The development of life science and biotechnology from the centennial Nobel Prize in Natural Science

The second half of the 20th century was an era of rapid progress in the life sciences and biotechnology. On the one hand, the development of life science has profoundly changed human's understanding of the nature of life; On the other hand, the development and widespread application of biotechnology has also improved the quality of life of people like never before. It is worth noting that the establishment and development of biotechnology itself stems from major discoveries, theoretical innovations and technological inventions in basic disciplines such as physics and chemistry, and these historic and revolutionary achievements have basically won the Nobel Prize. Therefore, this paper attempts to sort out the context of the development of biotechnology according to the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Natural Sciences, and discusses the contribution of interdisciplinary integration of physics and chemistry to the development of biotechnology, so as to promote scientific researchers to think and explore the law and enlightenment of the development of biotechnology.

Introduction to the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was established in the will of the late Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel. the goal is to recognize scientists who have made important discoveries in the field of physiology or medicine (Excerpt from the will of Alfred Nobel). For more than 100 years, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been recognized as the world's most impressive and benchmarking honor for its original, forward-looking and leading scientific research achievements, as well as the great impact and contribution of Nobel Prize scientific research achievements on human cognition, health and social and economic development.

Ii. Overview of the development of life sciences and biotechnology from the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Biotechnology is a dynamic concept, and it is generally thought that science and technology that uses organisms themselves or systems of life processes to produce useful substances or services are called biotechnology (Robert Bud. Social studies of science.1991.21:415). With the continuous enrichment and development of life science theories, the connotation and definition of biotechnology are also expanding.

1. Embryonic stage (before 19th century)

Although it is widely believed that biotechnology is closely related to pharmaceutical research and development, looking back at history, we will find that the cultivation and livestock technology related to food is the earliest known human biotechnology. Around 12,000 BC, the Levant people of the eastern Mediterranean began to cultivate wheat, marking the beginning of agricultural biotechnology. Beginning in 6000 BC, humans began to use fermentation technology to obtain new foods, including brewing beer, making cheese and yogurt. In 1796, English doctor Edward Jenner prevented smallpox by vaccinating it, marking the birth of vaccine technology. In 1875, French scientist Louis Pasteur discovered that fermentation was caused by microorganisms and that yeast could convert sugar into alcohol, thus laying the foundation for industrial and medical microbiology.

2. Early stages of development (late 19th century to mid-20th century)

In 1897, German chemist Eduard Buchner further studied and found that the essence of fermentation is a catalytic reaction caused by enzymes in microorganisms. This research is considered to mark the birth of biochemistry (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1907).

In 1919, Hungarian agricultural engineer Karoly Ereky first used the term Biotechnology to describe the processing of material materials to produce products. In 1928, Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in the secretions of the microbe Penicillin. In 1938, Australian pathologist Howard Florey and British biochemist Ernst Chain demonstrated the efficacy of penicillin against bacterial infections in humans. In 1944, under the leadership of Florey and others, the industrial production of penicillin was achieved. Penicillin is the first antibiotic discovered in human history, and its discovery and application have epoch-making significance, saving countless lives, and its high efficiency and huge economic value make the antibiotic industry enduring (1945 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine).

3. The Age of Molecular Biology (mid-20th century to present)

In 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick proposed the double helix structure of DNA, and the life sciences entered the era of "molecular biology" (1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine). It provided the basis for deciphering the genetic code of organisms, leading to the emergence of genetic engineering, and became the most widely used biotechnology in the second half of the century. It is also the greatest achievement in the life sciences since the 20th century, a new era in the history of biology, and the development of life sciences, agricultural sciences and medicine.

In 1949, Australian immunologist Frank Macfarlane Burnet proposed the theory of acquired immune tolerance. Subsequently, British scientist Peter Medawar published an academic paper in 1953, which verified the theory of acquired immune tolerance through animal experiments. Both laid the theoretical foundation for modern transplant biology (1960 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine). In 1954, American medical scientist Joseph E. Murray performed the first successful kidney transplant between identical twins, ushering in a new era of human organ transplantation to treat disease. In 1957, the American medical scientist E. Donnall Thomas published the first paper on human hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in the New England Journal of Medicine, thus opening the first hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for the treatment of leukemia. (1990 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine)