Business training objectives

This major cultivates the basic theories, knowledge and skills of biotechnology with the basic theories and systems of life science, and can engage in scientific research or teaching in scientific research institutions or universities, and engage in advanced specialized personnel in applied research, technology development, production management and administrative management related to biotechnology in enterprises, institutions and administrative departments in industries such as industry, medicine, food, agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery, environmental protection and landscape architecture.

Business training requirements

Students in this major mainly study the basic theory and knowledge of biotechnology, and are trained in scientific thinking and scientific experiments in applied basic research and technology development. They have good scientific literacy and basic abilities in teaching, research, development and management.

Biotechnology is the product of the development of modern biology and its intersection with related disciplines. Its core is genetic engineering based on DNA recombination technology, including microbial engineering, biochemical engineering, cell engineering and biological products. Cultivate senior biotechnology professionals who have mastered the basic theories, knowledge and skills of modern biology and biotechnology, obtained preliminary training in applied basic research and scientific and technological development research, and have good scientific quality, strong innovation consciousness and practical ability.

Biotechnology majors train senior professionals with ecological knowledge who can engage in ecological environment protection and management in scientific research institutions, universities, enterprises and institutions and administrative departments.

Graduates majoring in biotechnology should have the following knowledge and abilities:

1. Master the basic theories and knowledge of mathematics, physics and chemistry;

2. Master the basic theories, knowledge and experimental skills of basic biology, biochemistry, molecular biology, microbiology, genetic engineering, fermentation engineering and cell engineering, as well as the basic principles and methods of biotechnology and its product development;

3. Understand the general principles and knowledge of similar majors;

4. Familiar with the national biotechnology industry policy, intellectual property rights and bioengineering safety regulations and other related policies and regulations;

5. Understand the theoretical frontier, application prospect and latest development trends of biotechnology, as well as the development of biotechnology industry;

6. Master the basic methods of information inquiry, document retrieval and obtaining relevant information by using modern information technology; Have the ability to design experiments, create experimental conditions, summarize, sort out and analyze experimental results, write papers and participate in academic exchanges.

Major disciplines

Biology, chemistry

main course

Microbiology, cell biology, genetics, zoology, botany, ecology, behavior, plant physiology, animal physiology, biological evolution, biochemistry, molecular biology, genetic engineering, cell engineering, microbial engineering, biochemical engineering, downstream technology of bioengineering, fermentation engineering equipment, etc.

Main practical teaching links: including teaching practice, production practice and graduation thesis (design). , usually arranged in 10-20 weeks.

required years of study

Ichiji

award a degree

bachelor of science

In recent years, modern biotechnology, represented by genetic engineering, cell engineering, enzyme engineering and fermentation engineering, has developed rapidly, increasingly affecting and changing people's production and lifestyle. The so-called biotechnology refers to "the technology of using living organisms (or biological substances) to improve products, improve animals and plants or cultivate microorganisms for special purposes". Bioengineering is the general name of biotechnology, which refers to combining biochemistry, molecular biology, microbiology, genetics and biochemical engineering to transform or reconstruct the genetic material of designed cells, cultivate new varieties, and make use of existing biological systems on an industrial scale to manufacture industrial products through biochemical processes. In short, it is the industrialization process of life, life system or life process. Bioengineering includes genetic engineering, cell engineering, enzyme engineering, fermentation engineering, bioelectronics engineering, bioreactor, sterilization technology and emerging protein engineering, among which genetic engineering is the core of modern bioengineering. Genetic engineering (or genetic engineering, gene recombination technology) is to combine the genes of different organisms in vitro, and connect them with the DNA of vectors (plasmids, phages, viruses), and then transfer them into microorganisms or cells for cloning, so that the transferred genes can be expressed in cells or microorganisms to produce the required protein.

