Technology or method
Recombinant DNA
DNA joined from different sources, the starting point of genetic engineering and of medicines such as recombinant insulin.
Biotechnology
Using living systems to make medicines, tools and food.
Biotechnology uses living things and their molecules to make useful products, like medicines and medical tests.
It includes recombinant DNA, PCR, sequencing, gene editing, gene therapy and mRNA vaccines, each with its own benefits, risks and rules.
Modern biotechnology combines molecular tools with clinical and regulatory science. Here each technology is labeled established or emerging and linked to its primary sources.
Big questions
- How did discoveries about DNA become medicines?
- Which uses of gene editing are ready for patients?
- Who decides how these tools should be used?
Key ideas
Open any idea in the knowledge graph to see what it connects to, here and in other fields.
Technology or method
PCR
The polymerase chain reaction copies a chosen stretch of DNA millions to billions of times.
Technology or method
DNA sequencing
Reading the order of the bases in DNA, from single genes to whole genomes.
Technology or method
CRISPR
A bacterial immune system that researchers adapted into a programmable tool for cutting chosen DNA sequences.
Technology or method
Gene editing
Making targeted changes to DNA in living cells. Newer base and prime editors change letters without cutting both strands.
Emerging researchOpen in Biotech LabTechnology or method
Gene therapy
Treating disease by adding, repairing or switching off genes in a patient's cells.
Emerging researchOpen in Biotech LabTechnology or method
mRNA vaccines
Vaccines that deliver mRNA instructions for a pathogen protein. Modified nucleosides help the mRNA avoid an unwanted immune alarm.
Technology or method
Monoclonal antibodies
Identical antibodies made by cultures descended from a single fused cell, used in research, diagnostics and medicine.
Technology or method
Cloning
Producing a genetically identical copy. Dolly the sheep, reported in 1997, was cloned from an adult cell.
Structure
Stem cells
Cells that can renew themselves and give rise to specialized cells. Adult cells can be reprogrammed into stem-cell-like iPS cells.
Ethics and safety
Bioethics
Weighing the benefits, risks and fairness of biological research and its uses.
Ethics and safety
Biosafety
Risk-based practices and containment that protect people and the environment when working with biological agents.
Explore it in the labs
Timeline and explorer
A sourced timeline from the double helix to CRISPR therapies, eight technologies labeled established or emerging, and a PCR model.
- Biotechnology
- Synthetic Biology
- Genetics
Simulation
Pair bases, follow a real human gene from DNA to protein, make mutations, and predict inheritance with Punnett squares.
- Genetics
- Molecular Biology
- Biochemistry
Interactive explorer
Compare bacteria, archaea, fungi, protists and viruses side by side, and model how a bacterial culture grows.
- Microbiology
- Evolution
- Immunology
Current research
Search published papers and preprints in Biotechnology, with clear labels for reviews, primary research, clinical trials and preprints.
Search papers in BiotechnologySources & further reading
The explanations on this page are our own summaries of these sources. Follow a link to read the original; if anything here disagrees with it, the original wins. How we choose and check sources.
Recombinant DNA Technology (opens the original in a new tab)
National Human Genome Research Institute. Talking Glossary of Genomic and Genetic Terms. National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH.
ReferenceGovernment sourceEducationalHuman genome editing: a framework for governance (opens the original in a new tab)
World Health Organization (2021). WHO publications. World Health Organization. Published 2021-07-12.
GuidanceIntergovernmental sourceHuman Genome Editing: Science, Ethics, and Governance (opens the original in a new tab)
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2017). The National Academies Press.
Consensus reportConstruction of biologically functional bacterial plasmids in vitro (opens the original in a new tab)
Cohen SN, Chang AC, Boyer HW, et al. (1973). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 70:3240-3244.
Recombinant plasmids that replicate in bacteria.
Historical paperPrimary researchHuman insulin from recombinant DNA technology (opens the original in a new tab)
Johnson IS (1983). Science 219:632-637.
Peer-reviewedReviewPolymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) (opens the original in a new tab)
National Human Genome Research Institute. Talking Glossary of Genomic and Genetic Terms. National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH.
ReferenceGovernment sourceEducationalPrimer-directed enzymatic amplification of DNA with a thermostable DNA polymerase (opens the original in a new tab)
Saiki RK, Gelfand DH, Stoffel S, et al. (1988). Science 239:487-491.
PCR with heat-stable Taq polymerase.
Peer-reviewedPrimary researchDNA sequencing with chain-terminating inhibitors (opens the original in a new tab)
Sanger F, Nicklen S, Coulson AR (1977). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 74:5463-5467.
