Biotechnology and the meaning of "Life"

The Indianapolis region has begun a long process of developing relationships with biotechnology companies. It is important to gain a perspective on biotechnology before understanding what it means within the context of an industrial process or scientific endeavor.

The Indianapolis Children's Museum has a biotechnology education section of its website. It provides several good links and it even has a glossary of some general terms surrounding biotechnology. Although it appears on the website with the Dow AgroSciences(c) logo, it can point you in the right direction. The link can be found at: http://www.childrensmuseum.org/themuseum/biotech/index.htm.

Biotechnology is not a single industry or field of study and the media frequently has trouble communicating what that fact means. You can think of the fable of the blind men and the elephant, each of them seeing the elephant for what it they want to believe it is. In the story we can see the problems the media faces. When you read an article about biotechnology or hear a report, consider:

1) Does this reporter have fundamental knowledge about the subject? (It is complicated, many of the people in the field are doctors or scientists).

2) Since the reporter thinks it is news, is it news about biotechnology or is it a desire to make general business news more newsworthy by using the word "biotechnology"?

3) Is the reporter able to give a wider perspective on how this news applies to biotechnology as a whole?

4) As an audience, if you like to know more about the subject than is being provided, is this reporter going to be able to maintain focus on the subject over time?

When I think of biotechnology, I try to put it in context both about myself as well as about the world in which we live. Biotechnology is fundamentally all about life: in biological terms and in terms of our daily activities and behaviors. Scientists, businesspeople, the government and individuals are all thinking about what life means in a very different ways than in the past. It makes sense that we get to know that world and make sure our voice is heard.

Biotechnology word of the day (thanks to the Children's Museum website)

Genome — an organism's complete set of DNA.