At present, more than 60% of biotechnology achievements are concentrated in the pharmaceutical industry to develop new drugs with characteristics or improve traditional medicine, which has caused great changes in the pharmaceutical industry and the rapid development of biopharmaceuticals. Biopharmaceutical is a process of applying bioengineering technology to the field of drug manufacturing, and the most important method is genetic engineering. That is, using cloning technology and tissue culture technology, DNA is cut, inserted, connected and recombined to obtain biomedical products. Biopharmaceuticals are biologically active preparations made from microorganisms, parasites, animal toxins and biological tissues by biotechnology or separation and purification technology, and the quality of intermediate products and finished products is controlled by biotechnology and analysis technology, including vaccines, toxins, toxoids, serum, blood products, immune preparations, cytokines, antigens, monoclonal antibodies and genetic engineering products (DNA recombinant products, in vitro diagnostic reagents). At present, biopharmaceuticals that have been developed and entered the clinical application stage can be divided into three categories according to different uses: genetic engineering drugs, biological vaccines and biological diagnostic reagents. These products play an increasingly important role in the diagnosis, prevention, control and even elimination of infectious diseases and the protection of human health.

The relationship between biotechnology and information technology

The relationship between biotechnology and information technology

Biotechnology is a comprehensive technology based on life science, which uses the characteristics and functions of organisms (or biological tissues, cells and other components) to design and construct new substances or strains with expected performance, and combines engineering principles to process and produce products or provide services. Information science is a technology that studies the acquisition, transmission and processing of information. It is a new subject combining computer technology, communication technology and microelectronics technology, that is, using computers to process information, using modern electronic communication technology to engage in information collection, storage, processing and utilization, as well as related product manufacturing, technology development and information services. Information technology and biotechnology are both high-tech, and they are not a trade-off in the new economy, but complement each other, which will promote the rapid economic development in 2 1 century.

1. The development of biotechnology needs the support of information technology.

(1) Information technology provides a powerful computing tool for the development of biotechnology. In the development of modern biotechnology, computers and high-performance computing technology have played a great role in promoting. Sanger Celera Gene Research Company, UK

In the release of the draft human genome jointly drawn by the Center, Whitehead Institute, National Institutes of Health and Human Genome Center of Institute of Genetics, China Academy of Sciences, many American research institutions particularly emphasized that it was the high-performance computing technology provided by information technology providers that made all this possible. Similarly, Compaq's Alpha server also provided excellent computing power for researchers during the birth of the human gene sketch called "Apollo moon landing program for life science". According to industry analysts, behind this fierce gene decoding competition is a super-computing power competition, and at the same time, this competition helps the public to form a general understanding of the super-capabilities of supercomputers. Until then, these machines, which are worth at least millions of dollars and can run at ultra-high speed, have been unknown. They are used to control nuclear reactors, forecast the weather or play against world-class chess masters. Nowadays, people are more and more aware that supercomputers are very important in creating new drugs, treating diseases and finally enabling us to repair human genetic defects. High-performance computing can make greater contributions to mankind.

In an interview with USA-Today, the CEO of Celera Company said: "This is the first time in human history that the human genetic code is combined in a linear way." Celera wants to arrange 3.2 billion base pairs in the right order, which is the most severe challenge in the large-scale calculation that has been tried. In order to complete the massive data processing required by this historic project, Celera Company used 700 interconnected Alpha64-bit processors with a computing power of 1.3 trillion floating-point operations per second. At the same time, Celera also adopted Compaq's Storage Works system to manage a database with a space of 50TB and an annual growth rate of IOTB. The chairman of the board of directors of Compaq Computer Company once said in a speech: "Nowadays, it is difficult for us to separate the progress of biotechnology from the development of high-performance computing. In fact, many top scientists believe that high-performance computing is the future of biology and medicine. In the future, more and more powerful computers and software will be used to collect, store, analyze, simulate and publish information.

Information technology also helps to strengthen the management, information transmission, retrieval and resource sharing of various databases in the field of biotechnology. After gene sequencer, another striking hardware in the field of biotechnology is gene chip, and its development also relies heavily on information technology. Gene chips are arranged and fixed on a microscope slide or a silicon wafer and other substrates. Put the gene fragment on this chip, and put the gene fragment of the sample on the gene chip reader (also a decoding device), and the sample information can be quickly compared and decoded. Gene sequencer is a device to decipher the genetic information of samples from scratch, while gene chip and its reader are devices to decipher information by comparing with existing genetic information. American companies are famous in this field, but Japanese companies are actively participating in the development of this field while cooperating with American companies.

