Produce a timeline of five events mentioned in this chapter that revolutionized biotechnology.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

One suggestion for answering this question is to have the students
answer it on their own and bring them together to compare and discuss
their choices. If you have the students search on the Internet, they will
find several sites with timelines. The top five could be listed on a banner
with the date and the reason why those particular events revolutionized
biotechnology.
A “furthering activity” is to have the students pick one event and have them
determine what it was like for people to live during that period, what other
events occurred, and how all of these events became part of the culture.
For example, as a result of the Human Genome Project, companies that
do DNA testing on dogs, humans, cats, and other household animals have
cloned their DNA. Governments have banned the import of genetically
modifi ed food products, and people can purchase fi sh for Christmas that
glow red or green (some city governments have banned the sale of those
fi sh). Forensic science uses DNA to convict or free convicted perople of a
crime, and movies and books sensationalize cloning. This helps students to
realize that during any period, scientifi c events and discoveries become part
of and change peoples’ perception of their world.
Some of the events, including thoughts of what is important to consider, are as
follows:
• Small-scale fermentation (cheese, beer, wine): The Sumerians brew beer
in 1750 BC.
• Large-scale production of penicillin: Fleming discovered it in 1928
but when was it fi rst produced on a large-scale? Which event is more
important?
• The structure of DNA: Watson and Crick explained it in 1953. How
important was this to biotechnology?
• Humulin: Genentech’s human insulin drug produced by genetically
engineered bacteria for the treatment of diabetes, is the first biotech drug
to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1982.