ABSTRACT
It is not easy being a biotechnologist. Biotechnologists need to be highly conversant in cell and molecular biology and comfortable with advanced topics specific to microbial, plant, or animal physiology. Many aspects of food biotechnology (e.g., functional food research) also require a sound understanding of food chemistry, as well as human nutritional epidemiology and physiology. As if that was not enough, food biotechnologists need to understand how market forces, regulatory bodies, and international trade can influence development of new technologies. It is beyond the scope of this book to supply all the necessary nutritional, food science, and biological background to become a proficient food biotechnologist. The emphasis in this chapter is on laying a solid foundation in microbiology and cell biology that will be helpful throughout the book. The reason for focusing on these topics is that microbes are tremendously useful to biotechnologists — they help us move bits of DNA from cell to cell, they produce many valuable biochemicals, and they are able to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary (e.g., grapes into wine). However, the main groups of microbes (viruses, bacteria, and fungi) have individual uses in biotechnology that are related to fundamental aspects of their structure and behavior. Hence, we will examine each group of microbes. Because DNA manipulation is so common in modern biotechnology, it is also important to understand the basics of how DNA works. We will also discuss some of the techniques that are used to manipulate DNA.
