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Tens of People wandered the earth, collecting and eating only what they found
thousands growing in nature. By about 8,000 BC, however, the first farmers decided
of years to stay in one place and grow certain plants as crops — creating
ago... agriculture and civilization, in that order
Thousands People first learn to use bacteria to make new and different foods, and to
of years employ yeast and fermentation processes to make wine, beer and
ago leavened bread
Prior to Plants used for food; Plants domesticated, selectively bred for desired
1750 characteristics
1750-1850 Increased cultivation of leguminous crops and crop rotations to increase
yield and land use
1838
Cell theory, suggesting totipotentiality of cells. Schleiden M. J., Arch.
Anat., Physiol. U. wiss. Med. (J. Muller), 1838: 137-176; Schwann T.,
1995-6 EPA registers first pest protected plant—Monsanto’s New Leaf potato
Monsanto's Roundup Ready soybeans, which are resistant to
herbicides, and YieldGard Corn, which is protected from the corn borer,
are approved for sale in the United States.
Bollgard cotton first commercialized in the US
1996 Development of ‘agrolistic’ method of plant transformation. Hansen G.
and Chilton M. D., P. N. A. S. (USA), 93: 14978-14983
Development of a binary bacterial artificial chromosome (BIBAC) vector
for Agrobacterium-mediated transformation (Transfer capacity of 150
kb). Hamilton C. M. et al., P. N. A. S. (USA), 93: 9975-9979.
Posilac bovine somatotropin, designed to increase milk efficiency in
dairy cattle, is approved for use in the United States
1997 Sequencing of E coli genome (Blattner et al)
Roundup Ready cotton first commercialized in the US
Researchers at Scotland's Roslin Institute report that they have cloned
a sheep--named Dolly--from the cell of an adult ewe. Polly the first
sheep cloned by nuclear transfer technology bearing a human gene
appears later
1998 Sequencing of the genome of a multicellular organism (Caenorhabditis
elegans)
DEKALB markets the first Roundup Ready corn
YieldGard® Corn is approved for import into European Union
2000 Arabidopsis draft sequence completed
2001 Sequencing of the human genome draft completed (Human Genome
Project Consortium and Venter et al)
First complete map of the genome of a food plant completed: rice
Toby Bradshaw’s lab is burned down; ELF claims responsibility
2002 Biotech crops grown on 145 million acres in 16 countries, a 12 percent
increase in acreage grown in 2001. More than one-quarter (27 percent)
of the global acreage was grown in nine developing countries
Scientists are forced to rethink their view of RNA when they
discover how important small pieces of RNA are in controlling
many cell functions
2003 Of the soybeans grown in the US, 64% are transgenic; 34% of corn is.
EU Union has had a 5 year ban on GMOs.
Worldwide biotech crop acreage rises 15 percent to hit 167.2 million
acres in 18 countries. Brazil and the Philippines grow biotech crops for
the first time in 2003. Also, Indonesia allows consumption of imported
biotech foods and China and Uganda accept biotech crop imports
The U.K. approves its first commercial biotech crop in eight years. The
crop is a biotech herbicide-resistant corn used for cattle feed
The sequencing of the human genome is completed, two years ahead
of schedule
2004 The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) endorses
biotech crops and states that biotechnology is a complementary tool to
traditional farming methods that can help poor farmers and consumers
in developing nations.
The National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine (IOM) finds
biotech crops do not pose any more health risks than do crops created
by other techniques, and that food safety evaluations should be based
on the resulting food product, not the technique used to create it.
FDA finds biotech wheat safe, after a food safety review