Developments in biotechnology in a gender perspective

Many topics in modern biotechnology are gender related issues. In this paper a survey is given of mutual beneficial relationships. Traditionally rural agriculture has a strong participation of women. New developments in biotechnology will lead to a much higher quality of their work, improve their economic position and reduce their occupational risks. In the health sector, medical biotechnology provides new generally applicable methods for diagnosis and therapy, that improve living conditions, social status and life expectancy of women in particular. Gender research is a focal program element of the Asian Institute of Technology. The contributions of the AIT Biotechnology Program to gender issues are summarized in this paper.