engleski

Biotechnology - a successfull synergy of microbiologists, geneticists, chemists and engineers

Traditional industrial microbiology has been around for a long time. Since pre-biblical times, microorganisms have been making products, such as beer, wine, cheese, vinegar, and pickles, to preserve milk, meat or vegetables, for some later period. In the early 20th century, a golden age of industrial microbiology increased its importance within the fermentative production of solvents, antibiotics, enzymes, vitamins, amino and other acids, nucleotides, polymers or hormones. In the early 1970s, molecular biology and industrial microbiology came together for the development and commercialization of recombinant DNA technology, a revolutionary advance, which launched the age of modern biotechnology. The advances of this past century could not be realized without the interactions, which occurred between different profiles of scientists and engineers. Still, the implementation of different fields of science in biotechnology is not finished because today drug production needs a participation of physicians, sociologists or drug designer. Croatia has a long tradition in the organized academic education of biotechnologists and the continued education started in 1956. Prof. V. Johanides organized Department of Biotechnology at the University of Zagreb named today Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology. The University of Zagreb awarded the first M.Sc. degree in biotechnology already in 1961. Croatian biotechnologists had organized in Split the famous "Fifth International Symposium on the Genetics of Industrial Microorganisms" in 1986. Following the development of biotechnology in other countries, Croatian Society of Biotechnology was established in 1991. and it became a member of European Federation of Biotechnology even before the recognition of Croatia as an internationally recognized country. From 1997 through Croatian Society of Biotechnology and together with the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Croatian Academy of Engineering, Croatian Academy of Medicine and PLIVA Inc., Croatian scientists and engineers of different profiles are meeting together with scientists all around the world talking about the implementation of mutual activities in "Biotechnology and Biomedicine" (1999) "Biotechnology and Environment" (2001) or "Biotechnology and Food" (2003). First two Conferences have been finished with the appropriate Proceedings published within serial publication "Current Studies of Biotechnology", included on the list of ISI publications.

biotechnology; microbiology; genetics; chemistry; engineering; synergy

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