Harare Institute of Technology Department of Biotechnology

Biotechnology is defined as the knowledge of bioprocesses applied to the engineering and use of living organisms, cells or biomolecules to solve problems or make products. It is comprised of core technologies such as genetic engineering, cell and tissue culture engineering, bioinformatics, nanotechnology and process engineering. Biotechnology is multidisciplinary; it functions as a group of related technologies used by many industries and service sectors. It has legal, political, philosophical, ethical, societal and environmental implications. Biotechnology is of undisputed paramount significance. The local and global economy daily thrives on the business of products, technologies and applications which are a result of biotechnology. This discipline of science constitutes a significant part of the global bio-economy industries that focus on biological products, technologies, tools and applications in the manufacture of valuable products and provision of essential services. Biotechnology has tremendous impact in the local and global economy. It is therefore quite important to provide basic and advanced educational opportunities that foster an understanding of the nature of biotechnology whilst also imparting the necessary skills for its profitable and sustainable exploitation.

The Biotechnology Department at HIT aims to investigate, optimise and apply modern biotechnologies to addressing national challenges in the fields of agriculture and food security; medicine and pharmaceuticals; industrial manufacture and environmental protection. These objectives are underpinned by a strong techno-entrepreneurial emphasis that characterises all our programmes and research initiatives.