Biotechnology and the life sciences have undergone remarkable advancements over centuries, evolving from early fermentation practices and selective breeding into today’s cutting-edge technologies like genome editing, synthetic biology, and AI-enabled precision medicine. Foundational discoveries such as the industrial application of microbes for fermentation and the principles of inheritance set the stage for the birth of molecular biology in the 20th century (Pasteur, 1857; Darwin, 1859). The landmark revelation of DNA’s double-helix structure by Watson and Crick (1953) and the discovery of restriction enzymes (Smith Köhler Mullis et al., 1986). The Human Genome Project (HGP) further propelled this progress by delivering the first complete human genome sequence, reshaping biomedical science and leading to the rise of Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies that enable rapid, large-scale DNA analysis (Collins et al., 2003). More recently, innovations such as CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing (Jinek et al., 2012), base and prime editing (Anzalone et al., 2019), single-cell and spatial omics, organoid technology, synthetic biology, nanobiotechnology, and artificial intelligence–driven analytics have broadened the horizons of modern biosciences (Zhang et al., 2019; Macosko et al., 2015). This review traces these milestones through a historical lens, connecting classical developments to contemporary breakthroughs. It also explores emerging directions, ethical and societal dimensions, and future outlooks, emphasising how biotechnology continues to redefine what is possible in healthcare, agriculture, industry, and environmental stewardship. By situating each major advance within its scientific context, this review demonstrates how biotechnological innovations have shaped, and will keep shaping, the landscape of life sciences.
Kollabathina et al. (2023) studied this question.