In the hands of biotechnology, living beings and their processes become technological products of high interest.
Biotechnology aims to create valuable products by exploiting existing biological processes or developing new ones. Of particular interest is the genetic manipulation of micro-organisms for the production of antibiotics and vaccines. This is the so-called red biotechnology, which is intended for medical applications.
Biotechnology has become an important instrument for increasing productivity and offering new qualities to both mature and emerging industrial sectors.
Biotechnology has also been widely used in the cosmetic and dermatological industry, with functions to improve the administration of a product or to act specifically on the skin. Even biotechnology goes one step further and hybridises sectors, as shown by advances in textiles capable of releasing cosmetics to improve skin conditions, protect against the sun or promote pleasant sensory perceptions.
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Thanks to biotechnology, we will obtain products that can withstand extreme temperatures, soil salinity or new diseases and pests, which are problems caused by global warming.
The greatest example of industrial applications is white biotechnology. For example, consumer chemical companies are introducing products with biotechnological components, such as enzymatic detergents, stain removers or products for the bioremediation of spills. Biotechnology enables manufacturing processes to have a lower impact on the environment, without sacrificing efficiency, performance or profitability.
The agri-food sector also uses enzymes and micro-organisms to improve products based on fermentation for production, such as the wine, bread, dairy and brewing sub-sectors, etc. This is the so-called green biotechnology, which seeks to solve some of the problems derived from climate change; while blue or marine biotechnology has applications in aquaculture and fish farming.
Furthermore, biomaterials open up new perspectives for all industries, from construction or fuels to fashion.
