The main subject of this publication is the co-creation of society and biotechnology. The authors do not treat society and biotechnology as separate domains, instead they consider technologies as socially constructed. The main focus of this publication is on agro-biotechnologies and the contributors present perspectives for reconstruction both from and in 'the North' and 'the South'. Reconstructing biotechnologies offers a range of critical social analyses confronting the actuality of biotechnology with the potentialities of its social reconstruction. In doing that, the book develops and merges literature from four different disciplines, namely (i) critical theory and its analyses of technology and power, (ii) political economy, critically assessing the interrelationship between economy, politics and technology, (iii) social constructivism, which holds that technology is the product of agency and knowledge systems, and (iv) the analysis of rural society and agrarian technologies in rural sociology. Reconstructing biotechnologies introduces exciting approaches and examples into the social reshaping of biotechnologies. It brings together critical examinations of contemporary biotechnology development and puts forward possible alternatives written by critical scholars. The contributions in this publication are for students and scholars in a wide range of disciplines such as social and political sciences, science and technology studies, and development studies. The editors of the book are associated with the Social Sciences Department of Wageningen University in the Netherlands and the Graduate School of Economics of Kyoto University in Japan. They have published extensively on social and political theory and biotechnology.

This report surveys opportunities for future Army applications in biotechnology, including sensors, electronics and computers, materials, logistics, and medical therapeutics, by matching commercial trends and developments with enduring Army requirements. Several biotechnology areas are identified as important for the Army to exploit, either by direct funding of research or by indirect influence of commercial sources, to achieve significant gains in combat effectiveness before 2025.

The tremendous progress in biology over the last half century - from Watson and Crick's elucidation of the structure of DNA to today's astonishing, rapid progress in the field of synthetic biology - has positioned us for significant innovation in chemical production. New bio-based chemicals, improved public health through improved drugs and diagnostics, and biofuels that reduce our dependency on oil are all results of research and innovation in the biological sciences. In the past decade, we have witnessed major advances made possible by biotechnology in areas such as rapid, low-cost DNA sequencing, metabolic engineering, and high-throughput screening. The manufacturing of chemicals using biological synthesis and engineering could expand even faster. A proactive strategy - implemented through the development of a technical roadmap similar to those that enabled sustained growth in the semiconductor industry and our explorations of space - is needed if we are to realize the widespread benefits of accelerating the industrialization of biology. Industrialization of Biology presents such a roadmap to achieve key technical milestones for chemical manufacturing through biological routes. This report examines the technical, economic, and societal factors that limit the adoption of bioprocessing in the chemical industry today and which, if surmounted, would markedly accelerate the advanced manufacturing of chemicals via industrial biotechnology. Working at the interface of synthetic chemistry, metabolic engineering, molecular biology, and synthetic biology, Industrialization of Biology identifies key technical goals for next-generation chemical manufacturing, then identifies the gaps in knowledge, tools, techniques, and systems required to meet those goals, and targets and timelines for achieving them. This report also considers the skills necessary to accomplish the roadmap goals, and what training opportunities are required to produce the cadre of skilled scientists and engineers needed.

Stem cell research, genetically modified crops, animals developed with personalized human organs for transplantation, and other previously inconceivable biotech applications could increase the quality of all human lives and maximize the health of the biosphere. But ironically, as the science becomes more precise and transparent, it also becomes more contentious. In Challenging Nature, Silver argues that although they seem to have little in common, Christian fundamentalists opposed to embryo research and New Age organic food devotees are both driven by a deeply rooted fear that biotechnology—in some guise—challenges the sovereignty of a higher or deeper transcendent authority. In the short term, Silver writes, Eastern spiritual traditions will give Asian countries a research advantage. But over the millennia, human nature may have the potential to remake Mother Nature in the image of an idealized world.

In the light of the confusion surrounding the environmental crisis, Peter Dickens explores how the natural world relates to the social. The book aims to find ways of reorganising knowledge in the light of ecological consciousness.

After successful launching of first and second editions of Biotechnology Fundamentals, we thought let us find out the feedbacks from our esteemed readers, faculty members, and students about their experiences and after receiving their suggestions and recommendation we thought it would be great idea to write 3rd edition of the book. Being a teacher of biotechnology, I always wanted a book which covers all aspects of biotechnology, right from basics to applied and industrial levels. In our previous editions, we have included all topics of biotechnology which are important and fundamentals for students learning. One of the important highlights of the book that it has dedicated chapter for the career aspects of biotechnology and you may agree that many students eager to know what are career prospects they have in biotechnology. There are a great number of textbooks available that deal with molecular biotechnology, microbial biotechnology, industrial biotechnology, agricultural biotechnology, medical biotechnology, or animal biotechnology independently; however, there is not a single book available that deals with all aspects of biotechnology in one book. Today the field of biotechnology is moving with lightening speed. It becomes very important to keep track of all those new information which affect the biotechnology field directly or indirectly. In this book, I have tried to include all the topics which are directly or indirectly related to fields of biotechnology. The book discusses both conventional and modern aspects of biotechnology with suitable examples and gives the impression that the field of biotechnology is there for ages with different names; you may call them plant breeding, cheese making, in vitro fertilization, alcohol fermentation is all the fruits of biotechnology. The primary aim of this book is to help the students to learn biotechnology with classical and modern approaches and take them from basic information to complex topics. There is a total of 21 chapters in this textbook covering topics ranging from an introduction to biotechnology, genes to genomics, protein to proteomics, recombinant DNA technology, microbial biotechnology, agricultural biotechnology, animal biotechnology, environmental biotechnology, medical biotechnology, nanobiotechnology, product development in biotechnology, industrial biotechnology, forensic science, regenerative medicine, biosimialars, synthetic biology, biomedical engineering, computational biology, ethics in biotechnology, careers in biotechnology, and laboratory tutorials. All chapters begin with a brief summary followed by text with suitable examples. Each chapter illustrated by simple line diagrams, pictures, and tables. Each chapter concludes with a question session, assignment, and field trip information. I have included laboratory tutorials as a separate chapter to expose the students to various laboratory techniques and laboratory protocols. This practical information would be an added advantage to the students while they learn the theoretical aspects of biotechnology.