ADVANCES IN BIOTECHNOLOGY

1. Food transformation. Products such as bread, yogurt or cheese are made for millennia with the help of different microorganisms. Today we continue to use these methods, but on a larger scale and with greater efficiency, which proves the great utility of biotechnology in our lives.

2. Vaccines. In the beginning, they were obtained from animal samples; currently, the majority is made synthetically to be injected. Today tests are carried out to manufacture edible vaccines that, when ingested, release the agents that protect us against certain diseases. In addition to avoiding punctures, these vaccines can present other advantages, such as a lower price and simpler transportation and storage, as they do not require refrigeration.

3. Ecological materials. Many products that we use every day are made with non-renewable resources, in addition to being highly polluting. To solve this problem, environmentally friendly materials are being developed, which are also made with renewable resources, such as plastics obtained from vegetable fibers. The textile industry uses enzymes in several of its processes, which means that the byproducts obtained from them are more friendly to the environment, and that their waste can be reused.

4. Water treatment. It is a fact that every day whole bodies of water are polluted around the world. In order to solve this problem, processes such as bioremediation have been developed, which consists of planting specific microorganisms in bodies of water and defined areas. The cultures of microorganisms feed and get rid of the residues that contaminate the water, and gradually, they clean the area in which they are. In Europe, different companies have already undertaken this process to rescue the River Thames and the Seine River, with very favorable results that have given them a second look at these emblematic rivers.

5. Transgenic crops. Some people have a misconception about transgenic foods, because they believe that it is "artificial" or negative in some way. The word refers to its genetic constitution has been modified, which is a process that humans carry out since the invention of agriculture, where they selected the best fruits and vegetables to continue cultivating them, in a process of artificial selection that continues to the present day.

Biotechnology makes it possible to count on crops such as golden rice, a grain fortified with vitamin A that helps many populations with food shortages, as it helps to combat malnutrition. In general, transgenic crops are developed to obtain foods that are more resistant to pests, are better nutritionally and have a minor impact on the environment through their cultivation.

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