Cancer and AIDS remedies. Giant vegetables and genes that slow down aging.
Biotechnology promises mega-profits and a better life.
Biotechnology, the science of manipulating genetic traits and substances, looks set to finally turn the hype of past years into the hope of the future. These days, it seems, barely a week passes without news of some innovation or advance in biotech, including most recently, the cloning of a calf in Japan. Every day, new fruits of scientific progress are appearing on dinner tables, on store shelves, in medicine cabinets. Dip into a dish of tofu, and there's a good chance it is made from genetically altered soybeans. When blood is sent for examination, many of the tests will use substances made by engineered bacteria.