Biotechnology, as defined by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, refers to “the application of scientific and engineering principles to the processing of materials by biological agents to provide goods and services.”
Today, biotechnology covers many different disciplines (e.g. genetics, biochemistry, molecular biology, etc.). New technologies and products are developed every year within the areas of e.g. medicine (development of new medicines and therapies), agriculture (development of genetically modified plants, biofuels, biological treatment), or industrial biotechnology (production of chemicals, paper, textiles, and food).
Biotechnologies and applications include:
- Medical (DNA profiling and cloning, vaccines, antibiotics)
- Agricultural (genetically modified plants for better yield, pest control)
- Marine
- Industrial (improves efficiency and reduces environmental impacts)
- Environmental (waste treatment, pollution prevention, bioremediation)
Regional Businesses and Organizations
- A G Biotech Inc. (Monterey)
- Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc. (Santa Cruz)
- Lost Arrow Bio (Santa Cruz)
- Nooma Bio (Santa Cruz)
- Somagenics (Santa Cruz)
- Unnatural Products (Santa Cruz)
- Arc Bio (Scotts Valley)
- Actinix (Scotts Valley)
- Dovetail Genomics (Scotts Valley)
- CSUMB Agricultural Plant and Soil Sciences (Marina)
- IonDX (Monterey)