Biotechnology: A Flag of Many Colors绚丽多彩的生物技术

Although there are many ways to classify biotechnology， the use of a color code is actually the most popular one. This is used to help us better categorize the different areas of biotechnology research in ways that are easy to remember.

虽然生物技术有很多分类方式，但最普遍的做法还是使用色彩代码。这有助于以便于记忆的方式对生物技术研究领域进行分类。

At the opening of the National Biotechnology Week1 held on the 24 November 2008， Philippines’ Department of Science and Technology Secretary Estrella Alabastro described biotechnology in the following way ：

2008年11月24日，在国家生物技术周开幕式上，菲律宾科技部长埃斯特拉利亚·阿拉瓦斯特罗对生物技术作了如下描述：

“If we could weave a flag for biotechnology， it would have three colors. Red for medical， green for agricultural， and white for industrial applications.”

“如果为生物技术编一面旗帜，它会有三种颜色。红色代表医疗，绿色代表农业，白色代表工业应用。”

Alabastro also said that more colors would be added to the biotechnology spectrum， and these have indeed happened.

阿拉瓦斯特罗还说生物技术会增添新的颜色，而这确实已经发生。

The four main types of biotechnology are medical biotechnology （red）， industrial biotechnology （white）， envir-onmental biotechnology （green）， and marine biotechnology （blue）.

生物技术主要有四种：医学生物技术（红色）、工业生物技术（白色）、环境生物技术（绿色）和海洋生物技术（蓝色）。

Medical “red” biotechnology

医学：“红色”生物技术

Medical biotechnology is all about human health and medicine. So， medical biotechnology will involve producing new pharmaceutical drugs， antibodies， vaccines， and more.

医学生物技术应用于人类健康和医疗事业。因此，医学生物技术涉及生产新的药物、抗体、疫苗等。

Red biotechnology can figure out the best drug dosages for patients， thus working towards making drugs and treatments much more specific for people based on their genetic code.

红色生物技术可以测算适合病人的最佳药物剂量，从而根据遗传密码使药物和治疗更具针对性。

Red biotechnology makes use of biological materials to find solutions to health-related problems. Often， gene expression2， antibodies， and proteins are researched to find how they can be used to create genetically-modified3 cells or organisms to assist in treating various diseases.

红色生物技术利用生物材料为健康相关问题寻找解决方案。基因表达、抗体和蛋白质常被作为研究对象，设法用其制成转基因细胞或有机体，帮助治疗各种疾病。

Some examples include how proteins have been modified to encourage the production of enzymes in hamster cells and these can be used to treat heart disease in humans.

例如，通过修改蛋白质促进仓鼠细胞产生酶，这些酶可用于治疗人类心脏疾病。

Industrial “white” biotechnology

工业：“白色”生物技术

Industrial biotechnology affects many sectors， such as the textile， food， and energy sectors.

工业生物技术对纺织、食品和能源等许多领域都有影响。

Industrial biotechnology makes use of living cells derived from sources such as plants， bacteria， and yeast， and creates products that need less resources （such as energy） during their production. They also produce less waste.

工业生物技术利用取自植物、细菌和酵母等的活细胞，制成的产品不仅在生产过程中耗费资源（如能源）较少，产生的废物也更少。

There have already been valuable developments made by industrial biotechnology. An example is how the use of bacterial enzymes have been used to manufacture food as well as to make washing powder so as to decrease artificial ingredients.

工业生物技术已取得重大进展。例如，细菌酶被用于制造食品和洗衣粉，以减少人造成分。

Environmental and agricultural “green” biotechnology

环境和农业：“绿色”生物技术

These two areas of biotechnology are both put into the “green” color category.

环境和农业生物技术都属于“绿色”类别。

Basically， green biotechnology concentrates on technologies related to agriculture， such as when it comes to finding ways to produce stronger crops or creating new biopesticides to reduce chemicals used by farmers.

绿色生物技术主要涉及农业相关技术，例如，设法培养生命力更强的农作物;研发新的生物杀虫剂，从而让农民减少化学制品用量。

Other projects that agricultural biotechnologists will be involved in include the following：

农业生物技术专家还将参与以下项目：

● Using bacteria to encourage plant growth and improve crop yields.

·利用细菌促进植物生长，提高作物产量。

● Using plants to remove heavy metals from the environment that can be toxic to it as well as to human health.

·利用植物清除环境中对环境和人类健康有害的重金属。

● Using genetic manipulation to help plants thrive in spite of damaging weather4 conditions， such as frost.

·利用基因操作帮助植物抵御霜冻等灾害性天气。

● Using technology in animal breeding， such as the use of artificial insemination， which is said to be the most widely applied animal biotechnology.

·在动物育种中使用人工授精等技术，据说这是应用最广泛的动物生物技术。

As for environmental biotechnology， the main goal is combining biology with engineering. This can develop various processes to clean contaminated sites.

环境生物技术的主要目标则是把生物学与工程学结合起来，由此设计各种工艺，清理受污染的场所。

Fungi， bacteria， and microbes are often used as organic ways of eliminating pollutants in the environment. Some tasks that environmental biotechnologists will have include the following：

真菌、细菌和微生物常用于消除环境中的污染物，这是一种有机方式。环境生物技术专家将致力于以下工作：

● Converting plants into biofuels.

·将植物转化为生物燃料。

● Inventing plant-based bioplastics that are kinder to the environment and can reduce waste.

·发明对环境更友好、产生更少废物的植物性生物塑料。

● Engineering microbes or plants that can process and eliminate toxins and contaminants in the environment.