The biotech industry encompasses companies whose products help humans by treating diseases with life-saving medicines and therapies increasing yields on agricultural land and creating environmentally friendly chemicals and fuels. It also encompasses bioinformatics, which is the study of biological information and processes and can be applied to many different industries.
Biotech is a technology that has its roots in the early 1970s when recombinant-DNA technology (genetic engineering) was invented and then patentable. This technique lets scientists splice genes into production cells which then begin to produce useful protein molecules.
Biotechnology is extensively used in the target-discovery programs of most pharmaceutical companies today. The industry also includes small companies that employ unique techniques that are proprietary to create therapeutic drugs.
Companies that specialize in agrobiology, cosmetics, the environment and food technologies nutraceuticals, industrial biotechnology, along with veterinary medicine, are seeking other biotechnology-related applications. Fully integrated Pharma companies are big commercial enterprises that study and develop, manufacture and market branded or generic drugs and medicines.
New technologies are revolutionizing the biotech industry, making it possible for companies to validate their platforms for conditions that are understood mechanisms (such as sickle cell disease) and reach larger patient populations. Some companies are even attempting to create novel treatments that address untreated diseases like Duchenne muscular dystrophy, an incurable disease.