Biodiversity, Biotechnology, and Business

Abstract

Biotechnology is probably the only industry, except agriculture, wherein the relationship between biodiversity and the wealth that it generates is so explicit. Biodiversity is the variety of organisms, their genetic variation, and the variability of associations that these organisms display spatially. Biotechnology is the harnessing of living organisms and/or their components to undertake specific processes and/or generate useful products. The modern industry is a product of the 1980s and relies heavily on genetic manipulation (commonly referred to as ‘engineering’). It has many applications, the most important sectors being in medicine, agriculture, and the environment, where it can be involved in resource recovery, recycling, and pollution abatement.