The use of chemical engineering principles and practices in the field of biology, and in particular the manipulation of biomolecules that are used in the pharmaceutical, medicine, food, environment, bioenergy, and agricultural industries. It involves the structural and functional transformation of proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and nucleic acids along with the detailed knowledge and understanding of biomolecular (p. 35) mechanisms, thermodynamics, and biochemical reactions kinetics. See recombinant dna technology.