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Biotechnology Reference – The Billion Dollar Site
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Biotechnology
Content derived from Wikipedia article on Biotechnology
Biotechnology is technology based on biology, especially when used in agriculture, food science, and medicine. The UN Convention on Biological Diversity has come up with one of many definitions of biotechnology:
"Biotechnology means any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use." This definition is at odds with common usage in the United States, where "biotechnology" generally refers to recombinant DNA based and/or tissue culture based processes that have only been commercialized since the 1970s. Thus, in common usage, modifying plants or animals by breeding, which has been practiced for thousands of years, would not be considered biotechnology. This distinction emphasizes that modern, recombinant DNA based biotechnology is not just a more powerful version of existing technology, but represents something new and different; for instance, theoretically, recombinant DNA biotechnology allows us to take virtually any gene and express it in any organism; we can take the genes that make crimson color in plants and put them into guinea pigs to make pink pets, or, we can take the genes that help arctic fish survive the freezing temperatures and put them into food to increase the amount of time it can grow before it freezes. This sort of gene transfer was virtually impossible with historical processes.
There has been a great deal of talk - and money - poured into biotechnology with the hope that miracle drugs will appear. While there do seem to be a small number of efficacious drugs, in general the Biotech revolution has not happened in the pharmaceutical sector. However, recent progress with monoclonal antibody based drugs, such as Genentech's Avastin (tm) suggest that biotech may finally have found a role in pharmaceutical sales.
Biotechnology can also be defined as the manipulation of organisms to do practical things and to provide useful products.
One aspect of biotechnology is the directed use of organisms for the manufacture of organic products (examples include beer and milk products). For another example, naturally present bacteria are utilized by the mining industry in bioleaching. Biotechnology is also used to recycle, treat waste, clean up sites contaminated by industrial activities (bioremediation), and produce biological weapons.
There are also applications of biotechnology that do not use living organisms. Examples are DNA microarrays used in genetics and radioactive tracers used in medicine.
Red biotechnology is applied to medical processes. Some examples are the designing of organisms to produce antibiotics, and the engineering of genetic cures through genomic manipulation.
White biotechnology, also known as grey biotechnology, is biotechnology applied to industrial processes. An example is the designing of an organism to produce a useful chemical. White biotechnology tends to consume less in resources than traditional processes used to produce industrial goods.
Green biotechnology is biotechnology applied to agricultural processes. An example is the designing of transgenic plants to grow under specific environmental conditions or in the presence (or absence) of certain agricultural chemicals. One hope is that green biotechnology might produce more environmentally friendly solutions than traditional industrial agriculture. An example of this is the engineering of a plant to express a pesticide, thereby eliminating the need for external application of pesticides. An example of this would be Bt corn. Whether or not green biotechnology products such as this are ultimately more environmentally friendly is a topic of considerable debate.
Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary field which addresses biological problems using computational techniques. The field is also often referred to as computational biology. It plays a key role in various areas, such as functional genomics, structural genomics, and proteomics, and forms a key component in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sector.
The term blue biotechnology has also been used to describe the marine and aquatic applications of biotechnology, but its use is relatively rare.
Contents
1 Biotechnology medical products 2 History 3 Global biotechnology trends 4 Biotechnology firms 5 Key visionaries and personalities in biotechnology sector 6 See also 7 References
Biotechnology medical products
Traditional pharmaceutical drugs are small chemicals molecules that treat the symptoms of a disease or illness - one molecule directed at a single target. Biopharmaceuticals are large biological molecules known as proteins and these target the underlying mechanisms and pathways of a malady; it is a relatively young industry. They can deal with targets in humans that are not accessible with traditional medicines. A patient typically is dosed with a small molecule via a tablet while a large molecule is typically injected.
Small molecules are manufactured by chemistry but large molecules are created by living cells: for example, - bacteria cells, yeast cell,animal cells.
Modern biotechnology is often associated with the use of genetically altered microorganisms such as E. coli or yeast for the production of substances like insulin or antibiotics. It can also refer to transgenic animals or transgenic plants, such as Bt corn. Genetically altered mammalian cells, such as Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells, are also widely used to manufacture pharmaceuticals. Another promising new biotechnology application is the development of plant-made pharmaceuticals.
Biotechnology is also commonly associated with landmark breakthroughs in new medical therapies to treat diabetes, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Cancers, Arthritis, Haemophilia, Bone Fractures, Multiple Sclerosis, Cardiovascular as well as molecular diagnostic devices than can be used to define the patient population. Herceptin, is the first drug approved for use with a matching diagnostic test and is used to treat breast cancer in women whose cancer cells express the protein HER2.
