Biotechnology is the use of technology to modify or manipulate living systems or parts of living systems for the generation of useful products, biological processing or to acquire knowledge. Products manufactured or processed using biotechnology are found in agricultural, pharmaceutical, food, chemical and biofuel industries. Biotechnology is also used in waste treatment.
Biotechnology fundamentals
Biotechnology is used to modify living systems or parts of living systems based on knowledge about essential parts or processes which allow living things to grow, reproduce, use resources and respond to their environment.
- DNA
Biotechnology tools
Biotechnology tools have been developed in research areas such as molecular biology, biochemistry, immunology, genetics, microbiology, cell biology and agriculture.
- microbial strain isolation
- microbial strain improvement
- CRISPR
Mapping Projects
Mapping projects serve as reference manuals to living systems by showing the organization of components within living organisms. Mapping projects promote the sharing of biological information.
Large biopharmaceutical companies
Therapeutics companies
The following companies are using biotechnology in disease research and in development and production of medicine or therapies for a range of injuries or illnesses.
Allergy
Diabetes
Herpes
Software
Delivery system
Kidney disease
Pain treatment
Dermatology
Cancer
- OncoSenX
Rare disease
Therapeutics targeting RNA splicing
Multi-drug resistant bacteria
ADHD treatment
Depression and anxiety
Autoimmune
Respiratory and pulmonary disease
Cardiovascular disease
Contract research companies
Regenerative medicine
Neuromuscular disease
Alzheimer's, neurological and neurodegenerative diseases
- Kernel
- Leucadia Therapeutics
- Alzheon
- Neuraly
Infertility
Eye disease or injury
Bone repair
- EpiBone
Eating disorders
Antibacterial products
Aging
In vitro diagnostics (IVD) and molecular diagnostics companies
Biotechnology is used by IVD companies to develop tests that detect diseases in vitro, meaning outside the body, from human samples like blood, urine and tissue have been developed using biotechnology. Molecular diagnostics are a subset of tests within IVD which detect DNA and RNA in order to assess health. Examples are detection of disease-causing gene mutations or presence of viral DNA or RNA. Detection of proteins using antibodies is considered separate from molecular diagnostics but falls under IVD. In addition to molecular diagnostics and immunoassays, the IVD market also includes clinical chemistry, hematology analyzers and microbiology culture.
- Abbott Diagnostics division of Abbott Laboratories
- Illumina
- LabCorp
- QIAGEN
- Grail
Genetic Testing for Disease Risks
Genetic ancestry testing
Imaging technology and bioanalytics
Biotechnology companies that provide research tools
The following companies that produce instruments, kits, reagents and computer software for basic and applied biological research.
Microfluidics
Sustainable and biodegradable materials
Food industry
Agriculture (Ag biotech)
Biofuels
Wetware
Biotechnology in conservation
Other biotechnology companies
Trade Associations
Biotechnology investment
Biotech startup support
Consultants in Biotechnology
Research Institutes
Biotech citizen scientist co-working spaces
Conferences
- Transtech Conference
- International Conference on Biomedical Engineering and Biotechnology
- Discovery On Target
- BIO-Europe
- Biotech Showcase
- Cell Series USA
- The American Society of Human Genetics annual meeting
- The American Society for Cell Biology annual meeting
Biosafety organizations
- AMEXBIO
Timeline
People
Further reading
Documentaries, videos and podcasts
Companies
References
Contributors
- 1
Meredith Hanel
Freelance science writer. Former academic researcher in molecular biology and biomedical science. Medical Genetics PhD. - 2
Carla Faraguna
Golden People and Operations. - 3
Dawson Sewell
Dawson Sewell is a STEM journalist and biologist seeking to explore startups and their technologies. - 4
Vi Chang
Golden Engineer. Lifelong learner. Psych/Neuro grad. - 5
Jude Gomila
Founder and CEO of Golden, Entrepreneur. Previously Co Founder of Heyzap. Investor in 100+ companies. Cantabrigian (Gonville and Caius). - 6
Alex Dean
Masters in Biostatistics/Epidemiology @ UC Berkeley | BA in Biology @ Wesleyan University - 7
Reto Stamm
Developing microfluidic devices.
