Yes, this may be possible. The field of Biotechnology is evolving at a pace that it could become possible in the future to mutate your DNA. It is an intriguing and exciting field of study where living species including us, Homo Sapiens, are used as means to produce end products. Even though this field has always been around, it has seen tremendous growth and potential since the discovery of the double-helix model as the structure of DNA in 1952. Enormous research has been done to understand the mechanism of DNA and to explore its applications. The growth was further accelerated by the invention of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) technique in 1983. Ancient Biotechnology is paving the way to the inter-disciplinary field of Modern Biotechnology. Biotechnology is a major contributor to the economy and shows a promising growth potential. In this article, I write in brief about the history, path-breaking discoveries, advancements, applications/possibilities and the biotechnology industry landscape in the USA.
The biotechnology industry is a major economic driving force. As per Grand View Research1, the US biotechnology market was estimated at $552.4 billion in 2023. The health segment was the largest market segment accounting for 44.3% of revenue share. It is projected to grow significantly with an expected compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.4% from 2024 to 2030 reaching approximately $1.25 trillion by 2030. The USA accounted for 36.5% of global biotechnology market share in 2023.
History of Biotechnology
Biotechnology is a natural process that has always been happening on this earth. For e.g., Fermentation where microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi and yeast create new products. Fermentation has been used since ancient times by humans in food production. Milk turns to curd by the action of bacteria. Other food products such as bread, wine, beer, cheese, vinegar, pickles are produced by employing these natural processes. Food was preserved using such natural techniques. As time evolved, its applications have evolved to use them in an industrial scale for mass manufacture of food products.
Modern Biotechnology has now widespread applications in agriculture, biology, diagnostics and medicine. It has been used to increase crop yield, breed stronger plants and animals, produce genetically modified fruits and vegetables and transgenic fruits and vegetables. Crops of certain food items such as wheat, soybeans, corn have been genetically modified and have become a normal process.2 Now genetically modified rice is grown to meet increased consumption and combat hunger.3 The genetic material of these crops have been mutated with the introduction of genes from other species of crops or by introduction of synthetic genes.
Modern Biotechnology in Healthcare and Medicine – Advancements and Applications
Modern Biotechnology has seen a breakthrough in healthcare and medical applications in the past 75 years. The structure of DNA was proposed as a double helical structure by two British chemists, Watson and Crick in the year 1952. They won the Nobel Prize in Physiology for the discovery of the structure of DNA in the year 1962. Since this discovery enormous research has been carried out to study and understand the mechanism of DNA. Several applications were developed once the DNA mechanism could be deciphered. Just as understanding the process of fermentation led to many industrial applications in the food industry, the discovery of double-helical structure of DNA has led to many discoveries and applications in healthcare and medicine.
The field of Modern Biotechnology has evolved with development of techniques for gene cloning, directed mutagenesis, DNA replication, DNA sequencing, DNA amplification, DNA labeling and detection.3 Technologies such as Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), Kinetic Polymerase Chain Reaction (Kinetic PCR), Recombinant DNA technology have transformed Modern Biotechnology to a new realm. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) technique was invented by Kary Mullis and he received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1993 for this invention. DNA could be amplified with PCR techniques and thus with this exponentially increased copies of DNA samples it became extremely useful for studies in laboratories. Further, kinetic PCR techniques allowed for real-time monitoring of DNA amplification and quantification of DNA which was helpful for developing molecular diagnostics applications.
Modern Biotechnology is a truly interdisciplinary field which requires expertise from various domains such as physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology, statistics, computer science, engineering and programming. The Human Genome sequencing project completed in 2000 by Craig Venter and team involved Genome sequencing machines with robotic arms which had the software to call the nucleotide bases, fluorescent dyes to detect nucleotide bases, sequence-specific restrictive enzymes to cleave DNA at specific sites, custom-developed computational algorithms and software programs to stitch together the fragments of DNA sequences and relational database systems to store and manage the sequence data and the related meta-data. The Public Genome Sequencing project started in the early 1990s was also completed in the early 2000s.
Biotechnology and Artificial Intelligence
All this enormous data and the subsequent experiments with the genome sequences led to the development of many different types of sequence libraries which required heavy computer storage and data management. The sequence data created data libraries such as Genome (DNA sequence data), Transcriptome (mRNA sequence data) and Proteome (Protein sequences data) libraries. Genome, mRNA and protein sequences were matched across species which created a database of Comparative Genomics data. Several computational algorithms were developed for DNA sequence matching within and across species.
Biotechnology is a potent field for Artificial Intelligence as there are already existing high volumes of curated data and domain experts to carry out AI model development, tuning and validation. AI can play a crucial role in increasing the pace and reducing the time required for drug target identification, drug development, targeted therapeutics, personalized treatment, molecular diagnostics, stem cell research, vaccine development and for several other applications. Computational methods and software programs can be developed to perform in-silico experiments and simulations which will predict success rates at laboratories and thereby reduce the time and cost involved in laboratory studies. Bioinformatics is a fast growing area within the Biotechnology industry. The surge in data, Cloud computing, Big data technologies, AI and ML are some major driving factors for its growth.
The above figure illustrates the interdisciplinary nature of Modern Biotechnology and its various domains of applications.4
The growth witnessed in biotechnology in the past 35 years is astonishing and it has opened up possibilities in healthcare and medical research which could not have happened otherwise.
