FAQ - Part 1

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) is a molecular biological method for amplifying (creating multiple copies of) DNA without using a living organism, such as E. coli or yeast. PCR is commonly used in medical and biological research labs for a variety of tasks, such as the detection of hereditary diseases, the identification of genetic fingerprints, the diagnosis of infectious diseases, the cloning of genes, and paternity testing.

Nanobiotechnology is the branch of nanotechnology with biological and biochemical applications or uses. Nanobiotechnology is the application of nanotechnology and microfluidics to the life sciences. Examples include nanosensors based on biomolecules such as DNA or proteins. Nanobiotechnology offers the key to faster and remote diagnostic techniques - including new high throughput diagnostics, multi-parameter, tunable diagnostic techniques, and biochips for a variety of assays. In the very near future, nanobiotechnology will be offering “Tiny Toolkits” for scientists.

The term "nanotechnology" is based on the root nanos, meaning one billionth. It refers to technology that involves components on a length-scale of 100 nanometers or less. A more rigorous definition of nanotechnology is the design and engineering of components or structures that have at least one physical dimension the size of 100 nanometers or less. For perspective, a human hair is gigantic to nanotechnologists, being roughly 150,000 nm across.

Frequently Asked Questions & Knowledge Base/Part 1

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. Biotechnology is a collection of technologies that capitalize on the attributes of cells, such as their manufacturing capabilities, and put biological molecules, such as DNA and proteins, to work for us.

What is biotechnology?

What is nanotechnology?

What is nanobiotechnology?

What is PCR?

The science of bioinformatics or computational biology is increasingly being used to improve the quality of life, as we know it. Bioinformatics has developed out of the need to understand the code of life, DNA. Bioinformatics is the application of computer technology to the management and analysis of biological data. The result is that computers are being used to gather, store, analyze, and merge biological data. Massive DNA sequencing projects have evolved and added in the growth of the science of bioinformatics. DNA the basic molecule of life directly controls the fundamental biology of life. It codes for genes which code for proteins which determine the biological makeup of humans or any living organism. It is variations and errors in the genomic DNA which ultimately define the likelihood of developing diseases or resistance to these same disorders.

What is bioinformatics?

Why does Molecular Diagnostic Testing Represent New Business Opportunities?

Molecular diagnostics promises to transform disease diagnosis, as we know it today, as diagnosis based on symptoms and use of surrogate markers is replaced by genomic and proteomic analysis. This fundamental shift offers the promise for early disease detection, potentially before symptoms have even occurred. Further, the ability to perform genotypic and proteomic studies using molecular diagnostic and pharmacogenomic tools will result in more effective treatment that is highly targeted to a patient’s specific condition and incurs less risk of adverse drug reactions.