History of Biotechnology

Abstract

Abstract In the early years, highly esteemed drinks, such as beer and wine were produced at home, or acids were produced as the preservative agent for storable food, by using yeast or bacteria; but this was without conscious knowledge. Barley, the basic raw material for beer preparation, not bread making, was the first cultured cereal (about 10,500 BC). The first written document on food preparation by the Sumerians, is 6000 years old and is on brewing. In the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, heavy controversies about theories, vitalist, and chemical resulted in the creation, as well as reversal of theories and paradigms; strong interaction and stimulus from arts and industries prompted continuing progress. Last but not least, it was accepted that products of living organisms were not to be treated differently from inorganic materials. Pasteur's work led to the banishing of the idea which had been anathema to exact scientific inquiry in the life sciences, namely, “spontaneous generation.” He established the science of microbiology by developing pure monoculture in sterile medium and provided significant technical progress in brewing, wine making, and other processes. The requirements for antibiotics and vaccines, to combat disease and chemical components for explosives, particularly in war time, stimulated exact studies in producing products from microbial fermentations. Progress in research led to the emergence of new disciplines: microbiology, during the second half of the nineteenth century; biochemistry by the beginning of the twentieth century; and biotechnology by the end of the twentieth century, respectively. Basic researches in biochemistry and molecular biology dramatically widened the field of life sciences and at the same time unified them considerably. The scope of accessible products and services expanded enormously.