Biotechnology Industry landscape
The US is home to major biotech clusters. Prominent among them are Boston/Cambridge in Massachusetts, San Francisco Bay Area and San Diego in California, Raleigh-Durham in North Carolina, Bio Health Capital Region (Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.), Chicago in Illinois, Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey, and Seattle.
Some of the top biotech companies in the US are:5
| Company Name | Location |
| Abbott Laboratories | Chicago, Illinois |
| Abbvie | Chicago, Illinois |
| Amgen | Thousand Oaks, California |
| AstraZeneca | Wilmington, Delaware |
| Biogen | Cambridge, Massachusetts |
| Bristol-Myers Squibb | Princeton, New Jersey |
| Eli Lilly and Company | Indianapolis, Indiana |
| F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd | Indianapolis, Indiana |
| Gilead Sciences | Foster City, California |
| Glaxo SmithKline | Durham, North Carolina,and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Ionis Pharmaceuticals | Carlsbad, California |
| Johnson & Johnson | New Brunswick, New Jersey |
| Lonza Bioscience | Walkersville, Maryland |
| Merck & Co. | Rahway, New Jersey |
| Novo Nordisk | Plainsboro Township, New Jersey |
| Novartis AG | East Hanover, New Jersey |
| Ono Pharmaceuticals | Cambridge, Massachusetts |
| Pfizer Inc. | The Spiral in Manhattan,New York City |
| Sanofi | Bridgewater, New Jersey |
| Takeda Pharmaceutical | Cambridge, Massachusetts. |
| Thermo Fisher Scientific | Waltham, Massachusetts |
In terms of innovation measured by the number of drugs developed against novel targets, AbbVie and Bristol-Myers Squibb are at the top followed by Pfizer.6
Investment scenario
National Science Foundation (NSF) funded over $1.2 billion in FY2023 to NSF Established Programs to stimulate research and development. 7
Biotechnology companies coming under the broad category of BioPharma companies received funding from Public Investments, IPOs and Venture Capital firms.
Public Investment
Companies have raised funds from Public investors through IPOs and Follow-On Public Offerings FOPO though more funds were raised through follow-on offerings. US companies raised $22 billion in 2024 which is lower than the amount $34 billion raised in 2020 during covid pandemic.6
Venture Capital Investment
BioPharma companies have received funding at both Clinical and PreClinical stages from Venture Capital firms. The companies received $19 billion in 2024 which included both Clinical and Preclinical stages.6 The funding still has been lower than in 2021 when the companies raised funds for $27 billion.
Industry Wages
The Biotechnology industry is a high-wage industry. The following table has the Average Annual Wages for the Bioscience Industry and Other Major U.S. Industries in the year 2023. Biotechnology is one of the sectors under the broader Bioscience Industry.
| Biosciences & Other Major U.S. Industries | Average Annual Wages, 2023 |
| Information | $154,924 |
| Research, Testing, & Medical Laboratories | $151,006 |
| Finance and Insurance | $135,760 |
| Bioscience-related Distribution | $133,088 |
| Total Biosciences | $132,314 |
| Pharmaceuticals | $131,562 |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | $121,257 |
| Agricultural Feedstock & Industrial Biosciences | $101,825 |
| Medical Devices & Equipment | $101,478 |
| Manufacturing | $82,582 |
| Construction | $77,185 |
| Real Estate and Rental and Leasing | $74,495 |
| Total Private Sector | $72,384 |
| Transportation and Warehousing | $63,980 |
| Health Care and Social Assistance | $62,850 |
| Retail Trade | $41,136 |
Source: TEConomy Partners analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, QCEW data; enhanced by Lightcast (Datarun 2024.3).8
Based on the above table, Bioscience industry related sectors command annual wages at par with other high-wages industries such as Information Technology, Professional Scientific and Technical Services and Finance and Insurance.
Conclusion
Biotechnology is an ancient science and technology. Our ancestors have employed fermentation and biotechnology processes for food production, food preservation and agriculture. Modern Biotechnology is an exciting field and possibilities are endless for healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors. Modern Biotechnology is an interdisciplinary area and needs the expertise of people from diverse fields. Scientific breakthroughs such as discovery of DNA structure, Polymerase Chain Reaction, Recombinant DNA technologies have propelled the growth of Biotechnology. Advancements in Cloud computing, AI and ML are further aiding the growth. While the field is growing at a fast pace and possibilities are becoming endless, it is equally important to give due thoughts and concerns on ethics and sustainability. Anything in excess even if it has been beneficial will turn out to be harmful and this is applicable for this exciting field too.
Bibliography
1. Grand View Research US Biotechnology Market Report https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/us-biotechnology-market-report
2.Kobayashi K, Wang X, Wang W. Genetically Modified Rice Is Associated with Hunger, Health, and Climate Resilience. Foods. 2023 Jul 21;12(14):2776. doi: 10.3390/foods12142776. PMID: 37509868; PMCID: PMC10379675
3.Diehl, Paul. “An Overview of Biotechnology and the Biotech Industry.” ThoughtCo, May. 6, 2025, thoughtco.com/what-is-biotechnology-375612
4. National Council of Educational Research and Training textbook of Biotechnology
6. Biotechnology Innovation Organization – The State of Emerging Biotech Companies: Investment, Deal, and Pipeline Trends
Image Courtesy:
https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/flat-biotechnology-concept-illustrated_13186824.htm
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