Textbook of Biotechnology

Biotechnology is a multi-disciplinary course, having its foundations in many fields including biology, microbiology, biochemistry, molecular biology, genetics, chemistry and chemical engineering. It has been considered as a series of enabling technologies involving the practical applications of organisms or their cellular components to manufacturing and service industries and environmental management. Initially, biotechnology was an art, involved in the production of wines, beers and cheese. Now it involves series of advance technologies spanning biology, chemistry and process engineering. In recent years innovations involving genetic engineering have had a major impact on biotechnology. Its applications are diverse, including the production of new drugs, transgenic organisms and biological fuels, genetherapy and clearing up pollution. It is also about providing cleaning technology for a new millennium; of providing means of waste disposal, of dealing with environmental problems. It is in short, one of the major technology of twenty-first century that will sustain growth and development in countries throughout the world for several decades to come. It will continue to improve the standard of our lives, from the improved medical treatments through its effects on foods and food supply and to the environment. No aspect of our lives will be unaffected by biotechnology. This textbook on biotechnology has been written to provide an overview of many of fundamental aspects that underpin all biotechnology and to provide examples of how these principles are put into operation, i.e. from the starting substrate of feed stock through the final product. The textbook also caters to the requirement of the syllabus prescribed by various Indian universities for undergraduate students pursuing biotechnology, applied microbiology, biochemistry and biochemical engineering.