biotechnology

bi·o·tech·nol·o·gy (b-tk-nl-j)

n.

1. The use of microorganisms, such as bacteria or yeasts, or biological substances, such as enzymes, to perform specific industrial or manufacturing processes. Applications include production of certain drugs, synthetic hormones, and bulk foodstuffs.

2. The application of the principles of engineering and technology to the life sciences.

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biotechnology

[-teknol′əjē]

Etymology: Gk, bios + techne, art, logos, science

1 the study of the relationships between humans or other living organisms and machinery, such as the health effects of computer equipment on office workers or the ability of airplane pilots to perform tasks when traveling at supersonic speeds.

2 the industrial application of the results of biologic research, particularly in fields such as recombinant deoxyribonucleic acids (DNA) or gene splicing, which permits the production of synthetic hormones or enzymes by combining genetic material from different species. See also recombinant DNA.

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biotechnology,

n 1. the study of the relationships between humans or other living organisms and machinery.
n 2. the industrial application of the results of biologic research such as recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and gene splicing that permit the production of synthetic hormones or enzymes.

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biotechnology

the application for industrial purposes of scientific, biological principles. The most modern examples are the use of recombinant DNA technology and genetic engineering to manufacture a wide variety of biologically useful substances such as vaccines and hormones by expression of cloned genes in various host cell systems including bacteria, yeast and insect cells.