The biotechnology industry has experienced phenomenal growth over the last quarter century. Its first phase can be traced all the way back to 1750 B.C., when the Sumerians used yeast to brew beer. As early as 500 B.C., the Chinese used mold as an antibiotic. In the 1860s, the monk Gregor Mendel worked on gene transmission in plants, initiating the study of genetics. In the 20th Century, an agricultural engineer coined the term "biotechnology" in 1919. In 1928, penicillin was discovered. In 1953, Watson and Crick discovered the structure of DNA.

The following two decades - from 1960 to 1980 - saw a rapid acceleration in knowledge. The first synthetic antibiotic was available in 1960. The first mouse-human cells were fused in 1965. The genetic code was cracked in 1966. By the 1970s, methods to cut and paste genes were developed. By 1981, the first transgenic animals were bred.

By 1983, the first artificial chromosome was made followed rapidly by genetically engineered plants in 1985, the use of microbes to clean up environmental pollution (oil spills) in 1986, and the first patent for a genetically altered animal in 1988.

In the 1990s, the first non-viral full gene sequence was completed in 1995, followed by the unveiling of the cloned sheep "Dolly" in 1997, and the near completion of mapping of the human genome in 2002.

This dizzying acceleration of knowledge has created a burgeoning industry with an increasing number of commercial products, which, despite the stock market downturn in the last two years, is poised to undergo significant growth in the remainder of the decade and onward in the 21st Century. In other words, this is an exciting time to be thinking about and preparing to get into the biotech industry.