History
Early cultures also understood the importance of using natural processes to breakdown waste products into inert forms. From very early nomadic tribes to pre-urban civilizations it was common knowledge that given enough time organic waste products would be absorbed and eventually integrated into the soil. It was not until the advent of modern microbiology and chemistry that this process was fully understood and attributed to bacteria.
The most practical use of biotechnology, which is still present today, is the cultivations of plants to produce food suitable to humans. Agriculture has been theorized to have become the dominant way of producing food since the Neolithic Revolution. The processes and methods of agriculture have been refined by other mechanical and biological sciences since its inception. Through early biotechnology farmers were able to select the best suited and high-yield crops to produce enough food to support a growing population. Other uses of biotechnology were required as crops and fields became increasingly large and difficult to maintain. Specific organisms and organism byproducts were used to fertilize, restore nitrogen, and control pests. Throughout the use of agriculture farmers have inadvertently altered the genetics of their crops through introducing them to new environments, breeding them with other plants, and by using artificial selection. In modern times some plants are genetically modified to produce specific nutritional values or to be economical.
The process of Ethanol fermentation was also one of the first forms of biotechnology. Cultures such as those in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Iran developed the process of brewing which consisted of combining malted grains with specifics yeasts to produce alcoholic beverages. In this process the carbohydrates in the grains were broken down into alcohols such as ethanol. Later other cultures produced the process of Lactic acid fermentation which allowed the fermentation and preservation of other forms of food. Fermentation was also used in this time period to produce leavened bread. Although the process of fermentation was not fully understood until Louis Pasteur’s work in 1857, it is still the first use of biotechnology to convert a food source into another form.
Combinations of plants and other organisms were used as medications in many early civilizations. Since as early as 200 BC people began to use disabled or minute amounts of infectious agents to immunize themselves against infections. These and similar processes have been refined in modern medicine and have lead to many developments such as antibiotics, vaccines, and other methods of fighting sickness.
A more recent field in biotechnology is that of genetic engineering. Genetic modification has opened up many new fields of biotechnology and allowed the modification of plants, animals, and even humans on a molecular level.
Global biotechnology trends
According to Burrill and Company, an industry investment bank, over $350 billion has been invested in biotech so far, and global revenues have risen from $23 billion in 2000 to more than $50 billion in 2005. The greatest growth has been in Latin America but all regions of the world have shown strong growth trends.
There has been little innovation in the traditional pharmaceutical industry over the past decade and biopharmaceuticals are now achieving the fastest rates of growth against this background, particularly in breast cancer treatment. Biopharmaceuticals typically treat sub-sets of the total population with a disease whereas traditional drugs are developed to treat the population as a whole. However, one of the great difficulties with traditional drugs are the toxic side effects the incidence of which can be unpredictable in individual patients.
Biotechnology firms
There are around 4,000 biotechnology firms across the globe. Almost 50% of these are in the European Union; 30% in the US and the balance in Asia. The leading biotechnology firms are Amgen, Genentech and Serono.
Key visionaries and personalities in biotechnology sector
Finland : Leena Palotie Iceland : Kari Stefansson Ireland : Timothy O'Brien, Dermot P Kelleher, Pearse Lyons USA : Kate Jacques, David Botstein, Craig Venter, Sydney Brenner, Eric Lander, Leroy Hood, Robert Langer, Henry I. Miller, Roger Beachy, William Rutter, George Rathmann, Herbert Boyer, Michael West, Thomas Okarma Europe : Paul D Kemp India : Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (Biocon) Canada : Mike Tyers
See also
List of biotechnology articles Pharmaceutical company Biotechnology industrial park Compare with Biomimetics
References
^ "The Convention on Biological Diversity (Article 2. Use of Terms)." United Nations. 1992. Retrieved on September 20, 2006.
End of Wikipedia content, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biotechnology
Content derived from Wikipedia category on Biotechnology
Biotechnology is technology based on biology, especially when used in agriculture, food science, medicine, and Genetic engineering.
Subcategories There are 11 subcategories to this category shown below (more may be shown on subsequent pages).
B [+] Bioinformatics [+] Bioluminescence [+] Biotechnology companies B cont. [+] Biotechnology products [+] Biotechnology stubs C [+] Cell imaging [+] Cloning G [+] Genetic engineering M [+] Molecular genetics S [+] Stem cells V [+] Vaccination
Pages in category "Biotechnology"
There are 91 pages in this section of this category.
