Biotechnology can be broadly defined as 'using living organisms or their products for commercial purposes'. As such, biotechnology has been practiced by human society since the beginning of recorded history in such activities as baking bread, brewing alcoholic beverages or breeding food crops or domestic animals. A narrower and more specific definition of biotechnology is 'the commercial application of living organisms or their products, which involves the deliberate manipulation of their DNA molecules'. This definition implies a set of laboratory techniques developed within the last 20 years that have been responsible for the tremendous scientific and commercial interest in biotechnology, the founding of many new companies and the redirection of research efforts and financial resources among established companies and universities. These laboratory techniques provide scientists with a spectacular vision of the design and function of living organisms and provide technologists in many fields with the tools to implement exciting commercial applications. This dictionary makes the reader updated on the common as well as complex terms related to biotechnology.
