1. History of Biotechnology

2. Medical Advances in Biotechnology
500 BC:  The Chinese use moldy curds as an antibiotic to treat boils
1590: Janssen invents the microscope
1663: Hooke discovers cells
1675: Leeuwenhoek discovers bacteria and protozoa

3. Medical Advances in Biotechnology
1797: First vaccination - Jenner inoculates a child with a viral vaccine to protect him from smallpox
1855: The E. coli bacterium is discovered
1883: The rabies vaccine is developed

4. Medical Advances in Biotechnology
1906: The term "genetics" is used
1915: Bacterial viruses, called phages, are discovered
1919: The word "biotechnology" is first used 1927: Muller discovers that X-rays cause mutation
1928: Fleming discovers penicillin

5. Medical Advances in Biotechnology
1944: DNA is shown to be the building block of the gene
1949: Pauling proves that sickle cell anemia is a "molecular disease" caused by a mutation

6. Medical Advances in Biotechnology
1954: Cell-culturing techniques are first used
1972: The DNA composition of humans is shown to be 99% similar to that of chimps and gorillas

7. Medical Advances in Biotechnology
1978: North Carolina scientists, Hutchinson and Edgell, prove it is possible to introduce specific mutations at specific sites in a DNA molecule
1981: 1st mice to be successfully cloned

8. Medical Advances in Biotechnology
1984: The first genetically-engineered vaccine is developed.
1994:The first breast cancer gene is discovered
1996: Scientists clone identical lambs from early embryonic sheep
1997: Dolly the sheep is cloned

9. Medical Advances in Biotechnology
2000: A rough draft of the human genome is completed
Pigs are the next animal cloned by researchers to help produce organs for human transplant

10. Food & Agriculture Advancements in Biotechnology
2000 BC: Yeast was used to make bread in Egypt.
2000BC: Production of cheese in Sumeria, China & Egypt.
250 BC: The Greeks practice crop rotation to increase soil fertility
100 BC: Chinese use powdered chrysanthemum as an insecticide

11. Food & Agriculture Advancements in Biotechnology
1817: Chlorophyll is discovered
1840: Justus von Liebig publishes Organic Chemistry in its Application to Agriculture and Physiology. He proposed that plants need nitrogen along with water and organic material to survive.
* Justus von Liebig publishes Organic Chemistry in its Application to Agriculture and Physiology, one of the most important works of applied chemistry. The book is so influential that it completely revolutionizes European agricultural practices to the point where famine is almost nonexistent. Prior to Liebig’s research it was widely believed that plants required only water and organic material to survive. Liebig proposes that plants also need inorganic nutrients, and especially nitrogen, which is obtained from ammonia in the soil. He recognizes that nitrates can be used as chemical fertilizers to stimulate plant growth.

12. Food & Agriculture Advancements in Biotechnology
1926: The Pioneer Hi-Bred Corn Company – Largest producer of hybrid corn seed.
1956: The fermentation process is perfected
1970: Roundup Herbicide
Henry A. Wallace establishes the Hi-Bred Corn Company in Des Moines, Iowa. The firm grows to become the largest U.S. producer of hybrid corn seed. In 1970, the operation is renamed Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. In 1973, its stock becomes publicly traded. DuPont acquires the company in 1999 for $7.7 billion. After founding Hi-Bred Corn, Wallace goes on to serve as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture during Franklin Roosevelt’s first two terms. In 1940, he is elected Vice-President of the United States after joining Roosevelt on the Democratic ticket to run against Republicans Wendell Wilkie and Charles L. McNary.
Monsanto chemist John Franz synthesizes N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine in May. Four years later, Monsanto calls the compound glyphosate when it introduces Roundup®, an herbicide in which N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine is the principal active ingredient. Glyphosate is a broad spectrum herbicide. It inhibits an enzyme called EPSP synthase that is essential to protein synthesis and growth in most plants. In 1982, after Monsanto scientists have acquired and mastered recombinant DNA techniques, the company begins engineering crops that are resistant to the weed-killer. Today, the Roundup® line of products accounts for nearly half of Monsanto’s revenues
Molecular Genetics, Inc. - The company intends to employ hybridoma and recombinant DNA technologies to develop vaccines and antitoxins in order to improve animal health. Commercial prospects are bright for effective new products in animal health – the markets are massive. In the U.S., 10-15% of livestock born in a given year succumb to infectious diseases. The company also plans to use rDNA techniques to design novel plant species with altered growth patterns and improved nutritional value.

