Timeline of biotechnology

The history of Biotechnology

Biotechnology has been used for many centuries. People in the past were making antibiotics using biotechnology without even knowing. Today it is being used worldwide for a wide variety of purposes. But we should still learn about the history biotechnology. From 500 B.C. humans have been using biotechnology to create antibiotics; from things found in nature. As they studied about our planet and all that is within it, they found ways to use that knowledge to create things we could use. the processes of life is something we have studied for centuries, and will continue to study. This timeline goes past 1990. More dates have been added as we learn more about biotechnology. I believe this is a timeline that will never end, because we will never know everything about biotechnology.

Here is a timeline of biotechnology:

  • 500 B.C.: In China, the first antibiotic, moldy soybean curds, is put to use to treat boils.

  • A.D. 100: The first insecticide is produced in China from powdered chrysanthemums.

  • 1761: English surgeon Edward Jenner pioneers vaccination, inoculating a child with a viral smallpox vaccine.

  • 1870: Breeders crossbreed cotton, developing hundreds of varieties with superior qualities.

  • 1870: The first experimental corn hybrid is produced in a laboratory.

  • 1911: American pathologist Peyton Rous discovers the first cancer-causing virus.

  • 1928: Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin.

  • 1933: Hybrid corn is commercialized.

  • 1942: Penicillin is mass-produced in microbes for the first time.

  • 1950's: The first synthetic antibiotic is created.

  • 1951: Artificial insemination of livestock is accomplished using frozen semen.

  • 1958: DNA is made in a test tube for the first time.

  • 1978: Recombinant human insulin is produced for the first time.

  • 1979: Human growth hormone is synthesized for the first time.

  • 1980: Smallpox is globally eradicated following 20-year mass vaccination effort.

  • 1980: The U.S. Supreme Court approves the principle of patenting organisms, which allows the Exxon oil company to patent an oil-eating microorganism.

  • 1981: Scientists at Ohio University produce the first transgenic animals by transferring genes from other animals into mice.

  • 1982: The first recombinant DNA vaccine for livestock is developed.

  • 1982: The first biotech drug, human insulin produced in genetically modified bacteria, is approved by FDA. Genentech and Eli Lilly developed the product.

  • 1985: Genetic markers are found for kidney disease and cystic fibrosis.

  • 1986: The first recombinant vaccine for humans, a vaccine for hepatitis B, is approved.

  • 1986: Interferon becomes the first anticancer drug produced through biotech.

  • 1988: The first pest-resistant corn, Bt corn, is produced.

  • 1990: The first successful gene therapy is performed on a 4-year-old girl suffering from an immune disorder.