4 454 Life Sciences
A Adult stem cell Agrobacterium Agroinfiltration Antibody microarray Antisense therapy Arthur Riggs Asilomar conference on recombinant DNA
B Bacterial conjugation Bio21 Institute of Molecular Science and Biotechnology, University of Melbourne Bioaugmentation Biochemical engineering Biochip Bioleaching Biological Innovation for Open Society Biologics Control Act Biometrical system Handshake Bionanotechnology Biopharmaceutical Biopharmacology Bioprocess Bioprocessor Bioremediation Biorobotics Biosensor Bioship Biostimulation
C Cell culture Cell therapy Certolizumab pegol Chemical Compound Microarray Clinical research associate Cyborg
D DNA clamp DNAFET Digital microfluidics
E Electroporation Embryonic stem cell Enhanced biological phosphorus removal Environmental biotechnology
F FlavrSavr
G Gene therapy Genetically modified food Genome Valley Germinal choice technology
H History of biotechnology Human cloning
I Industrial biotechnology Intrinsic bioremediation
K Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences
L Robert S. Langer List of biotechnology articles
M Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. Medicine (China) Michigan Life Sciences Corridor Microfluidics Microinjection Monoclonal antibodies Monsanto Canada Inc. v. Schmeiser Mycofiltration Mycoremediation
N Nanobiotechnology Nuclear transfer
O Oncogenomics Order 81 Organic superconductor
P Pharmaceuticals (Pakistan) Pharmaceutical company Pharmaceuticals (Bangladesh) Pharmaceuticals (China) Pharmaceuticals (India) Pharming (genetics) Plant tissue culture Polyclonal antibody Protein-protein interaction
R Recombinant DNA
S STR multiplex systems Selective breeding Stem cell Substantial equivalence Synthetic biology
T The Regenerative Medicine Institute Ti plasmid Transgenic plant
U University of the Philippines, Los Baños Use of biotechnology in pharmaceutical manufacturing User:Peter Znamenskiy/Adult stem cell
V Virtual Center of Biotechnology for the Americas
End of Wikipedia content, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Biotechnology
Content derived from Wikipedia article on List of Biotechnology Companies
Top 100 Biotechnology Companies
The following is a list of the top 100 biotechnology companies ranked by revenue. The first six companies qualify for the list of the top 50 pharmaceutical companies.
Rank 2004 - Company Name - Country - Revenue 2004 (USD millions) - R&D 2004 (USD millions) - Net Income/ (Loss) 2004 (USD millions) - Employees 2004
1 Amgen USA 10,550.0 2,028.0 2,363.0 14,400 2 Genentech USA 4,621.2 947.5 784.8 7,646 3 Serono Switzerland 2,458.1 594.3 496.2 4,902 4 Biogen Idec USA 2,211.6 687.7 25.1 4,266 5 Genzyme USA 2,201.1 391.8 86.5 7,000 6 Chiron Corp. USA 1,723.4 431.1 78.9 5,400 7 Gilead Sciences USA 1,324.6 223.6 449.4 1,654 8 CSL Australia 1,273.4 70.2 152.4 8,000 9 MedImmune USA 1,141.1 327.3 -3.8 1,823 10 Cephalon USA 1,015.4 274.0 -73.8 2,173 11 Millennium Pharmaceuticals USA 448.2 402.6 -252.3 1,477 12 Genencor International USA 470.4 75.8 26.8 1,271 13 ImClone Systems USA 388.7 82.1 113.7 866 14 Actelion Switzerland 379.7 109.7 70.2 850 15 Celgene USA 377.5 160.9 52.8 766 16 MGI Pharma USA 195.7 62.6 -85.7 282 17 QLT Canada 186.1 50.1 165.7 520 18 Nabi Biopharmaceuticals USA 179.8 61.0 -50.4 727 19 AEterna Zentaris Canada 179.2 23.3 -4.4 350 20 Regeneron Pharmaceuticals USA 174.0 136.1 41.7 730 21 Enzon Pharmaceuticals USA 169.6 34.8 1.9 359 22 Ligand Pharmaceuticals USA 168.8 70.7 n/a n/a 23 Berna Biotech Switzerland 164.6 42.1 -18.8 887 24 Acambis