A Biotechnology and Food Glossary

Food biotechnology refers to any practice that relates to the augmentation of genes, properties, or yields of plants, animals or microorganisms such as bacteria which is any organism that is single celled and lacks chlorophyll. This falls into the realm of genetic engineering which is defined as the manipulation of the genetics, DNA and traits associated with a living organism and has been met with much controversy over the affects it will have on humans, the animals being changed and the food supply in general.

Biotechnology in food has the capabilities of protecting different fruits and vegetables form bruising during shipping by taking out a particular gene that cause this to happen. Genes that are taken out prevent amino acids from forming and thus preventing the bruising of the food. Amino acids are the simplest building blocks of life, proteins and the foods we eat; any organic substance is made up of amino acids in some way shape or form. Amino acids also relate to the fermentation process which leads to alcoholic beverages, vinegar and cheeses. Fermentation is one of the oldest and earliest forms of biotechnology and is defined as any group of chemical reactions or processes initiated by organic or non-organic compounds that reduce complex carbohydrates to their simplest form of sugars and alcohol in most cases.

Sugars provide the source of energy not only to fermentation but to every living organism on the planet and are defined as any substance that contains chemical energy in the form of mono or disaccharide chemical structure for later use in biological systems. In addition to sugars proteins are needed and augmented or amplified in the use of and implementation of biotechnology. Proteins are complex chains of amino acids bound together by peptide bonds between carboxyl groups and amino groups. These are the building blocks of genes, and every tissue in any living organism. Their functions are determined by the genetic code that tells the cells what to produce and how to produce it. The variation of the amino acids as they relate to the carboxyl groups allows for the creation of thousands of amino acids that determine the form and function of every system in any living organism.

Protein biosynthesis, a facet of biotechnology, is the process by which the amino acids are connected together using both DNA and RNA for duplication. Understanding this process has lead to the ability of scientists to be able to culture bacteria and enzymes for use in the food industry. Cultures are any process by which a technician or scientist grows an organism in a special set of circumstances. These cultures have led to the use of varying planting, genetic and cultivation techniques used in the production of food sources like fisheries, corn cultivation and beef production. The cultures allow scientists to perform tests on the viruses that plague certain species of plants and animals that are most detrimental to the food industry extending the reach of biotechnology. Viruses can be any organism that uses another for reproduction, sustaining life and are almost always pathogenic.

Biotechnology is most often used in selective breeding which has been the foundation of agriculture since its beginnings. As most people are aware, selective breeding is the practice of mating two animals or plants for the desired traits they carry. This happens over several generations of the desired organism to obtain the desired results by repeating the mating and paring process many times over to ensure the traits are present in the final outcome. Selective breeding is the first biotechnology used by humankind.