Definitions of biotechnology

The concept of 'biotech' or 'biotechnology' include a wide range of procedures starting with domestication of animals, cultivation of plants, and breeding programs that employ hybridization. Modern usage also includes genetic engineering as well as cell and tissue culture technologies. Biotechnology is defined by the American Chemical Society as the application of biological organisms, systems, or processes by various industries to learn about the science of life and the improvement of the value of materials and organisms such as pharmaceuticals, crops, and livestock. In other words, biotechnology can be defined as the mere application of technical advances in life science to develop commercial products. Biotechnology also deals with the pure biological sciences (genetics, microbiology, animal cell culture, molecular biology, biochemistry, embryology, cell biology). And in many instances it is also dependent on knowledge and methods from outside the sphere of biology including: chemical engineering,bioprocess engineering,bioinformatics (a new brand of Computer science), biorobotics.

Modern biological sciences (including even molecular ecology) are connected and dependent on the methods developed through biotechnology and what is commonly thought of as the life sciences industry. Biotechnology is the research and development in the laboratory using bioinformatics for exploration, extraction, exploitation and production from any living organisms and any source of biomass by means of biochemical engineering where high value-added products could be planned (reproduced by biosynthesis, for example), forecasted, formulated, developed, manufactured and marketed for the purpose of sustainable operations.

By contrast, bioengineering is generally thought of as a related field with its emphasis more on higher systems approaches (not necessarily changing or using biological materials directly) for connecting with and utilizing living things. Bioengineering is the application of the principles of engineering and natural sciences to tissues, cells and molecules. This can be considered as the use knowledge from working with and manipulating biology to a result that can improve functions in plants and animals.

 

Задание 2. Ответьте на следующие вопросы:

1. What is biotechnology?

2. Who came up with the term biotechnology?

3. What procedures does biotechnology include?

4. Biotechnology doesn’t deal with the pure biological sciences (genetics, microbiology, animal cell culture, molecular biology, biochemistry, embryology, cell biology), does it?

5. Which emphasizes more on higher systems approaches bioengineering or biotechnology?

 

Задание 3. Закончите следующие предложения:

 

1. In the late 20th and early 21st century, biotechnology has expanded to include new and diverse sciences such as …

2. Biotechnology is defined by the American Chemical Society as the …

3. Modern biological sciences (including even molecular ecology) …

4. Bioengineering is the application of the principles of …

 

Задание 4. Найдите в тексте английские эквиваленты:

helpful

use

widen

different

variety

identify

improvement

example

unite

predict

produce

access

 

Практическое занятие 6

ИСТОРИЯ БИОТЕХНОГИИ

HISTORY OF BIOTECHNOLOGY

Теоретическая часть

Данный лексический материал предназначен для того, чтобы студенты могли свободно ориентироваться в научном тексте и активно использовать предлагаемые слова и словосочетания в монологической и диалогической речи.

human-derived                                     произведенный человеком

yield                                                урожай

fertilize                                                  удобрять

restore nitrogen                                     восстановить уровень азота

genetics                                                 генетика

introduce                                               вводить

breeding                                                   разведение

livestock                                                скот

to be mated                                          соединять, спаривать

offspring                                               потомство

gain                                                       получать

explore                                                  исследовать

explosives                                             взрывчатка

mold                                                      плесень

gene splicing                                          генный спайсинг

transferring genetic material                  вставка генного материала

imported material                                           введенный материал

to be reproduced                                   быть произведенным

to be met                                               быть выполнены

 

Задания

Задание 1. Прочитайте и переведите текст:

History of biotechnology

Many forms of human-derived agriculture clearly fit the broad definition of “using a biotechnological system to make products”. Indeed, the cultivation of plants may be viewed as the earliest biotechnological enterprise.

Agriculture has been theorized to have become the dominant way of producing food since the Neolithic Revolution. Through early biotechnology, the earliest farmers selected and bred the best-suited crops, having the highest yields, to produce enough food to support a growing population. As crops and fields became increasingly large and difficult to maintain, it was discovered that specific organisms and their by-products could effectively fertilize, restore nitrogen, and control pests. Throughout the history of agriculture, farmers sometimes by mistake altered the genetics of their crops through introducing them to new environments and breeding them with other plants — one of the first forms of biotechnology.

For thousands of years, humans have used selective breeding to improve production of crops and livestock to use them for food. In selective breeding, organisms with desirable characteristics are mated to produce offspring with the same characteristics. For example, this technique was used with corn to produce the largest and sweetest crops.

In the early twentieth century scientists gained a greater understanding of microbiology and explored ways of manufacturing specific products. In 1917, Chaim Weizmann first used a pure microbiological culture in an industrial process, to produce acetone, which the United Kingdom desperately needed to manufacture explosives during World War I.

Biotechnology has also led to the development of antibiotics. In 1928, Alexander Fleming discovered the mold Penicillium.

The field of modern biotechnology was born in 1971 when Paul Berg's (Stanford) experiments in gene splicing had early success. Herbert W. Boyer (Univ. Calif. at San Francisco) and Stanley N. Cohen (Stanford) significantly advanced the new technology in 1972 by transferring genetic material into a bacterium, such that the imported material would be reproduced.

Rising demand for biofuels is expected to be good news for the biotechnology sector, with the Department of Energy estimating that ethanol usage could reduce U.S. petroleum-derived fuel consumption by up to 30% by 2030. The biotechnology sector has allowed the U.S. farming industry to rapidly increase its supply of corn and soybeans—the main inputs into biofuels. By boosting farm productivity, biotechnology plays a crucial role in ensuring that biofuel production targets are met.

 

2. Ответьте на следующие вопросы:

 

1. What is the broad definition of biotechnology?

2. What did the earliest farmers do?

3. What method was used to improve production of crops and livestock?

4. When was modern biotechnology born?

5. Usage of what element is expected to reduce US petroleum-derived fuel consumption?

 

3. Найдите синонимы в тексте следующих слов:

 

match

main

more and more

hard

efficiently

enhance

preferable

features

evolution

up-to-date

contribution

 

Задание 5. Найдите в тексте предложения, содержащие пассивные конструкции, и определите их видовременную форму.

Практическое занятие 7

ПРОМЫШЛЕННАЯ БИОТЕХНОЛОГИЯ

INDUSTRIAL BIOTECHNOLOGY

Теоретическая часть

Данный лексический материал предназначен для того, чтобы студенты могли свободно ориентироваться в научном тексте и активно использовать предлагаемые слова и словосочетания в монологической и диалогической речи.