7 Things to Know About Biotechnology通过七个方面了解生物技术

译/陈晓璐 审订/文军

The term biotechnology represents a fusion or an alliance between biology and technology. Frankly speaking,biotechnology is as old as human civilization, and is an integral part of human life. Thus, biotechnology is a newly discovered discipline for age-old practices.

2 There are records that wine and beer was prepared in as early as 6000 B.C.,bread and curd in 4000 B.C. Today, we know that all these are the processes based on the natural capabilities of microorganisms.

1. Old and new biotechnology

3 Many authors prefer to use the term old or traditional biotechnology to refer to the natural processes that have been in use for many centuries to produce beer, wine, curd, cheese and many other foods. The new or modern biotechnology embraces all the genetic manipulations, cell fusion techniques and the improvements made in the old biotechnological processes.

“生物技术”一词体现了生物学和技术之间的融合或联合。坦率讲，生物技术与人类文明一样古老，它是人类生活不可分割的一部分。因此，生物技术虽然是一门新兴学科，但其实践由来已久。

2 据记载，早在公元前6000年，葡萄酒和啤酒就出现了，而面包和凝乳也在公元前4000年就有了。如今，我们知道这些工艺都是基于微生物的自然能力。

1. 新老生物技术

3 许多人更喜欢用“老的”或“传统”生物技术来称呼几个世纪以来生产啤酒、葡萄酒、凝乳、奶酪和许多其他食物的自然过程。“新的”或“现代”生物技术包括所有的基因编辑、细胞融合技术和对老的生物技术过程所做的改进。

4 We have to accept that the present day biotechnology is not something new, but it represents a series of technologies, some of them dating back to thousands of years e.g. production of foods, beverages, modification of plants and animals with desired traits.It is only in recent years that these traditional practices are being subjected to scientific scrutiny, understood and improved, at least in some instances.

2. Definition(s) of biotechnology

5 The term biotechnology was introduced in 1917 by a Hungarian engineer,Károly Ereky. He used the term for large-scale production of pigs by using sugar beets as the source of food. Ereky defined biotechnology as “all lines of work by which products are produced from raw materials with the aid of living things”.

6 This definition was almost ignored for many years. For most people, biotechnology represented two aspects of engineering—industrial fermentation and study of the efficiency at work place. The fact that biotechnology is interdisciplinary in nature, with a wide range of applications has created some confusion with regard to its definition.This is mainly because scientists from each discipline have described the term from their own perspective.4 我们必须承认：如今的生物技术不算什么新鲜事物，但它代表了一系列技术手段，其中一些可以追溯到几千年前：例如食物生产、饮料酿制、改良植物和动物特性。只是在近些年，这些传统做法才经过科学研究并为人所了解，至少在某些情况下得到了改进。

2. 生物技术的定义

5 “生物技术”这个词由匈牙利工程师卡罗伊·埃赖基于1917年提出，最初指以甜菜作饲料大规模养猪。埃赖基将生物技术定义为“利用生物体将原材料加工成产品的各种工艺”。

6 多年来，这个定义几乎被人们忽略了。对大多数人来说，生物技术代表了两个方面的工程——工业发酵和对工作场所效率的研究。生物技术跨学科的本质及广泛应用，使其定义不是很清楚。这主要是因为各个学科的专家都从各自角度解释这个术语。

7 欧洲生物技术联合会将生物技术泛泛地定义为“将自然科学与生物体（细胞、其组成部分和分子类似物）融合以提供产品和服务”。无论生物技术一词是如何定义的，它本质上都意味着利用微生物、动物、植物细胞或酶来合成、分解或转化材料。

7 The European Federation of Biotechnology (EFB) broadly considers biotechnology as “the integration of natural sciences and organisms, cells,parts thereof, and molecular analogues for products and services”. In whichever way the term biotechnology has been defined, it essentially represents the use of microbial, animal or plant cells or enzymes to synthesize, breakdown or transform materials.

3. History of biotechnology

8 From the historical perspective, the biotechnology dates back to the time(around 6000 BC) when the yeast was first used to produce beer and wine, and bacteria were first used to prepare yogurt. Some researchers consider Louis Pasteur, who identified the role of microorganisms in fermentation, (between 1857—1876) as the father of biotechnology.