(2) The development of biotechnology needs the support of specific software technology. The development of biotechnology and its industry will further increase the demand for biotechnology software, and software technology will become one of the key forces supporting the development of biotechnology and its industry. In all fields of biotechnology, corresponding professional software is needed to support it: 1) The construction of various biotechnology databases requires software technology with excellent performance and rapid update; 2) The low-level structure analysis of nucleic acid, primer design, plasmid mapping, sequence analysis, protein low-level structure analysis, biochemical reaction simulation, etc. also need corresponding software and its technical support; 3) Strengthening bio-safety management and bio-information safety management is also inseparable from the support of software and its technical development.

Biotechnology has opened up a new road for the development of information technology.

(1) Biotechnology promotes the development of supercomputer industry. With the completion of the human genome project, the sequence and structure data of nucleic acids and protein have increased exponentially. Faced with such huge and complex data, only by using computers to manage the data, control errors and speed up the analysis process can human beings benefit from it. However, to complete these processes, it is beyond the ability of ordinary computers, but requires computers with super computing power. Therefore, the development of biotechnology will put forward higher requirements for information technology, thus promoting the development of information industry. A more convincing example is that in the journal Nature published on1October 22nd, 2002, 165438+, Israeli scientists announced the development of a micro "biological computer" composed of dna molecules and enzyme molecules. One trillion such computers are only as big as a drop of water, and the operation speed reaches10 billion times per second, with an accuracy rate of 99.8%. Of course, like all new technologies, some scientists are skeptical. They believe that the computer in this test tube has fatal defects, because the biochemical reaction itself has certain randomness, and the result of this operation may not be completely accurate; Moreover, the dna molecules involved in the operation can't communicate with each other like traditional computers, and they can only "fight their own battles", which is not enough to handle some large-scale calculations.

European and American countries and Japan have successively established bioinformatics data centers, such as the National Biotechnology Information Center (ncbi) in the United States, the European Bioinformatics Institute (ebi) in the United Kingdom, and the "Bio-industry Informatization" composed of more than 70 pharmaceutical, biological and high-tech companies in Japan. According to a report of Goldman Sachs consortium 200 1, companies such as ibm, sun, Compaq, etc. have reached at least 12 cooperation intentions with biotechnology companies and research companies, and there are more than 140 cooperation agreements involving various technical fields, including gene chips, which are simulated by computer.

(2) Biotechnology will fundamentally break through the physical limits of computers. The computers used at present are all based on silicon chips. Due to the limitation of physical space and the problems of energy consumption and heat dissipation, they will inevitably meet the development limit. To make a big breakthrough, they need to rely on the innovation of new materials. In 2000, scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles, developed a molecular switch according to the characteristics that biomacromolecules can produce information in different states. In 200 1 year, the world's first DNA computer that can run automatically came out and was rated as the top ten scientific and technological progress in the world that year. In 2002, Professor Adlerman, a pioneer in the field of DNA computer research, used a simple DNA computer to find the answer to a mathematical problem with 24 variables and 1 10,000 possible results in the experiment, and the development of DNA computer took an important step.

Information industry and biological industry are undoubtedly high-tech products. In the research of life science, computers are always indispensable. If you go to the Genome Sequencing Institute, a large number of supercomputers will make you think you are in an information technology company. The biological industry is accelerated by the addition of computers, and the information technology industry is also developed and profitable because of the needs of life sciences. Using various tools of mathematics, computer science and biology to clarify and understand the biological significance contained in a large number of data obtained from genome research, biology and informatics intersect and combine with each other, thus forming a new discipline. Bioinformatics or information biology, the benefits brought by its progress are immeasurable. A large number of companies based on bioinformatics have emerged in the United States, hoping to find wealth in the fields of genetic engineering drugs, biochips and metabolic engineering. Bioinformatics industry has great potential. It can be said that the integration of biotechnology and information technology is the future of the world economic market. At the Hi-tech Forum of the 3rd China International Hi-tech Fair held in Shenzhen, Academician Hou Yunde, Vice President of China Academy of Engineering, pointed out that the biotechnology industry should be positioned as a key industry after the information industry. He said that information and biotechnology are key technologies related to China's economic development and national destiny in the new century, and will become the economic growth point of innovative industries in China.

