Applied Biotechnology and Bioinformatics: Agriculture, Pharmaceutical Research and Environment

This comprehensive reference book discusses the convergent and next-generation technologies for product-derived applications relevant to agriculture, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and the environment.

The field of modern biotechnology is a multidisciplinary and groundbreaking area of biology that includes several cutting-edge methods due to developments in forensics and molecular modeling. Bioinformatics is a full-fledged multidisciplinary field that combines advances in computer and information technology. Numerous applications of bioinformatics―primarily in the areas of gene and protein identification, structural and functional prediction, drug development and design, folding of genes and proteins and their complexity, vaccine design, and organism identification―have contributed to the advancement of biotechnology. Biotechnology is also essential to crop improvement in agriculture because it allows genes to transfer across plants to increase traits such as disease resistance and yield. It also plays a broad role in healthcare, including genetic testing, gene therapy, pharmacogenomics, and drug development. Bioremediation and biodegradation, using microbial technologies to clean up environmental contamination, waste management technologies, and the conversion of organic waste to biofuels. Bioinformatics plays a critical role in analyzing different types of data created by high-throughput research methods―such as genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic datasets―that are useful in addressing various problems related to disease management, clean environment, alternative energy sources, agricultural productivity, and more.

Audience

The book will interest biotechnology researchers and bioinformatics professionals working in the areas of applied biotechnology, bioengineering, biomedical sciences, microbiology, agriculture and environmental sciences.

Hrudayanath Thatoi, PhD, is the Research Director at the Center for Industrial Biotechnology, Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (SOA) University, Odisha, India. He obtained his doctorate in botany from Utkal University, Odisha, India. His research interests include sustainable production of renewable energy, mushroom diversity and bioactivity, bioremediation, etc. He has published 25 books and more than 300 research papers in national and international journals. He is the recipient of the Samanta Chandrasekhar Award by DST, Govt. of Odisha.

Sonali Mohapatra, PhD, is a post-doc research associate in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA after obtaining her doctorate in biotechnology engineering. Her research focuses on bioprocessing technologies. Apart from her publications and edited books, she has also been part of successful scale-up projects in the synthesis of prebiotics from dairy waste streams.

Swagat Kumar Das, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Biotechnology, Odisha University of Technology and Research, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. He obtained his doctorate from Ravenshaw University, Odisha, India. He is a fellow recipient of the Eurasian Academy of Environmental Sciences (FEAES) and the Society of Innovative Educationalists, Scientific Research Professionals (FSIESRP). He has published more than 30 publications in various national and international journals and 12 book chapters.

Sukanta Kumar Pradhan, PhD, serves as HOD in the Department of Bioinformatics, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Odisha, India. He obtained his doctorate in biotechnology from Ravenshaw University, Odisha, India. His research interests include genomics, metagenomics, transcriptomics, and bioinformatics. He has published more than 60 research papers in reputed national and international journals and 8 book chapters.