Biotechnology
4000 BC m;nk
The Egyptians used yeast to make bread and wine.
1750 BC
The Sumerians brew beer.
1500 AD
The Aztecs make cakes from Spirulina algae.
1941
The term ‘genetic engineering’ is first used.
1973
The first genetic engineering experiment is conducted by inserting a gene from the African clawed toad into bacterial DNA
1978
Louise brown, the world’s first ‘test tube’ baby is born through in vitro fertilisation.
1985
DNA fingerprinting is first used in a criminal investigation.
1987
New Zealand wine growers isolate and use an altered yeast to make wines from high-acid grapes.
1990
The first human gene therapy trial is performed on a four-year-old girl with an immune disorder.
1990
Chymosin, an enzyme used in cheese making, becomes the first product of genetic engineering to be introduced into the food supply.
1992
Techniques for testing embryos for inherited diseases such as cystic fibrosis are developed.
1995
The first successful xenotransplantation trial is conducted, transplanting a heart from a genetically engineered pig into a baboon.
1996
‘Dolly’ the sheep is cloned from a cell from an adult sheep.
1996
First commercial introduction of a ‘gene chip’ designed to rapidly detect variances in the HIV virus and select the best drug treatment for patients.
1996
The first trial of gene therapy for a neurology disorder is conducted in New Zealand.
1998
New Zealand researches develop the first genetically engineered radiate pine in the laboratory.
1999
A US company announces successful cloning of human embryonic cells from an adult skin cell.
1999
Chinese scientists clone a giant panda embryo
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