Peer-reviewedPrimary researchThe complete sequence of a human genome (opens the original in a new tab)
Nurk S, Koren S, Rhie A, et al. (2022). Science 376:44-53.
The Telomere-to-Telomere consortium's gapless human genome assembly.
Peer-reviewedPrimary researchCRISPR (opens the original in a new tab)
National Human Genome Research Institute. Talking Glossary of Genomic and Genetic Terms. National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH.
ReferenceGovernment sourceEducationalCRISPR provides acquired resistance against viruses in prokaryotes (opens the original in a new tab)
Barrangou R, Fremaux C, Deveau H, et al. (2007). Science 315:1709-1712.
Peer-reviewedPrimary researchA programmable dual-RNA-guided DNA endonuclease in adaptive bacterial immunity (opens the original in a new tab)
Jinek M, Chylinski K, Fonfara I, et al. (2012). Science 337:816-821.
Showed Cas9 can be programmed with guide RNA to cut chosen DNA sequences.
Peer-reviewedPrimary research
Show 16 more sourcesHide 16 sources
Multiplex genome engineering using CRISPR/Cas systems (opens the original in a new tab)
Cong L, Ran FA, Cox D, et al. (2013). Science 339:819-823.
Peer-reviewedPrimary researchProgrammable editing of a target base in genomic DNA without double-stranded DNA cleavage (opens the original in a new tab)
Komor AC, Kim YB, Packer MS, et al. (2016). Nature 533:420-424.
Peer-reviewedPrimary researchSearch-and-replace genome editing without double-strand breaks or donor DNA (opens the original in a new tab)
Anzalone AV, Randolph PB, Davis JR, et al. (2019). Nature 576:149-157.
Peer-reviewedPrimary researchWhat is Gene Therapy? (opens the original in a new tab)
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. fda.gov. U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
ReferenceGovernment sourceEducationalGene Therapy (opens the original in a new tab)
National Human Genome Research Institute. Talking Glossary of Genomic and Genetic Terms. National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH.
ReferenceGovernment sourceEducationalFDA Approves First Gene Therapies to Treat Patients with Sickle Cell Disease (opens the original in a new tab)
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (2023). FDA News Release. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Published 2023-12-08.
Approval of Casgevy (CRISPR-based) and Lyfgenia for patients 12 and older.
Regulatory noticeGovernment sourceSuppression of RNA recognition by Toll-like receptors: the impact of nucleoside modification and the evolutionary origin of RNA (opens the original in a new tab)
Karikó K, Buckstein M, Ni H, et al. (2005). Immunity 23:165-175.
Modified nucleosides reduce innate immune recognition of synthetic mRNA.
Peer-reviewedPrimary researchSafety and efficacy of the BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 vaccine (opens the original in a new tab)
Polack FP, Thomas SJ, Kitchin N, et al. (2020). New England Journal of Medicine 383:2603-2615.
Peer-reviewedClinical trialEfficacy and safety of the mRNA-1273 SARS-CoV-2 vaccine (opens the original in a new tab)
Baden LR, El Sahly HM, Essink B, et al. (2021). New England Journal of Medicine 384:403-416.
Peer-reviewedClinical trialContinuous cultures of fused cells secreting antibody of predefined specificity (opens the original in a new tab)
Köhler G, Milstein C (1975). Nature 256:495-497.
The hybridoma method for monoclonal antibodies.
Peer-reviewedPrimary researchViable offspring derived from fetal and adult mammalian cells (opens the original in a new tab)
Wilmut I, Schnieke AE, McWhir J, et al. (1997). Nature 385:810-813.
Peer-reviewedPrimary researchInduction of pluripotent stem cells from mouse embryonic and adult fibroblast cultures by defined factors (opens the original in a new tab)
Takahashi K, Yamanaka S (2006). Cell 126:663-676.
Peer-reviewedPrimary researchWHO issues new recommendations on human genome editing for the advancement of public health (opens the original in a new tab)
World Health Organization (2021). WHO news release. World Health Organization. Published 2021-07-12.
Fact sheetIntergovernmental sourceLaboratory biosafety manual, 4th edition (opens the original in a new tab)
World Health Organization (2020). WHO publications. World Health Organization. Published 2020-12-21.
GuidanceIntergovernmental sourceBiosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL), 6th Edition (opens the original in a new tab)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health. CDC Laboratories. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The U.S. reference for laboratory biosafety practice.
GuidanceGovernment sourceSummary statement of the Asilomar conference on recombinant DNA molecules (opens the original in a new tab)
Berg P, Baltimore D, Brenner S, et al. (1975). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 72:1981-1984.
Scientists' own guidelines for the safe conduct of recombinant DNA research.
Peer-reviewedPerspective