History of biotechnology

The history of biotechnology traces how people have used living organisms and biological processes, from fermentation and selective breeding to genetic engineering and industrial production.

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Fermentation: The microbial conversion of sugars into products such as alcohols, acids, and gases. Brewing and food preservation are among biotechnology’s oldest documented practices.
Domestication: The process by which humans alter wild species through sustained interaction and breeding. Domestication created the biological variation later exploited by selective breeding.
Microbiology: The study of microorganisms, including bacteria, archaea, fungi, and viruses. Microbes became controllable agents in fermentation, medicine, and manufacturing.
Recombinant insulin: Human insulin manufactured by genetically modified microorganisms. Its approval demonstrated that engineered cells could reliably make human medicines.
Selective breeding: The deliberate reproduction of organisms with desired heritable traits. Crop and livestock improvement shaped biology long before genes were understood.
Neolithic Revolution: The transition in many societies from foraging to agriculture and settled life. Agriculture established long-running human efforts to manage plants and animals.
Genetics: The study of genes, heredity, and variation in organisms. Genetic principles made biological traits more predictable and manipulable.
Human Genome Project: An international research effort that produced a reference sequence of the human genome. Its completion expanded genomic research and biotechnology’s medical ambitions.
Pasteurization: A controlled heat treatment that reduces harmful microbes and spoilage in foods and drinks. Louis Pasteur connected microbial science to safer food production.
Louis Pasteur: A French chemist and microbiologist whose work established key principles of germ theory and fermentation. His experiments linked microorganisms to practical processes and disease.