Biotechnological approaches for biodiversity conservation

Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms. It is the totality of genes, species and ecosystems of a region.In recent years ever increasing loss of biodiversity has posed a serious threat to the survival of mankind.Destruction of the habitat of plants and animals,introduction of exotic species, overexploitation of animals and plants, overpopulation of human and over consumption of natural resources are the root causesof all biodiversity loss.Climatic change, again a consequence of human activities, has very adverse effects on biological diversity. Global warming affects plants, animals and microorganisms, both by changing their habitats and by direct effects of temperature. In addition, inadequate knowledge, inefficient use of information and economic system and policies which fail to value the environment are also responsible for the loss of biological diversity.There is an urgent need for the conservation of biodiversity. Biotechnology offers new means of conserving biodiversity.Conservation may be in situ or ex situ, either in the natural or semi-natural habitat, or insome purpose-built environment. Biotechnology including tissue culture, micro-propagation, marker assisted breeding, conventional breeding, transgenic crops, and genomics, are all quite useful for conserving and propagating biodiversity in many unique ways.