INTRODUCTION TO PLANT CELL CULTURE INDEX OF CONTENTS 1. .INTRODUCTION TO BIOTECHNOLOGY Introduction and definition o Historical perspectives o Scope and importance of biotechnology o Commercial potential 2. CELL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENTa) Cell divisionb) Cell cyclec) Animal and plant development3. PLANT CELL CULTURE AND APPLICATIONSa) Introductionb) Cell and tissue culture techniques c) Applications of cultured cells and tissues) Methods of genetic transfer in plantsse) Transgenic plants with beneficial characteristicsf) Diagnostics in agriculture and molecular selection g) Bioethics in engineering plant genetics PREFACEB Iotechnology as a rapidly developing technology and as a science has already demonstrated its impact on different aspects of daily human life such as public health, products pharmaceuticals, food and agriculture, industry, bioenergy and information technology. It is now clear that biotechnology will be a key technology for the 21st century and the science of the future. It has the potential to ensure food security, dramatically reduce hunger and malnutrition, and reduce rural poverty, particularly in developing countries. Considering its commercial potential and possible impact on the economy, then what makes modern biotechnology modern? It is not modern in the sense of using various living organisms, but in the techniques for doing so. The introduction of a large number of new techniques has changed the face of classical biotechnology forever. These modern techniques, mainly applied to cells and molecules, allow the biological process to be exploited in a very precise way. For example, genetic engineering has made it possible to transfer the properties of a single gene from one organism to another. But before going into the details of biotechnologies and the techniques that make them possible, let's try to define them