The biotechnology industry emerged in the 1970s, based largely on the publication of a new recombinant DNA technique, which is a method of making proteins such as human insulin and other therapies in cultured cells under controlled manufacturing conditions.
Since then biotechnology has created more than 200 new therapies and vaccines, including products to treat cancer, diabetes, HIV/ AIDS and autoimmune disorders.
Biotechnology is also responsible for hundreds of medical diagnostic tests.
Agricultural biotechnology benefits farmers, consumers and the environment by increasing yields, decreasing pesticide applications, improving soil and water quality, and providing healthful foods.
Environmental biotech products make it possible to clean up hazardous waste more efficiently by harnessing pollution-eating microbes, and industrial biotech applications have led to cleaner processes that produce less waste and use less energy and water in such industrial sectors as chemicals, pulp and paper, textiles, food, energy, and metals and minerals. For example, today most laundry detergents contain biotechnology-based enzymes.