Biotech
Primer

Tens of thousands
of years ago...

People wandered the earth, collecting and eating only what they found growing in nature. By about 8000 BC, however, the first farmers decided to stay in one place and grow certain plants as crops -- creating agriculture and civilization, in that order.

Thousands
of years ago

People first learn to use bacteria to make new and different foods, and to employ yeast and fermentation processes to make wine, beer and leavened bread.

1700s

Naturalists begin to identify many kinds of hybrid plants -- the offspring of breeding between two varieties of plants.

1840s

Gregor Mendel begins a meticulous study of specific characteristics he found in various plants which were passed to future plant generations.

1861

Louis Pasteur defines the role of micro-organisms and establishes the science of microbiology.

1900

European botanists use Mendel's Law to improve plant species. This is the beginning of classic selection.

1950

First regeneration of entire plants from an in vitro culture.

1953

Enter James Watson and Francis Crick. These two future Nobel Prize winners discovered the double helix structure of deoxyribonucleic acid, commonly known as DNA. Proteins are made up of strings of amino acids. The number, order and kind of amino acids determine the property of that protein. DNA holds the information necessary to order the amino acids correctly. The DNA transmits this hereditary information from one generation to the next. But it wasn't until three decades later that even larger strides occurred in the field.

1973

Researchers develop the ability to isolate genes. Specific genes code for specific proteins.

In the 1980s

Scientists discover how to transfer pieces of genetic information from one organism to another, allowing the expression of desirable traits in the recipient organism. This is called genetic engineering, one process used in biotechnology. Using the technique of "gene splicing" or "recombinant DNA technology" (rDNA), scientists can add new genetic information to create a new protein which creates new traits -- such as resistance to disease and pests.

1982

The first commercial application of this technology is used to develop human insulin for diabetes treatment.

1983

The first transgenic plant: a tobacco plant resistant to an antibiotic.

1985

Genetically engineered plants resistant to insects, viruses, and bacteria are field tested for the first time.

1990

Publication of the European Directives on the use and voluntary dissemination of genetically modified organisms in the environment.

1994

First authorisation by the EU to market a transgenic plant: a tobacco plant resistant to bromoxynil.

1995 - 1996

The European Union approves the importation and use of Monsanto's Roundup Ready soya beans in foods for people and feed for animals. These are beans genetically modified to tolerate spraying of Roundup for weed control while the beans are growing.

1996

Posilac bovine somatotropin, designed to increase milk efficiency in dairy cattle, is approved for use in the United States.

1997

Roundup Ready cotton first commercialized in the US.

1998

DEKALB markets the first Roundup Ready corn.

YieldGardŽ Corn is approved for import into European Union.

1999

President Clinton awards four Monsanto scientists National Medal Of Technology.

2000

Scientists achieve major breakthrough in rice; data to be shared with worldwide research community.