13. Food & Agriculture Advancements in Biotechnology
1979: Advanced Genetic Sciences, Inc(AGS) – first agricultural biotechnology company
1979: Molecular Genetics, Inc. Is established to develop vaccines and antitoxins to improve animal health.
Henry A. Wallace establishes the Hi-Bred Corn Company in Des Moines, Iowa. The firm grows to become the largest U.S. producer of hybrid corn seed. In 1970, the operation is renamed Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. In 1973, its stock becomes publicly traded. DuPont acquires the company in 1999 for $7.7 billion. After founding Hi-Bred Corn, Wallace goes on to serve as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture during Franklin Roosevelt’s first two terms. In 1940, he is elected Vice-President of the United States after joining Roosevelt on the Democratic ticket to run against Republicans Wendell Wilkie and Charles L. McNary.
Monsanto chemist John Franz synthesizes N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine in May. Four years later, Monsanto calls the compound glyphosate when it introduces Roundup®, an herbicide in which N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine is the principal active ingredient. Glyphosate is a broad spectrum herbicide. It inhibits an enzyme called EPSP synthase that is essential to protein synthesis and growth in most plants. In 1982, after Monsanto scientists have acquired and mastered recombinant DNA techniques, the company begins engineering crops that are resistant to the weed-killer. Today, the Roundup® line of products accounts for nearly half of Monsanto’s revenues
Molecular Genetics, Inc. - The company intends to employ hybridoma and recombinant DNA technologies to develop vaccines and antitoxins in order to improve animal health. Commercial prospects are bright for effective new products in animal health – the markets are massive. In the U.S., 10-15% of livestock born in a given year succumb to infectious diseases. The company also plans to use rDNA techniques to design novel plant species with altered growth patterns and improved nutritional value.

14. Food & Agriculture Advancements in Biotechnology
1982 – Rob Horsch genetically modifications to plant cells.
1987 – Frostban – a genetically altered bacterium that inhibits frost formation on crops.
1987 – The gene gun
Monsanto scientists led by Rob Horsch acquire the know-how to make specific genetic modifications to plant cells – in the first instance, petunia cells growing in culture.  To accomplish the task, the group employs a common soil bacterium, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, which naturally possesses the ability to inject plasmid DNA into the nuclei of plant cells.  The Monsanto team inserts into the bacterium a gene that confers antibiotic resistance.  Some of the petunia cells exposed to the modified bacteria display antibiotic resistance, confirming the genetic transfer, and plants grown from the modified cells pass the trait on to offspring.  Monsanto subsequently employs the technique to develop a range of herbicide and pest resistant crops, including soybeans, cotton, corn, and wheat
Frostban: Advanced Genetic Sciences, Inc. conducts a field test of Frostban, a genetically altered bacterium that inhibits frost formation on crops. Frostban is also known as ‘ice-minus.’  The bacteria are sprayed on strawberry and potato plants in California. It is the first EPA-authorized release of a recombinant microorganism. The test is successful. Frostban works – it keeps plants from freezing – but does not become a successful product. It is neither more effective, economical, or commercially viable than conventional anti-icing techniques.
The gene gun: The biolistic partical delivery system, or gene gun. is developed by John Sanford, professor of plant genetics at Cornell University. The gene gun is an alternative to the use of plasmids and viruses to deliver genetic information into cells. Sanford’s gun is a modified .22 caliber Crossman air pistol that fires tungsten microparticles into plants. These particles are coated with specific DNA bits of DNA that are incorporated into the plant genome on impact. When the procedure is successful, the plants express the inserted genes, exhibit the desired phenotypic characteristics, and pass on the trait to subsequent generations. Gene guns have since been modified to insert genetic information into animals as well. Although John Sanford retired in 1988, he continues to serve as an associate professor at Cornell as a courtesy.

15. Food & Agriculture Advancements in Biotechnology
1993: rBST – FDA approves the use of rBST to increase milk production in dairy cows. 1994: The FlavrSavr tomato – First genetically-modified food to be approved for sale and human consumption. It was engineered to resist rotting.
1996: Dolly the Sheep – First animal cloned from an adult somatic cell
* The FDA approves recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST) for increased milk production in dairy cows.  The hormome is manufactured in E. coli bacteria.  The product is commercialized by Monsanto under the brand name POSILAC®.  The use of rBST is expected to afford economic benefits – estimates of gains in milk yields range between 5 percent and 20 percent.  Feed efficiency increases between 2 percent and 10 percent are anticipated.  There are unusual aspects of the product approval – Congress imposes a 90-day moratorium on the marketing rBST in order to allow the White House Office of Management and Budget and opportunity to assess how the introduction would impact the dairy industry and the public.  Monsanto also agree to a two-year post-approval monitoring program.  The FDA imposed the condition due to concerns over an increased incidence of mastitis (mammary infections) in rBST treated cows.  The infections require treatment with antibiotics.  The agency is concerned that drug residues will show up in rBST milk in greater concentrations.  The FDA is apparently satisfied with studies showing that rBST is broken down into component amino acids in the human digestive tract and does not become biologically active after the ingestion of rBST milk.

