Biotechnology Applications: Agriculture, Health, Environment
Benefits of Biodiversity for Local Residents
The sustainable use of biodiversity offers an opportunity to improve the living conditions of inhabitants. To ensure success, countries must react quickly and implement effective policies and strategies. A clear principle should prevail: “First is the people,” meaning efforts should be directed to improve the economic and human well-being of settlers.
It is known that rural populations are great conservators of biodiversity, especially genetic resources. However, major development projects often marginalize them, and the economy is oriented toward the benefit of foreign companies with little benefit to local communities.
Lab Biotechnology: A Multidisciplinary Activity
Lab biotechnology is a multidisciplinary activity based on the border or edge knowledge generated by modern disciplines (molecular biology, biochemistry, bioengineering, plant biology, microbiology, etc.). Its aim is to use this knowledge to develop clean technology that is technically and economically competitive. This allows, through the wise use of systems and living organisms, their products or parts, the solution of relevant economic problems (agricultural, health, environmental and industrial pollution, etc.).
Trends in Biotechnology
Agricultural Sector Trends
The general trends in the agricultural sector are currently directed towards the following aspects:
- Obtaining transgenic plants resistant to pests (viruses, bacteria, fungi, insects, and herbicides), resistant to abiotic stresses (drought, salinity, heat, heavy metals, etc.), and with enhanced and/or new features (higher protein content, starch, oil, etc., and modification of oil content, late maturity, etc.).
- Creating major crop genome maps to make traditional plant breeding more efficient and faster.
- Replacing agrochemical products with those of biological origin (bio-fertilizers, bio-insecticides, bioherbicides, biological pest control, biopesticides, etc.).
Agricultural Sub-Sector Trends
Trends in the agricultural sub-sector are focused on:
- Increasing the performance, productivity, and quality of agricultural products (control of growth and development of plants), and developing cultivars with increased yield and improved nutritional quality or more value-added, such as the improvement of oil.
- Reducing the time and cost of breeding programs (tissue culture or in vitro micropropagation, breeding directed and not random).
- Using biopesticides and biological control, such as the use of pheromones in pest management of insects, juvenile hormone use to prevent the maturation of larvae, using bacteria, and using natural pathogens.
Livestock Trends
Trends in livestock are directed toward increased productivity and quality of meat and milk (hormone use), the production of high value-added elements in transgenic animals (antibiotics, vitamins, and enzymes), and the production of new intracellular vaccines and immunization.
Health Sector Trends
In the health sector, trends are oriented towards the production of therapeutic proteins of interest (insulin, interferons, etc.), development and production of new vaccines, the development and production of diagnostic systems, the design, production and management methods drug and molecular biology of the human genome and molecular medicine.
Environmental Pollution Treatment Trends
Trends in the treatment of environmental pollution are oriented towards wastewater treatment (aerobic and anaerobic), bioremediation, and treatment of solids and gases.
Comparative Advantages
These comparative advantages can be summarized as follows: high species diversity and genetic resources, and a great deal of knowledge about the properties of the species.
The high diversity of flora, fauna, and microorganisms places the country in a situation waiting to be used in development. These advantages are especially concerned with the following: