HISTORY BEHIND BIOTECHNOLOGY
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A common misconception is the thought that biotechnology is relatively new because it only
involves working with DNA and genetic engineering. Biotechnology is ________________-humans have been _____________________________________to solve problems and
______________ their way of life for____________________________.
The origins of biotechnology date back nearly _____________________to early agrarian
societies in which people ________________________________________________________
for planting the next year. There is evidence that
_____________________________________________________________________________
used these same selective breeding practices for______________________________________.
As far back as_________________________, people produced beer, wine and bread using
___________________________________, a natural process in which the biological activity of
one-celled organisms plays a critical role.
By __________________________, the Chinese were using
_________________________________________ for making yogurt, __________ for making
cheese and ________________________________________________ for making wine
vinegar.
By _______________, plant-collecting expeditions became quite common across the globe. The
collections led to the ___________________________________________________________.
Plants with desirable traits, including resistance to disease, were stored for future breeding
purposes.
________________________________________ was a Russian plant geneticist and agronomist
who initiated a comprehensive research and breeding program that included a logical plan for
____________________________________________________management.
The end of the 19th century was a milestone in biology. Microorganisms were discovered, as
well as pasteurization. _______________________________ began the study of genetics using
seeds and plant experiments.
The term "biotechnology" was coined in ____________________________________, a
Hungarian engineer. At that time, the term meant all lines of work by which products are
produced from raw materials with the aid of living organisms.
Biotechnology brought ___________________________________________together at the
beginning of the 20th century. Fermentation processes were developed that produced
_______________ from starch and ___________________________ to be used on automobiles.
Between 1930 and 1952, researchers focused their effort on the relationship of ______________
___________________________. They found a direct relationship between ________________
of a gene and the ___________________________________ in a protein.
The discovery of _______________ during World War II led to the focus of pharmaceuticals.
The "Cold War" years were dominated by work with ___________________________ in
preparation for possible ____________________________________ and the production of
more _____________________________.
The final threshold to modern molecular biology was crossed in __________ with the discovery
of the structure of DNA by ______________________________________________________.
Experiments by many other scientists soon followed to determine how the information in the
gene is decoded and expressed.
The accumulated knowledge of cell structure, biochemistry, and heredity opened the door to
modern molecular biology and biotechnology. In _______, a plan for mapping and sequencing
the human genome was planned. This is the _________________________________________
and its goal was to discover all of the human genes by the year 2003.