Biotechnology and application specialty

Many people think that 2000 is the year of investment in biotechnology industry. The completion and publication of human gene sequencing is another milestone in the history of science, which fascinates many thieves. In 2000, the stock market of American biotechnology industry increased by 30 billion dollars, which greatly exceeded the total investment of the stock market in the first five years, and the stocks of biotechnology and other scientific and technological industries rose abnormally. There are many signs that although the biotechnology industry has a history of less than 30 years, it is entering a mature stage.

In 200 1 year, the biotechnology industry still absorbed the investment of1500 million dollars under the economic downturn in the United States, which was the second largest investment year in the history of the industry. Investors believe that biotechnology companies, especially those specializing in new drugs and their cooperative pharmaceutical companies, will launch hundreds of first-class new drugs in the next five years. The breakthrough of biotechnology in the fields of genetic science, protein research, bioinformatics, computer-aided drug design, DNA biochip and pharmacogenetics has brought the conquest of diseases to the molecular level. Many investors believe that the use of biotechnology to develop new drugs will pay off.

According to the statistics of American Biotechnology Industry Organization (Bio), between 1982 and 2000, about 120 kinds of biopharmaceuticals entered the market. 200 1300 new drugs are in the final stage of clinical trials. According to past experience, by 2007, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will approve about 240 new drugs to enter the market, thus doubling the number of biotechnological drugs on the market. Most new biotechnological drugs are a kind of new drugs used to treat heart disease, cancer, diabetes and infectious diseases.

The remarkable application of biotechnology is not only in the health industry, but also in other industries. Relying on biotechnology, agriculture uses less land to produce healthier food; Manufacturing can reduce environmental pollution and save energy consumption; Industry can use renewable resources to produce raw materials to protect the environment.

The maturity of biotechnology industry is not only reflected in product research and development, but also in the cash reserve of the industry. In 2000, because the biotechnology industry raised a lot of capital in the society, most biotechnology enterprises had a good capital situation in 200 1 year. According to Ernst &; Young 2006 54 38+0 biotechnology report shows that more than half of the 340 biotechnology companies listed in the United States can maintain cash reserves for more than three years, which has laid a good foundation for the rapid development of the industry in the future.

Another sign of the maturity of biotechnology industry is merger. Genesis and other well-funded biotechnology companies are merging other auxiliary technology companies to form comprehensive biopharmaceutical companies, which can independently research, develop, produce and sell products. This kind of merger activity not only increases the product variety and income of enterprises, but also helps to improve the competitiveness of the whole industry.

Biotechnology industry is the main driving force of the new economy. Although the share price of biotechnology industry has also shrunk dramatically recently, its past gains are greater than its current losses. In the past year, the Nasdaq biotechnology index has dropped by 20%, but compared with the previous three years, the growth of the index is still close to 100%. In the current bear market, the performance of this index is better than that of Nasdaq Composite Index and Dow Jones Industrial Average. Many analysts believe that the biological and pharmaceutical sectors will develop steadily but healthily in 2002. In the next 12 to 24 months, biological stocks will take off again, and new biotech products will begin to enter the market.

Many state governments in the United States support the development of biotechnology industry and have successively launched many economic development plans to attract biotechnology enterprises. For example, Michigan is one of the top ten biotechnology states in the United States, and the state government has promised to enter the top five in the field of biotechnology industry in the United States, and plans to invest 654.38 billion US dollars to build the Michigan Life Science Corridor. At present, there are more than 300 biological companies in this corridor.

From genes to medicine

In the first year of 2 1 century, scientists completed the sequencing of human genes. The impact of this achievement on the development of biotechnology industry will be immeasurable. In the process of exploring the mystery of human genes, finding some new drugs has become the focus of biotechnology.

In May, 20001,FDA approved the marketing of Gleevec developed by Novartis, which is a good medicine for treating chronic leukemia. This is the first new anticancer drug designed and developed according to the active mechanism of cancer cells. Traditional anticancer drugs will affect normal cells and have great side effects on patients during treatment, while Gleevec only kills cancer cells with genetic variation. The latest research shows that Gleevec is effective for hematological cancers and tumors, and may become a new broad-spectrum anticancer drug.

