History of biotechnology

Many forms of human-derived agriculture clearly fit the broad definition of “using a biotechnological system to make products”. Indeed, the cultivation of plants may be viewed as the earliest biotechnological enterprise.

Agriculture has been theorized to have become the dominant way of producing food since the Neolithic Revolution. Through early biotechnology, the earliest farmers selected and bred the best-suited crops, having the highest yields, to produce enough food to support a growing population. As crops and fields became increasingly large and difficult to maintain, it was discovered that specific organisms and their by-products could effectively fertilize, restore nitrogen, and control pests. Throughout the history of agriculture, farmers sometimes by mistake altered the genetics of their crops through introducing them to new environments and breeding them with other plants — one of the first forms of biotechnology.

For thousands of years, humans have used selective breeding to improve production of crops and livestock to use them for food. In selective breeding, organisms with desirable characteristics are mated to produce offspring with the same characteristics. For example, this technique was used with corn to produce the largest and sweetest crops.

In the early twentieth century scientists gained a greater understanding of microbiology and explored ways of manufacturing specific products. In 1917, Chaim Weizmann first used a pure microbiological culture in an industrial process, to produce acetone, which the United Kingdom desperately needed to manufacture explosives during World War I.

Biotechnology has also led to the development of antibiotics. In 1928, Alexander Fleming discovered the mold Penicillium.

The field of modern biotechnology was born in 1971 when Paul Berg's (Stanford) experiments in gene splicing had early success. Herbert W. Boyer (Univ. Calif. at San Francisco) and Stanley N. Cohen (Stanford) significantly advanced the new technology in 1972 by transferring genetic material into a bacterium, such that the imported material would be reproduced.

Rising demand for biofuels is expected to be good news for the biotechnology sector, with the Department of Energy estimating that ethanol usage could reduce U.S. petroleum-derived fuel consumption by up to 30% by 2030. The biotechnology sector has allowed the U.S. farming industry to rapidly increase its supply of corn and soybeans—the main inputs into biofuels. By boosting farm productivity, biotechnology plays a crucial role in ensuring that biofuel production targets are met.

2. Ответьте на следующие вопросы:

1. What is the broad definition of biotechnology?

2. What did the earliest farmers do?

3. What method was used to improve production of crops and livestock?

4. When was modern biotechnology born?

5. Usage of what element is expected to reduce US petroleum-derived fuel consumption?

3. Найдите синонимы в тексте следующих слов:

match

main

more and more

hard

efficiently

enhance

preferable

features

evolution

up-to-date

contribution

Задание 5. Найдите в тексте предложения, содержащие пассивные конструкции, и определите их видовременную форму.

Практическое занятие 7

ПРОМЫШЛЕННАЯ БИОТЕХНОЛОГИЯ

INDUSTRIAL BIOTECHNOLOGY

Теоретическая часть

Данный лексический материал предназначен для того, чтобы студенты могли свободно ориентироваться в научном тексте и активно использовать предлагаемые слова и словосочетания в монологической и диалогической речи.

For industrial purposes в промышленных целях

Pharmaceutical фармацевтический

To refer относиться

To overlap совпадать, перекрещиваться

Large-scale крупномасштабный

Refinerу очистительный завод