Applications of biotechnology to nematology: symposium introduction.

This symposium, "Applications of Biotechnology to Nematology," is intended to stimulate your thinking on the potentials o f biotechnology to revolutionize research and development in the field of nematology. Biotechnology is advancing so dynamically that articles written for journals today are often eclipsed by new developments before they appear in print. These new technologies promise to yield untold numbers of improvements in virtually every field of the biosciences as well as in the physical sciences. Biotechnology is not a panacea for solving all problems in nematology and agriculture. It will not displace many of our traditional approaches to research problems. It is, however, a powerful tool. It is technology that will facilitate solving many problems and crossing barriers that were heretofore at an impass. What is biotechnology? At the 10th Beltsville Symposium, "Biotechnology for Solving Agricultural Problems," Dr. Terry B. Kinney Jr., Administrator, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, defined biotechnology simply as "those biological means used to develop processes and products employing organisms or their components." These biological means, he continued, include 1) bioreactors and bioreactor support systems (bioreactions); 2) immobilized cells, organ-