Biotechnology- A foe or a friend?

Biotechnology, as the word suggests, is the "fusion of biology and technology" using biological techniques for product research and development. In its purest form, the term "biotechnology" refers to the use of living organisms or their products to modify human health and the human environment.

Prehistoric biotechnologists did this as they used yeast cells to raise bread dough and to ferment alcoholic beverages, and bacterial cells to make cheeses and yogurts and as they bred their strong, productive animals to make even stronger and more productive offspring.

The question is: is biotechnology a friend or foe of the environment?

While there are no doubts that biotechnology has some downsides, I feel that biotechnology is definitely a friend of the environment. Biotechnology is largely involved in energy production. We all know that the demand of energy in the modern world is increasing drastically. Biotechnology may be a good source.

Biotechnology, in Phytoremediation, can be used to clean up the environment. One example is the use of microbes to clean up wastewater. Besides, it has a great role in reducing pesticides use. Naturally, some pesticides are recalcitrant in nature and not easily digestible. Biotechnology can help the environment considerably in an effective way.

Another important task of it is to produce maximum yield with limited land resource and thus conserve biodiversity. These techniques are environmentally safe.

So, the government and other NGOs should come forward to use this technology widely.