Bud Robert
Science Museum, London, UK.
Med Secoli. 2002;14(3):723-38.
Despite the success of the chemical industry, since the early 20th century biotechnology has been framed as a natural and revolutionary alternative. The idea has involved the interweaving of the concepts of engineering new products using living processes, and of engineering new living beings themselves. The potential of these twin themes as alternatives to chemical technologies has been debated since the revolutionary era at the end of World War I. Highpoints included the 1930s and the 1960s. The emergence of genetic engineering techniques in the 1970s enabled the realisation of long-existing aspirations. Ever since then there have been marked changes as the emphasis of biotechnology has shifted from the engineering of micro-organisms to produce proteins to the engineering of animals and even man. The sense of millenial change expressed when the human genome was first drafted is therefore both genuine and old-established.
尽管化学工业取得了成功，但自20世纪初以来，生物技术就被视为一种天然且具有革命性的替代方案。这个想法涉及到利用生命过程设计新产品的概念与设计新生物体本身的概念的交织。自第一次世界大战末的革命时代以来，这两个主题作为化学技术替代方案的潜力一直备受争议。高潮时期包括20世纪30年代和60年代。20世纪70年代基因工程技术的出现实现了长期以来的愿望。从那时起，随着生物技术的重点从改造微生物以生产蛋白质转向改造动物甚至人类，发生了显著的变化。因此，人类基因组首次绘制完成时所表达的千禧年变革感既是真实的，也是由来已久的。
