Applied Biotechnology and Bioinformatics

Book excerpt: This comprehensive reference book discusses the convergent and next-generation technologies for product-derived applications relevant to agriculture, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and the environment. The field of modern biotechnology is a multidisciplinary and groundbreaking area of biology that includes several cutting-edge methods due to developments in forensics and molecular modeling. Bioinformatics is a full-fledged multidisciplinary field that combines advances in computer and information technology. Numerous applications of bioinformatics—primarily in the areas of gene and protein identification, structural and functional prediction, drug development and design, folding of genes and proteins and their complexity, vaccine design, and organism identification—have contributed to the advancement of biotechnology. Biotechnology is also essential to crop improvement in agriculture because it allows genes to transfer across plants to increase traits such as disease resistance and yield. It also plays a broad role in healthcare, including genetic testing, gene therapy, pharmacogenomics, and drug development. Bioremediation and biodegradation, using microbial technologies to clean up environmental contamination, waste management technologies, and the conversion of organic waste to biofuels. Bioinformatics plays a critical role in analyzing different types of data created by high-throughput research methods—such as genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic datasets—that are useful in addressing various problems related to disease management, clean environment, alternative energy sources, agricultural productivity, and more. Audience The book will interest biotechnology researchers and bioinformatics professionals working in the areas of applied biotechnology, bioengineering, biomedical sciences, microbiology, agriculture and environmental sciences.