本教材共16课，每课有正文(A、B两篇独立的课文)，阅读材料(两篇)，补充资料和练习四大部分。很后还安排了附录，收录了英汉微生物名称、靠前上有关生物技术的期刊名称。
在课文内容上，主要选择了有关生物技术(偏重于发酵工程)的内容，包括以下专题：无机化学，有机化学，分析化学，生物化学(糖、蛋白质、核酸)，微生物学(菌种、操作方法)，分子遗传学，代谢，酒(啤酒、葡萄酒、威士忌)，生物能源，动植物细胞培养，干细胞培养，抗生素，药品的临床评价等药学内容，环境生物技术，发酵动力学，生化反应器(液态及固态发酵罐)，分离纯化等下游技术，化学分析方法，论文(摘要、前言、材料与方法)。在很后，还安排了英语论文两篇、。每篇课文均有补充资料，如补充的专业词汇、构词法、翻译理论与技巧、CA缩略语精选、写作句型句例。课文中的大多数专业词汇还注有音标。
本书可作为工业生物技术专业(发酵工程或生物工程)高校及大专中专学生的专业英语教材，由于在内容上有所拓展，故也适应于发酵工厂或研究所的有关技术人员参考。

Lesson 1
Text A Elements and Compounds
Text B Atomic Bonds and Molecules
Reading Materials (Ⅰ) Water as a Solvent
Reading Materials (Ⅱ) True-False Questions
Additional Information
Exercises
Lesson 2
Text A Nomenclature of Alcohols
Text B Carbohydrates
Reading Materials (Ⅰ) Amino Acids
Reading Materials (Ⅱ) The Plant Kingdom
Additional Information
Exercises
Lesson 3
Text A The Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle: A Carbon and Energy Wheel
Text B Induction and Feedback Repression
Reading Materials (Ⅰ) Toluene Biodegradation Pathways
Reading Materials (Ⅱ) Regulation of Branched Metabolic Pathway
Additional Information
Exercises
Lesson 4
Text A Nucleotides and Nucleic Acids
Text B Proteins
Reading Materials (Ⅰ) Macromolecules
Reading Materials (Ⅱ) Assay Procedure for Protein Concentration
Additional Information
Exercises
Lesson 5
Text A Enzymes
Text B Hydrolytic Enzymes
Reading Materials (Ⅰ) Cattle Feed Enzymes and Probiotics
Reading Materials (Ⅱ) Inhibition of Enzyme Activity and Immobilized Enzymes
Additional Information
Exercises
Lesson 6
Text A Microorganisms and Viruses
Text B Introduction to Microbiology
Reading Materials (Ⅰ) Cell Quantification
Reading Materials (Ⅱ) Maintenance and Storage
Additional Information
Exercises
Lesson 7
Text A Gene Cloning in Bacteria
Text B Gene Control in Prokaryotes
Reading Materials (Ⅰ) Quality of the DNA Vaccines
Reading Materials (Ⅱ) Selection of Mutagens
Additional Information
Exercises
Lesson 8
Text A Conventional Batch Fermentation Processes for Ethanol Production
Text B Batch and Continuous Processes
Reading Materials (Ⅰ) Various Phenomena That Occur Within SSF Bioreactor
Reading Materials (Ⅱ) Oxygen Transfer
Additional Information
Exercises
Lesson 9
Text A Fermenters
Text B Cost Estimation for Biotechnology Projects
Reading Materials (Ⅰ) Bioreactors for Solid-state Fermentation
Reading Materials ( 11 ) Other Fermenter Design and Ancillary Equipment
Additional Information
Exercises
Lesson 10
Text A An Idealized Process of Bin-separation
Text B Chromatography
Reading Materials (Ⅰ) Sterilization of Air by Filter Cartridges
Reading Materials (Ⅱ) Separation Process
Additional Information
Exercises
Lesson 11
Text A Waste Treatment
Text B Biodegradation
Reading Materials (Ⅰ) Waste and Recycling
Reading Materials (Ⅱ) In-vessel Composting
Additional Information
Exercises
Lesson 12
Text A Introduction to Animal Cell Culture
Text B Transgenic Plants
Reading Materials (Ⅰ) Genetic Modification of Animals and Transgenic Mice
Reading Materials (Ⅱ) Plant Cell Cultivation
Additional Information
Exercises
Lesson 13
Text A Innate Immune and Inflammatory Responses
Text B Anti-bacterial Antibiotics
Reading Materials (Ⅰ) Stem Cell Basics
Reading Materials (Ⅱ) Preclinical Safety and Toxicology Testing of DNA Vaccine
Additional Information
Exercises
Lesson 14
Text A Bioconversion of Cellulose and Hemicellulose to Ethanol
Text B Algae-Based Fuels Set to Bloom
Reading Materials (Ⅰ) Biodiversity
Reading Materials (Ⅱ) Hydrogen Production by Photo-reactive Rhodop s e udo mo nas
Additional Information
Exercises
Lesson 15
Text A Brewing Process
Text B Distillation and Distilled Spirits
Reading Materials (Ⅰ) White Wine Production
Reading Materials (Ⅱ) Scotch Whiskey
Additional Information
Exercises
Lesson 16
Text A Abstracts and Patents
Text B Materials and Methods
Reading Materials (Ⅰ) Introduction (Ⅰ)
Reading Materials (Ⅱ) Introduction (Ⅱ)
Additional Information
Exercises
Paper 1
Large-Scale Production of Monoclonal Antibodies in Suspension Culture
Paper 2
The Determination of Ethanol in Beer Using A Bioelectrochemical Cell-Dye-Linked Alcohol Dehydrogenase Incorporated Bioelectrochemical Cell
US Patent
Apparatus and method for the continuous cultivation of microorganisms in a culture liquid
Appendix
A List of Cultures of Industrial Microorganisms
A List of Journals Relating to Biotechnology
习题参考答案
参考文献