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Biotechnology is a collection of techniques that utilize biological systems
or derivatives thereof to create, improve or modify plants, animals and
microorganisms for specific use. Biotechnology is not new; it has been used
for many centuries in agriculture and manufacturing industry to produce
food, chemicals, medicines and many other products that have been of
benefit in many areas including nutrition, and human and animal health. In
agriculture, recent biotechnology applications include tissue culture
techniques for mass propagation of disease free planting materials, disease
diagnostic techniques, and molecular marker techniques for characterization
of germplasm to assist in plant breeding. The most recent advances in
biotechnology are often called modern biotechnology, or genetic
engineering.
They include a cluster of techniques that have been focused on
genetic improvements of crops and production of animal vaccines. Modern
biotechnology is based on the manipulation of coded chemical information
/instructions existing in the nucleus of living organisms. The products of
genetic engineering are called genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The
rationale of gene transfer is to use it when the desired characteristic (or
trait) is not available naturally in the target species but exist in
another species.
The project on Biotechnology policy lobbying seeks to collect, synthesize
and disseminate information on biotechnology to a wide range of
stakeholders to enable them participate fully in policy making and
implementation as well as make informed choices about this technology.
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