Collect foods you find, or keep a list to make a display later. Prepare a list of biotechnology foods available in their local grocery store. Some aspects of biotechnology are as ancient and familiar as adding yeast to bread dough. Others are as recent and unfamiliar as genetic engineering and monoclonal antibodies . Biotechnology can mean different things to different people.
Some people consider biotechnology to be only genetic engineering.
These definitions include activities as familiar as using bacteria to make yogurt and cheese, vinegar and marinades. The older biotechnologies have been used by plant and animal breeders, bakers, wine-makers and brewers for thousands of years. The newer tools of genetic engineering have been developed since 1973. This technology allows researchers to move genetic information between unrelated organisms. For example, microbes given a copy of the gene for human insulin can make insulin, which can be purified and used to treat diabetes in humans.