, and bio-based materials. Other colours are sometimes used for fields such as marine or environmental biotechnology.

Research and standards

Biotechnology draws on genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry, and engineering, and depends on rigorous, reproducible methods. As biotechnology research increasingly generates large biological datasets, shared data standards, identifiers, and repositories help ensure that results are findable, interoperable, and reusable across laboratories and disciplines.