UK 156.7 53.0 38.3 270 25 InterMune USA 151.0 81.3 -59.5 326 26 Cangene Canada 120.5 19.7 25.0 600 27 Vertex Pharmaceuticals USA 102.7 192.2 -166.2 736 28 Protein Design Labs USA 91.0 122.6 -53.2 660 29 Innogenetics Belgium 88.4 34.9 -17.0 600 30 Neurocrine Biosciences USA 85.2 115.1 -45.8 385 31 Transkaryotic Therapies USA 78.1 88.1 -65.9 400 32 Icos USA 74.6 71.8 -198.2 675 33 United Therapeutics USA 73.6 30.6 15.4 170 34 LifeCell USA 61.1 7.9 7.2 196 35 Myriad Genetics USA 56.6 50.7 -40.6 511 36 OSI Pharmaceuticals USA 42.8 110.4 -260.4 452 37 Isis Pharmaceuticals USA 42.6 118.5 -142.9 303 38 Bioniche Life Sciences Canada 41.8 10.5 -6.0 305 39 Enzo Biochem USA 41.6 8.1 -6.2 238 40 ID Biomedical Canada 41.2 37.3 -30.5 511 41 Protherics UK 38.4 6.7 2.3 219 42 ViroLogic USA 36.8 7.8 -81.8 250 43 ZymoGenetics USA 35.7 94.3 -88.8 410 44 Peptech Australia 33.6 3.2 19.9 20 45 Antisoma UK 33.1 30.3 -1.1 63 46 Carrington Laboratories USA 30.8 0.9 0.0 324 47 Cell Therapeutics USA 29.6 101.1 -252.3 402 48 Cambridge Antibody Technology UK 28.6 79.1 -68.4 281 49 Crucell The Netherlands 28.1 25.5 -26.5 210 50 Vernalis UK 27.9 44.7 44.7 131 51 Bavarian Nordic Denmark 27.5 23.3 -8.9 117 52 MorphoSys Germany 27.3 15.4 0.6 132 53 Anika Therapeutics USA 26.5 4.1 11.2 61 54 ImmunoGen USA 26.0 22.2 -6.0 146 55 Corixa USA 25.0 62.3 -77.0 263 56 AnGes MG Japan 24.9 34.0 -14.2 85 57 SciClone Pharmaceuticals USA 24.4 18.0 -13.3 143 58 Kosan Biosciences USA 22.9 40.2 -22.1 136 59 ViroPharma USA 22.4 16.4 -19.5 36 60 Agenix Australia 22.2 4.3 -8.7 100 61 Tanox USA 20.5 27.2 -10.3 127 62 CV Therapeutics USA 20.4 124.3 -155.1 265 63 NeuroSearch Denmark 20.4 23.5 0.2 175 64 Indevus Pharmaceuticals USA 18.7 23.3 -68.2 356 65 BioMarin Pharmaceutical USA 18.6 49.8 -187.4 359 66 Dyax USA 16.6 39.4 -33.1 100 67 MediGene Germany 16.3 18.3 -15.3 117 68 Maxygen USA 16.3 53.3 8.3 230 69 Abgenix USA 16.1 124.8 -187.5 523 70 GPC Biotech Germany 15.7 50.0 -49.7 171 77 Cytogen USA 14.6 3.2 -20.5 89 72 Genta USA 14.6 71.5 -32.7 73 73 Vical USA 14.5 31.2 -23.7 169 74 NPS Pharmaceuticals USA 14.2 143.1 -168.3 356 75 ML Laboratories UK 14.2 23.1 -16.2 115 76 Vitrolife Sweden 14.1 1.7 1.6 70 77 Cerus USA 13.9 27.7 -31.2 83 78 Encysive Pharmaceuticals USA 13.8 58.1 -54.7 117 79 Arena Pharmaceuticals USA 13.7 57.7 -58.0 291 80 Medarex USA 12.5 122.0 -186.5 435 81 Amrad Australia 12.1 9.6 -2.6 38 82 Life Therapeutics Australia 12.0 1.5 -7.2 133 83 GenVec USA 11.9 23.1 -18.9 111 84 Medivir Sweden 11.6 26.1 -15.1 126 85 Cell Genesys USA 11.5 92.1 -97.4 377 86 Inex Pharmaceuticals Canada 11.2 20.6 -25.9 62 87 Inspire Pharmaceuticals USA 11.1 25.7 -44.1 165 88 Myogen USA 9.9 54.1 -57.7 100 89 Targeted Genetics USA 9.7 17.3 -14.3 90 90 Epimmune USA 9.6 10.9 -3.9 37 91 Progenics Pharmaceuticals USA 9.6 36.1 -42.0 136 92 Active Biotech Sweden 9.5 32.6 -23.7 151 93 GroPep Australia 9.1 3.1 0.7 85 94 Novogen Australia 8.8 5.7 -8.7 67 95 Unigene Laboratories USA 8.4 10.7 -5.9 61 96 Vicuron Pharmaceuticals USA 8.4 68.5 -80.0 216 97 Xenova UK 8.4 24.0 -23.0 75 98 Dusa Pharmaceuticals USA 8.0 6.5 -15.6 65 99 Senetek USA 7.6 1.5 0.6 11 100 Valentis USA 7.5 10.1 -6.5 22
Source: Top 100 biotechnology companies, MedAdNews, July 2005
End of Wikipedia content, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_biotechnology_companies
Credits & Copyright: This page is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia articles Biotechnology, Biotechnology Category & List of biotechnology companies
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