INTRODUCTION

Biotechnology is one of the fastest growing field in the area of research and development. It has more than tripled in size in the recent years with avenues surpassing $ 30 billion.

It is also called a technology of the future or technology of tomorrow because of it’s unprecedented impacts on the human mankind and the universe as a whole. Due to it’s interrelation with other fields such as industry, agriculture, computers etc, it is going to create amazing opportunities for manipulating the biological systems and thereby understanding the mysteries of fundamental life processes.

  It is needless to emphasize that it is also going to offer tremendous career opportunities not only to the youngsters pursuing courses in biotechnology but also to the students attending public health online degree programs and of other various related fields.

Biotechnology based industries or bio-industries using the technologies provided by the advances in science and technology got started in the 1980s. Bio-industry companies are usually small. Only 10% of companies in Bio-industries employ more than 250 people. These companies are involved in the research and development and manufacture of materials such as cell cultures (plant or animal), catalysts, genetic materials, immune response materials (vaccine and antibodies), biochemical, enzymes, proteins, and equipment used in biological and genetic research on humans, plants, and animals.

In the world, the United States leads in this Industry followed by the UK and Germany. In Asia, Japan leads this sector with the human health, agrifood, and bio-process products comprising 40%, 27% and 18% of the Japanese market. Other prominent countries that have developed their biotech industry quite strongly are India and China. India is producing conventional vaccines for animals and humans such as hepatitis vaccine besides producing Interferon and insulin. Countries like Korea, Australia, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand have made a lot of progress in this field in past decade or so.