Saar Pilosof on the History of DNA Cloning

As you all know, Biotechnology, or Biotech, is not a new science anymore. Agriculturists have been doing it for thousands of years, before research in the field even begun. However, biotech has only come to the forefront of people’s awareness in 1973 when Cohen and Boyer cloned DNA in their laboratory.

According to Saar Pilosof, a biotech investor and enthusiast, “Genetic engineering has led to the explosion of commercial applications of biotech, giving rise to investing opportunities”. The bioengineering revolution allowed DNA sequencing, biomolecule labeling, gene cloning and nucleic acid amplification. Also, there has been a rise in two distinct forms of biotech — medical and agricultural.

More recently, biotech has given rise to the new enterprise — the biotech startup. Companies are springing up changing the status-quo of how drugs and medical technology are developed. Medical biotech is one of the fastest growing startup industries with a reported annual revenue of $150 billion. Medical biotech is also the segment that received the most investment and venture capital.

The same technologies used to changed drug development and manufacturing can be used to develop and improve agricultural practices. Agritech (agricultural biotech) is solely focused on food security and crop improvement. Genetically modified crops have been around since 1994 and the biotech startups are constantly striving to develop new technologies. Agritech has been mired in controversy for years but that has not deterred the industry in any way. In 2011 genetically engineered grain reported over $160 billion in sales.

Biotech is rapidly moving forward and innovating methods of improving our way of life and food security. With an aging and constantly growing population, as well as climate change issues these issues are vital to address right now.