Biotechnology in one form or another has flourished since prehistoric times. When the first human beings realized that they could plant their own crops and breed their own animals, they learned to use biotechnology. The discovery that fruit juices fermented into wine, or that milk could be converted into cheese or yogurt, or that beer could be made by fermenting solutions of malt and hops began the study of biotechnology. When the first bakers found that they could make a soft, spongy bread rather than a firm, thin cracker, they were acting as fledgling biotechnologists. The first animal breeders, realizing that different physical traits could be either magnified or lost by mating appropriate pairs of animals, engaged in the manipulations of biotechnology.

What then is biotechnology? The term brings to mind many different things. Some think of developing new types of animals. Others dream of almost unlimited sources of human therapeutic drugs. Still others envision the possibility of growing crops that are more nutritious and naturally pest-resistant to feed a rapidly growing world population. This question elicits almost as many first-thought responses as there are people to whom the question can be posed.

In its purest form, the term "biotechnology" refers to the use of living organisms or their products to modify human health and the human environment. Prehistoric biotechnologists did this as they used yeast cells to raise bread dough and to ferment alcoholic beverages, and bacterial cells to make cheeses and yogurts and as they bred their strong, productive animals to make even stronger and more productive offspring.

Throughout human history, we have learned a great deal about the different organisms that our ancestors used so effectively. The marked increase in our understanding of these organisms and their cell products gains us the ability to control the many functions of various cells and organisms. Using the techniques of gene splicing and recombinant DNA technology, we can now actually combine the genetic elements of two or more living cells. Functioning lengths of DNA can be taken from one organism and placed into the cells of another organism. As a result, for example, we can cause bacterial cells to produce human molecules. Cows can produce more milk for the same amount of feed. And we can synthesize therapeutic molecules that have never before existed.

Amid unparalleled coverage of the introduction of a new technology for milk production, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved in late 1993 a synthetically produced hormone for cows--called recombinant bovine somatotropin, or rbST--for commercial sale in the United States.

Consumer-watch groups questioned the safety of milk and dairy products for human consumption from dairy cows receiving rbST, and some dairy suppliers and grocery stores indicated that they would not sell the products. Many want products made with milk from cows receiving rbST to carry labels.

FDA, the Federal agency primarily responsible for determining the safety of new animal drugs and for labels on milk and dairy products, says these fears are unfounded. After considerable testing (the first study reporting results of rbST-supplementation of dairy cows was in 1982), they found rbST use to be safe to dairy cows and they found dairy products made with milk from treated cows to be safe for human consumption.

The FDA Commissioner, David A. Kessler, has stated,

"This has been one of the most extensively studied animal drug products to be reviewed by the agency. The public can be confident that milk and meat from bST-treated cows is safe to consume."

The Biotechnology Hits the Market