Building Biotechnology, Second Edition

Yali Friedman
thinkBiotech LLC (2006)
ISBN 0973467630
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (7/06)

I was a little nervous about reading “Building Biotechnology” because I haven’t had a science class since the 1990’s, but I really wanted to learn more about it because I hear so much about it in the media.   “Building Biotechnology” was a great way for me to get my feet wet on this subject.  Friedman was kind enough to offer a chapter titled “Introduction to Molecular Biology.”  This helped refresh me on the basics.  It was very easy to follow.  Throughout the book, he uses charts and some diagrams to help summarize what he is discussing.  This technique of presenting material makes it much easier to understand. 


Friedman presents information on biotechnology that shows that it has been positive for our environment.  Some information that I have received from the media has presented it in a negative manner.  Through this book, I learned that because of biotechnology, a diabetic is able to use insulin that is made without having to slaughter 50 pigs each year for that one person.  The process of biotechnology has also allowed oil spills to be cleaned up using by bacteria that was created for this purpose.  I found this to be very interesting.

Biotechnology applications are divided into three categories:  green for agricultural applications, white for industrial applications and red for therapeutic applications.    Friedman breaks each of these categories down and goes into depth about how each serves a purpose. 

The rest of the book discusses the business end of dealing with biotechnology and businesses.  This covers intellectual property, regulation, politics, funding, research development and marketing, business development and investing.  I cannot imagine a more comprehensive book on this subject. 

I highly recommend this book to readers who would like to be able to hold an intelligent conversation on the subject of biotechnology.  It is written in a manner that will enable you to easily understand all of what it is about.  Of course, I also recommend this book to be used as a textbook in college or for businesses that are looking to get involved with biotechnology. 

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