The term Biotechnology was coined by the scientists “Carl neuberg” in 1919.
The origin of biotechnology can be traced back to prehistoric times, when microorganisms were already used for processes like “Fermentation”.
First Discovery: In 1920, “Clostridium acetobutylicum” was used by “Chaim Weizmann” for converting starch into butanol and Acetone. The latter was an essential component of explosives during World War-I.
Second Discovery: During Second World War (1940s), the production of Penicillin (as an antibiotic discovered by “Alexander Flemming” in 1929) on a large scale from cultures of “Pencillium notatum”
Third Discovery: The third discovery of Biotechnology is its recent reincarnation in the form of “Recombinant DNA technology”, which led to the development of a variety of gene technologies and is thus considered to be the greatest scientific revolution of this century.
An early demonstration of the transfer of DNA from one cell type to another concerned drug resistance of certain strains of E.coli could be transformed to a phenotypic bacterium such as “Salmonella”. The explanation of this phenomenon led to the discovery of the plasmid, where by the gene conferring antibiotic resistance residues in a form of extra-chromosomal DNA. The resistance is due to an enzyme that causes the degradation of the antibiotic.
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