9 The development of biotechnology,in the first half of twentieth century is associated with the fields of applied microbiology and industrial fermentations(production of penicillin, organic solvents etc.). The development of modern biotechnology is closely linked with the advances made in molecular biology.

4. Scientific foundations of biotechnology

3. 生物技术史

8 从历史的角度来看，生物技术可以追溯到第一次用酵母生产啤酒和葡萄酒、第一次用菌类制备酸奶的时代（大约公元前6000年）。一些研究人员认为路易·巴斯德是生物技术之父，因为是他（在1857—1876年间）发现了微生物在发酵过程中的作用。

920世纪上半叶，生物技术的发展主要与应用微生物学和工业发酵领域（例如青霉素和有机溶剂的生产等）相关。而现代生物技术的发展与分子生物学的进步密切相关。

4. 生物技术的科学基础

10 在科学领域，几乎所有学科都直接或间接地为生物技术的发展做出过贡献。其中大约有十几个专门的科学分支是生物技术发展的主力。

10 There is almost no discipline among the science subjects that has not contributed either directly or indirectly for the growth of biotechnology. About a dozen specialized branches of science have predominantly provided the inputs for biotechnology.

11 These may be appropriately regarded as the roots of biotechnology, and include biochemistry, genetics, molecular biology, chemical engineering and bioinformatics.

5. Biotechnological tools

12 Several methods, techniques or procedures which may be collectively called as biotechnological tools have been developed for transforming the scientific foundations into biotechnological applications. These tools include protein engineering, bioprocess/fermentation technology, cell and tissue culture technology, trans-genesis and antisense technology.

6. Applications of biotechnology

11 在一定程度上，这些可以视为生物技术的根源，包括生物化学、遗传学、分子生物学、化学工程和生物信息学。

5. 生物技术工具

12 为了将科学基础转化为生物技术应用，现已开发了几种可统称为生物技术工具的方法、技术或程序。这些工具包括蛋白质工程、生物过程/发酵技术、细胞和组织培养技术、转基因和反义技术。

6. 生物技术应用

13 生物技术研究成果具有广泛的应用前景。事实上，没有任何一个科学分支像生物技术那样，应用如此广泛。生物技术助力医学和健康科学（诊断、疫苗、治疗和食品）、农业科学（提高作物产量、保证食品质量和改善动物健康）和环境科学（污染控制、环境监测和生物修复）。

13 The fruits of biotechnological research have wide range of applications.In fact, there is no other branch of science which has as many applications as biotechnology. Biotechnology has benefited medical and health sciences(diagnostics, vaccines, therapeutics, and foods), agricultural sciences (improved crop yield, food quality, and improved animal health) and environmental sciences (pollution control, environmental monitoring, and bioremediation).

14 It is desirable to describe at least one example of biotechnological achievement that has helped the mankind. Prior to 1982, insulin required for the treatment of diabetics was obtained from pig and cow pancreases. The procedure was tedious, and the use of animal insulin was frequently associated with complications.

15 Then the human gene for insulin was isolated, cloned and expressed in microorganisms for the large scale production of insulin. Insulin was the first pharmaceutical product of recombinant DNA technology approved for human use. Millions of diabetics world-over are benefited by the biotechnology of insulin production.

7. Commercialization of biotechnology

16 The progress of biotechnology, to a great extent, is driven by economics,since the ultimate objective of biotechnology is the development of commercial products. Due to high stakes in biotechnology, the business and research are closely associated. It is a fact that many biotechnology companies (besides the government-run institutions) have significantly contributed to the development of present day biotechnology. ■

14 最好用至少一个实例来说明生物技术成果是如何帮助人类的。1982年以前，治疗糖尿病所需的胰岛素是从猪和牛的胰腺中提取的。这个过程很烦琐，而且动物胰岛素的使用经常会引起并发症。

15 后来，人类胰岛素基因得以在微生物中分离、克隆和表达，用于胰岛素的大规模生产。胰岛素是第一个被批准用于人类的重组DNA技术药物产品。全世界数百万糖尿病患者受益于胰岛素生产的生物技术。

7. 生物技术商业化

16 在很大程度上，经济驱动了生物技术的进步，因为生物技术的最终目的是开发商业产品。由于生物技术风险极高，商业和研究是密切相关的。事实是，除了政府运营的机构，许多生物技术公司对当今生物技术的发展做出了巨大的贡献。 □