Biotechnology Paper

Running head: BIOTECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

Biotechnology and society

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BIOTECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

Biotechnology and Society

Biotechnology is a field of science that combines biology and technology. In other words,

it is the use of biological systems in technological processes to produce a product. Biotechnology

involves the utilization of living organisms in technology.

Being an integral part of today’s society, scientist and inventors have strived to improve

biotechnology by developing some biotechnological products and devices. Since it was

discovered, biotechnological developments have been steadily increasing, especially in Med-

Tech. Some of the biotechnologists behind these developments, inventions, and innovations are

discussed below.

Joao De Barros for fingerprint technology

The most widely known biotechnology in the World is the fingerprint technology. This

invention was first made in the 14

Century by a European explorer named Joao De Barros. The

technology was used to identify criminals. Biometric system works by studying the behavioral

patterns of a person. It includes assessment of fingerprints, eye scan, voice recognition and DNA

sequence.

This is one of the oldest inventions that has been improved over time, and it has proven to

be helpful in the identification of people anywhere in the universe. Its applications are

widespread in almost every place, starting from offices, factories, school libraries, a criminal

investigation by the police and other law enforcement and banks for the access of one’s bank

account.

Nowadays the old register calling and signing in and out of a job has been replaced by

biometric devices whereby workers can sign in and out of their job places by just placing their

BIOTECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

index fingers on the biometric device. The same applies to students too when they want to access

their libraries. This technique saves a lot of time. For instance, in instances where one is

required to queue in a line to register their name to enter a library, or spent some minutes to write

on a book when you signed in and out of the office. All that can be done by just placing a finger

on a biometric device and it is automatically done. It also saves the cost of operation.

Phone and computer manufacturers have advanced the security of these devices by

introducing a fingerprint or voice requirement to open the device. This ensures that it is only the

owner that can access the information on the phone or computer, hence information’s and

programs’ safety. This is also advancement in the technology.

Many countries in the World have every one of their citizen’s fingerprints, especially

above the majority age, on their systems and their national identification cards. This application

helps the law enforcement study and identifies criminals easily. Again, the cost of time is greatly

reduced, in that, the law enforcement would now narrow their investigation to one or few

persons of interest whose fingerprints are found on the crime scene.

All these applications have helped improve the lives of the society members. Also, the

advancements along the way have been of great significance to the field of biotechnology. Since

Joao De Barros first introduced biometric system or use of fingerprints for identification,

biotechnologists have been working on improving this technology to match the dynamism of

human wants as well as the development of other forms of technology. Joao De Barros, I

supposed to be a biotechnology award-winning scientist because, without his invention, all of the

above-explained developments would not have been created. His work of science and technology

became the base of the most important innovations to people today and future developments in

biometric and biotechnology in general.

BIOTECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

Nina Tandon for bone- growing/ reconstruction

Nina Marie Tandon is a biomedical engineer, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of

EpiBone Company. EpiBone deals in the skeletal reconstruction by growing bones of a human

by the use of stem cells of the patients then implanted into the body. Bone loss and other bone

defects are repaired by the EpiBone using this development. EpiBone became the first company

in the World to recreate human bones for patients with bone loss and other bone- related issues.

Besides this massive achievement, Nina Tandon is also a postdoctoral researcher in the

engineering of stem cells and tissue.

Her research has made what was impossible possible- to regrow bones to replace

damaged or lost ones in a human body. This is a very important development with substantial

contributions to the society since people tend to lose their bones or accidentally get their bones

damaged very often- every day, road accidents, constructions site accidents and other downfalls

cause a lot of people to break or completely shutter their bones, and they flood the health centers.

The doctors sometimes may not be able to help these patients to walk again or fix their limbs and

other broken bones. With Nina Tandon’s development, this treatment is now available and

possible. It also opens other biotechnological innovations which would be an advancement for

the field of biotechnology. Such an invention deserves an award prize.

Brian Otis & Babak Parviz for Google lens discovery

These two scientists are the genius minds behind the innovation of Google Lens. They

were both engineering students at the University of Washing. Before this, they worked at

Google’s Google(x)- secret laboratory. This product helps in the checking of diabetes in the body

of a human being. The lens is comprised of a chip that is wireless and a glucose sensor

BIOTECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

(miniaturized). It has a pinhole that which allows the tears to reach the sensor which therefore

measures the blood sugar levels in one’s body. The wireless antenna inside the lens then records

and communicates the results to the wireless chip. This development has helped make life easier

for patients suffering diabetes by providing a simple, precise and convenient method of testing

blood sugar in their bodies, hence contributing in controlling of the chronic disease and

therefore, saving many lives of diabetes’ patients.

This method of checking the sugar levels of a diabetic patient is an advancement

compared to the old methods. For instance, it is automatic, precise and more accurate. This

makes it an advancement in biotechnology, hence contributing to development in this field. This

means that Brian Otis and his colleague; Babak Parviz should be listed among the most

important inventors or scientists in the history of biotechnology. Moreover, this development

may be foundation ground for another advancement in biotechnology, for instance, development

of a device of the same kind (microscopic) that can be used to inject treatment to diabetes

patients.

OpenBionics for 3D printable limbs

This biotech company has managed to create or develop printable limbs which are

lighter, cheaper and their manufacturing is also easier. There are over two hundred million limbs

in the world, which are amputated. The scientists of this company came up with a way of

replacing the amputated limbs with a biotechnological product with would serve the same

purpose as the limbs, and above all, making the patients look closer to normal.

This invention has helped to better lives of many patients who have lost their limbs in car

accidents, construction sites and other accidents or situations that cause one a limb. Company

BIOTECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

makes sufficient profits from manufacturing the 3D limbs, and therefore, it gives back to the

society by supporting its community projects and offering employment to the locals. These are

the reasons why OpenBionics deserves to be recognized as a big contributor to biotechnology

and the society in general.

Pixium Vision for the creation of the iris system (Bionic eyes)

Pixium Vision is a group of biotechnologists from France who came up with a way of

creating an artificial iris system. This system electrically coordinates the inner retina and the

brain by stimulating the latter’s nerve cells and via the optic nerve, visual information is

transmitted to the brain. The scientists used the following approaches to artificially stimulate the

retina: sub- retinal and epi-retinal stimulation.

This invention is genius, and it requires brilliant and thoughtful minds to come up with

such a development. It is up-to-date and helps the patients localize objects which in turn enables

them to relate to unfamiliar surroundings as well as avoid obstacles. This contributes to the

patient’s relation to their environments and eases their living. Such kind of an invention or

development should be encouraged and promoted. Therefore, this team of scientists deserves to

be developed, encouraged, perhaps by being awarded a prize in biotechnology.

BIOTECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

References

Ashbourn, J. (2014). Biometrics: Advanced identity verification: The complete guide. Springer.

Reilein, A., Melamed, D., Park, K., S., Berg, A., Cimetta, E., Tandon, N., & Kalderon, D.

(2017). Alternatives direct stem cell derivatives defined by stem cell location and graded

Wnt signaling. Nature cell biology, 19(5), 433.

Kostakis, V., Latoufis, K., Liarokapis, M., & Bauwens, M. (2016). The convergence of digital

commons with local manufacturing from a degrowth perspective: two illustrative cases.

Journal of Cleaner Production.

Hornig, R., Dapper, M., Le Joliff, E., Hill, R., Ishaque, K., Posch, C., & Picaud, S. (2017).

Pixium vision first clinical results and innovative developments. In Artificial Vision (pp.

99-113). Springer, Cham.

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