A History of Biotechnology
Biotechnology in its basic form has existed for thousands of years, dating back to an era when humans first learned to produce bread, beer, and wine using the natural process of fermentation. For centuries, the principles of biotechnology were restricted to agriculture, such as harvesting better crops and improving yields by using the best seeds and breeding livestock.
The field of biotechnology began to develop rapidly from the 19th century with the discovery of microorganisms, Gregor Mendel’s study of genetics and groundbreaking work on fermentation and microbial processes by giants in the field such as Pasteur and Lister. Early 20th-century biotechnology led to the major discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming, which went into large-scale production in the 1940s.
Biotechnology took off in the 1950s, spurred by a better understanding in the post-war period of cell function and molecular biology. Every decade since then produced major breakthroughs in biotechnology. Some of the highlights are the following:
- The discovery of the 3D structure of DNA in the 1950s
- Insulin synthesis and the development of vaccines for measles, mumps, and rubella in the 1960s
- Massive strides in DNA research in the 1970s
- The development of the first biotech-derived drugs and vaccines to treat diseases such as cancer and hepatitis B in the 1980s
- The identification of numerous genes and the introduction of new treatments in decades for managing multiple sclerosis and cystic fibrosis in the 1990s
- The completion of the human genome sequence in the 1990s, which made it possible for scientists worldwide to research new treatments for diseases with genetic origins like cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s