What is the most complex term in this entire world that you would consider almost next to impossible to define?

I’m sure almost all of you would agree with me that the term which is really hard to define is ‘life’. Now just imagine, if merely defining this term is so difficult then how difficult it would be to understand its complexity.

Well do not get disheartened because there is nothing such as impossible in this world and what makes impossible: I’m possible is the emerging field of biology and that is ‘biotechnology’.

Yes, biotechnology not only helps us to define life easily but also shows us the way ‘to learn the language that allows GOD to create us’.

Biotechnology uses life forms on a molecular level and develops a variety of products through the willful manipulation or utilization of knowledge pertaining to living systems.

Yes, biotechnology is a promising research oriented and fastest growing interdisciplinary field. It finds application in every sphere of life and has tremendous career opportunities available now and in future.

Cell is the structural and functional unit of life.

Aggregation of cells form tissue, tissues form organ, organs for organ system, organ systems form organism i.e. ‘life’.

Now an ailing organism say for e.g. A human being is suffering from a particular disease, be it the deadliest or King of all sufferings: AIDS or Cancer, or merely any physiological or psychological or mental disorder. All these diseases have a genetic basis. And who deals with the genes, yes you are right, the biotechnologists.

When you talk about AIDS, the decrease in CD4+T cells count or the transcriptional inactivation of the HIV virus or whether you talk about cancer, the uncontrolled cell division or tumor suppressor genes or any sort of physiological or psychological disorder, where due to hormonal imbalances there is hypo or hyper secretion of hormones; again comes the neuron synapsis in picture or production of hormones that are merely peptides which are translated from mRNAs, mRNAs which are transcribed from the DNA i.e. ’GENES’.

So ultimately everything starts from the genetic level i.e. cause of the problems originates from the genes and the solution also lies in the genes. Yes, gene manipulation i.e. Site-directed mutagenesis or genetic engineering or Medical transcription, Forensic Science (Criminology), Microbiology, Pharmacology, DNA fingerprinting, Medicine, Bioinformatics, ultimately lead to one field of science i.e. Biotechnology.

Heard of Stem Cell Therapy? The only therapy of its kind that can completely alter the way we practice medicine today.

Yes diseases like Cancer, Parkinson’s disease, MS, ALS etc were hitherto known to be incurable diseases. But thanks to Stem Cell Therapy that can treat these incurable diseases. The procedure being very simple:

•Stem cells being the primordial cells have the capacity to divide and differentiate into all cell types and ultimately can give rise to the entire organism. But let’s not talk about giving rise to an entire new organism. Besides that it can treat almost all the diseases.

•Just inject some healthy new stem cells at the site of disease or infection and the stem cells by their characteristic feature of homing and differentiation regenerates and reconstructs the damaged tissue or organ. In case of cancer, stem cells can be injected in the bone marrow, after the damaged stem cells have been destroyed by radiotherapy or chemotherapy.

•Then the injected stem cells can multiply and cure the disease.

It might sound really simple but as far as the procedure is concerned it requires high precision and highly skilled people to do the needful job. But the progress of Stem Cell Therapy is staggering because of many Stem Cell Oversights being launched.

However we have one of the types of Stem Cell Therapy called ‘Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cell Therapy’ or simply ‘Advanced Cell Therapy’ which revolves no question of ethical issues because in this case the stem cells are extracted under informed consent donations of the parents and hence are not ‘right to life’ or ethical issues.

Anyway the issue which I wanted to take up was not a specific field of biotechnology but biotechnology as a whole whose heterogeneous nature covers all the applied fields of science like Immunology, Immunotechnology, Genomics, Recombinant DNA technology, Genetic engineering, Human genetics, and so on.

The ultimate message that I want to convey is that Biotechnology is the upcoming field of science which outstands rest all other fields of technology.

Human endeavour has led to fields of technology which have found solutions to many problems; it has also given us all the sophisticated equipments, households and rest all other things for a better living.

But when it comes to better living i.e. literally speaking healthy life, (i.e. disease free body) debarring one from all the entertaining kits; when it comes to life, everyone wants to have a good health and good health comes from such technologies (scientific remedies) being discovered each day that helps human beings to lead a healthy and comfortable life.

(Well I do not mean to say that one has to endure drugs throughout his/her life; but certainly to some extent, isn’t it!)

And hence it is the time for the people to realize this as ‘a fact of life’. So at the end of the day one should realize that Biotechnology is the only field of science that is so irresistible because it has the capacity ‘to not only define life’ but can also ‘prolong life’ and ‘ultimately make man immortal’. But certainly we aren’t aiming at this. So our present and future targets would always be to find a way to better living!