A Review on Role of Biotechnology on conservation of Biodiversity

Abstract

Biodiversity refers to the variety of flora and fauna in a given region on earth as a whole. The greater the variety of flora and fauna, the better it is for the survival of different species. This is because it helps in the process of the food chain. It is the degree of variations of life forms and considered at three main levels including species diversity, genetic diversity and ecosystem diversity. The advancement in technology and various other activities such as industrialization, deforestation, growing pollution, global warming and the ever-growing population of human beings are some of the reasons for lowered biodiversity. We are losing numerous species of plants, animals, marine creatures, insects and other organisms each year. Biodiversity conservation is of global concern which requires a holistic approach. One of the tools used to enhance biodiversity is biotechnology. Biotechnological tools are proving valuable for effective and efficient conservation efforts of agricultural plant genetic resources and presently used for the conservation, evaluation, and utilization of biodiversity particularly for important crops. It covers a variety of techniques and applications that allow changes and improvements in living organisms to provide desirable products for man’s use. It provides new options for collection, multiplication, and short- to long-term conservation of biodiversity, using in vitro culture techniques. Biotechnology including tissue culture, the establishment of DNA banks, cryopreservation, micropropagation, somatic embryogenesis, conventional breeding, transgenic crops, and genomics, are all quite useful for conserving and propagating biodiversity in many unique ways.

Keywords:  Biotechnology; Biodiversity; Conservation; invitro technique; Tissue culture; Cryopreservation; Transgenic crops; Somatic embryogenesis.