Another biotechnological drug used to treat cancer is monoclonal antibody. This antibody targets some specific molecules related to cancer cells. Since 1980, the magical efficacy of monoclonal antibodies has attracted the attention of many pharmaceutical companies. After more than ten years of research, monoclonal antibodies have been initially recognized as new anticancer drugs. At present, many pharmaceutical companies are developing monoclonal antibodies, and their applications have expanded from anti-cancer to treatment of other diseases. By 2000, FDA had approved 9 kinds of monoclonal antibodies, and more than 60 products were undergoing clinical trials.

In the aspect of anti-cancer, monoclonal antibody acts like human immune system, but in most cases, human immune system will not stop cancer cells as harmful cells, thus making cancer cells multiply in the body and endangering people's lives.

The role of monoclonal antibodies is to target cancer cells, destroy them or activate the immune system in the body to attack them. Monoclonal antibody can also be a kind of "smart bomb", which carries radioactive or chemical agents and chooses cancer cells to attack.

1997 FDA approved the first monoclonal antibody rituximab for the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, 1998 another monoclonal antibody herceptin was listed for the treatment of breast cancer.

Herceptin was developed by Genentech, which was founded in 1976 and is the earliest biopharmaceutical company. Genentech is one of the top ten biotechnology companies in the world. Protein-based biomedical products have been listed 10, and more than 20 products are under development, mainly targeting cancer, cardiovascular and immune system diseases. This company has more than 5000 employees. Founded in 1992, Human Genome Company is the first company in biotechnology industry to develop human genome. The company first studies and explores the relationship between human genes and diseases, with the goal of discovering genes related to diseases and developing related therapeutic drugs. The company currently has eight products undergoing clinical trials.

Other biomedical products include gene therapy, stem cells and vaccines. With the further understanding of human biology, drug discovery becomes more complicated. Biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry have to rely on more advanced and complex tools to develop new drugs. Historically, Agilent has been a major manufacturer of medical testing equipment, and the company has a very close business relationship with the top ten pharmaceutical companies in the world. Today, Agilent can also provide new scientific instruments for disease diagnosis and new drug research.

Agricultural biotechnology

The application of biotechnology in agriculture is based on the understanding of animal and plant genetics and protein. Many experts believe that only by relying on biotechnology can developing countries overcome hunger and alleviate the global food shortage caused by population growth.

By using specific genes of animals and plants, more crops can be planted with less land and the use of pesticides can be reduced. Using biotechnology, crops can be produced in harsh climatic environment. Biotechnology can also improve the nutrition and taste of food.

St Louis, USA is the fastest developing area of agricultural biotechnology in the world. This area is considered as a bio-industrial belt, and Monsanto, a famous agricultural biotechnology company, is located in this area.

Biotechnology is a fast and effective breeding method. By introducing specific genes, the quality of animals and plants can be changed. For example, scientists can extend the shelf life of tomatoes by implanting anti-ripening genes. Introducing insect-resistant genes that are harmless to human body into plants can prevent diseases and insect pests, reduce the use of pesticides, and intervene the genes that produce vitamin A in rice to improve the nutritional value of rice.

Another possible application of biotechnology in agriculture is the production of edible vaccines and the use of fruits and vegetables to produce vaccines against infectious diseases such as hepatitis and cholera. Cloning technology used in animals can maintain the high-yield performance of high-quality animals.

Agricultural biotechnology products on the market are mainly genetically modified soybeans, corn, rape, cotton and so on. Transgenic plants are quickly accepted by farmers because of their excellent quality. In 200 1 year, the global planting area of transgenic plants reached 53 million hectares, an increase of 19% over 2000.

Industrial and environmental biotechnology

The application of biotechnology in industrial manufacturing and environmental management is to promote the sustainable development of industry. In 1998, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development believes that biotechnology will play a key role in the sustainable development of industry, and encourages its member countries to support the research of industrial and environmental biotechnology.

Microorganisms are considered as natural chemical factories. They are replacing industrial catalysts for making chemicals. For example, enzyme preparation can replace phosphorus in detergent and sulfide in leather tanning process. In papermaking process, enzyme preparation can reduce the amount of chloride in pulp bleaching process. The application of microorganisms in industrial production makes industrial production clean, efficient and sustainable.

