New Biotech: Overview

There are many definitions of “biotechnology” and they cover a wide variety of fields and practices. Simply explained, biotechnology is technology based on biology. Some of the most commonly used definitions are provided by the National Institute of Food and Technology of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and by the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. The National Institute of Food and Technology provides a general definition of biotechnology as the field that develops useful products and services using biology, biology derivates, and biological processes.

According to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, biotechnology refers to technological applications that use biological systems or derivates in order to create products for human use, or in order to modify existing ones. In general, then, biotechnology can be ...