16. Food & Agriculture Advancements in Biotechnology
1996: Bioengineered Crops Roundup Ready soybeans® and Bollguard® cotton
1999: Golden Rice
2001 – China’s “Super Rice” Increases crop yield by 30% - 40%
* Monsanto introduces its first bioengineered crops, herbicide-tolerant Roundup Ready® Soybeans. Today, more than 90 percent of the soybean crop in the United States is grown from Roundup Ready® seeds. Roundup Ready® alfalfa, canola, corn, cotton, sorghum, and sugar beets are also deregulated – i. e., not subject to special restrictions in cultivation, processing or sale for animal or human consumption. 
Monsanto’s Roundup Ready® franchise has enjoyed enormous commercial success, but the increase in recent years of glyphosate-resistant weeds clouds it long-term future. Monsanto’s Bollguard® cotton line is similarly threatened by the appearance of bollworms exhibiting tolerance to bioengineered Bt (Baccillus thuringiensis) insecticide. Bollguard® cotton was introduced in The first case of Bt resistance was documented in 2008.
* Super Rice: Professor Yuan Longping, China’s “Father of Hybrid Rice” and the director of China’s National Hybrid Research Center, announces the development of a genetically-modified ‘super rice,’ that promises greater yields using fewer resources. According to Professor Longping, ‘super rice’ is not a vehicle for greater exports, but a necessity for an expanding, and hungry, population: “The population in China is growing but there is less and less arable land. We need to increase the crop yield by using new technology." According to the South China Morning Post in 2001, the advantage of super rice over normal, and even first-generation hybrid rice, is a matter of simple mathematical comparison. The yield of normal rice is 360kg per mu (a Chinese measure of land comparable to .06 hectares) compared to 450kg per mu for first-generation hybrid rice, which is currently feeding half of China’s population. Super rice could potentially yield 900kg per mu. Despite concerns voiced by Greenpeace China that genetic engineering of crops is an “unfulfilled and unproven promise,” the research and experimentation continues and by 2004, China’s ‘super rice’ increases rice output by 30%-40%.

17. Biotechnology in the 1950s and 1960s
1953: Watson and Crick understand the structure of DNA
1954: Cell-culturing techniques are first used
1955: An enzyme involved in the production of a nucleic acid is isolated
1956: The fermentation process is perfected
1960: Messenger RNA is discovered
1961: The genetic code is understood

18. Biotechnology in the 1970s
1972: The DNA composition of humans is shown to be 99% similar to that of chimps and gorillas
1977: Genetically-engineered bacteria are used to make human growth protein
1978: North Carolina scientists, Hutchinson and Edgell, prove it is possible to introduce specific mutations at specific sites in a DNA molecule
1979: The first monoclonal antibodies are synthesized

19. Biotechnology in the 1980s
1980: The U.S. Supreme Court approves the patenting of genetically-engineered life forms
1980: The U.S. patent for gene cloning is awarded to Boyer and Cohen.
1981: The North Carolina Biotechnology Center is created—the 1st state-sponsored research center for biotechnology
1981: The first genetically-engineered plant is reported
1981: 1st mice to be successfully cloned
1982: Humulin, human insulin drug, produced by genetically-engineered bacteria (first biotech drug approved by the FDA)

20. Biotechnology in the 1980s
1983: The first artificial chromosome is made
1983: The first genetic markers for specific inherited diseases are found
1984: The DNA fingerprinting technique is developed.
1984: The first genetically-engineered vaccine is developed. 1986: The first biotech-derived interferon drugs for the treatment of cancer are synthesized
1988: Congress funds the Human Genome Project
1989: Microorganisms are used to clean up the Exxon Valdez oil spill

21. Biotechnology in the 1990s
1990: The first federally-approved gene therapy treatment is performed successfully
1992: The structure of HIV RT is elucidated
1993:The FDA declares that genetically engineered foods are "not inherently dangerous"
1994: The first breast cancer gene is discovered
1996: Scientists clone identical lambs from early embryonic sheep

22. Biotechnology in the 1990s
1998: Scientists clone three generations of mice from nuclei of adult ovarian cells
1998: Embryonic stem cells are used to regenerate tissue and create disorders that mimic diseases
1998: The Biotechnology Institute is founded by BIO as an independent, national, 501(c)(3) education organization
1999: The genetic code of the human chromosome is deciphered

23. Biotechnology 2000 and Beyond
2000: A rough draft of the human genome is completed
2000: Pigs are the next animal cloned by researchers to help produce organs for human transplant
2001: The sequence of the human genome is published in Science and Nature
2002: Scientists complete the sequence of the pathogen of rice, a fungus that ruins enough rice to feed 60 million people annually
2003: Dolly, the cloned sheep from 1997, is euthanized

24. Resources