Enzymes can also be used as biocatalysts to convert biomass into energy, ethanol and so on. What is more attractive is that corn stalks can be converted into degradable plastics by biological enzymes and used in food packaging.

The application of genetics and protein in industrial biotechnology is not only to discover the characteristics of microbial enzymes, but also to make microorganisms produce new enzyme preparations with various uses through target variation.

Scientists predict that after 10 to 20 years, the application of biotechnology in industry will become as important as its application in human health.

Other applications of biotechnology

At present, biotechnology is mainly used in human health, agriculture, industry and environment, but it is also used in other fields.

At present, there are more and more biological companies developing animal medical products. The annual market for animal health products in the United States is about $4 billion, and there are about 65,438+000 kinds of biological products for animals approved by the United States Department of Agriculture, mainly vaccines and therapeutic drugs to prevent infectious diseases and common diseases in animals.

Biotechnology has also been applied to the protection of rare wild animals, identifying the species of animals and tracking their active areas through DNA identification.

The application of marine biotechnology has developed the survival of overfished and endangered marine organisms. At the same time, it provides a way for human beings to find new drugs from rich marine biological resources. For example, a toxin in conch is an effective painkiller and sponge can be used as an anti-infective agent.

The application of biotechnology in space development can establish a life support environment for astronauts in long-term space exploration. In addition, biotechnology is also used in human archaeology and crime investigation, and the evolutionary history of human population can be studied through DNA analysis. The application of DNA technology in criminal case investigation can help law enforcement officers identify criminals.

Biological counter-terrorism

American Airlines 9? The "1 1" terrorist incident and the anthrax cases that followed made most Americans feel that bioterrorism events may occur in the future, and we must pay attention to the prevention of bioterrorism events.

In the past, several American biotechnology companies have cooperated with the government to put forward the defense strategy of biological weapons, but most experiments are only simulations. Nine o'clock? Before the 1 1 incident, the US Department of Health spent $50 million on research on bioterrorism prevention. But nine? After the 1 1 incident, the budget was greatly increased. A bioterrorism bill passed in June this year allocated $4.5 billion for bioterrorism in the US Department of Homeland Security. Experts predict that bioterrorism will become a new field of national defense, and the United States will use biotechnology to defend against various possible bioterrorism attacks. Biological counter-terrorism will be closely related to public health system, traditional national defense industry, biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry. 9? After the 1 1 incident, the United States quickly developed anthrax and smallpox vaccines. About 24 American biotechnology companies are participating in the research and development of other vaccines and drugs, and the US government plans to pay 640 million US dollars to store vaccines for related diseases to prevent various possible bioterrorism incidents. For example, new antibiotics and antiviral agents are being developed to deal with pathogens that are already resistant to diseases. A company is studying the use of monoclonal antibodies to remove toxins from blood. Other products under development include special enzyme preparations for repairing intentionally polluted environment, rapid atmospheric monitors, infectious agent diagnostic reagents and new drug delivery systems.

Biotechnology application

Application of traditional biotechnology

Application of modern biotechnology

Application of traditional biotechnology

Including:

Microscopy, slide specimen making and dyeing, isotope labeling and tracing, soilless culture, crop breeding, microscope, photoelectric microscope, electron microscope.

Application: Cell (microscopic level, submicroscopic level) slide specimen making and staining technology.

Application: Isotope labeling tracer technique to study cell structure and function *

Application: To study the related problems of chemical substances in cells or organisms, such as the position, movement mode and doping of a substance.

For example, DNA replication during mitosis, material changes during photosynthesis, distribution and transportation of transport hormones in animal and plant cells in vivo, and the discovery of genetic materials during the development of germ layers and the differentiation of transport animals.

Based on the principle of solution culture, various mineral elements needed in the process of plant growth and development are prepared into nutrient solution in a certain proportion, and plants are cultivated with this nutrient solution.

Apply for the major of "Biotechnology"

Biotechnology is still a very new major, so it is difficult to find a job, and biotechnology is a very expensive major. Generally, it is not very standardized for undergraduate colleges to offer this major, let alone specialized courses and study biotechnology. If you want to develop in the future, you can only continue to study.