ABSTRACT
Agriculture has evolved with human culture and civilization, first as a means of food security to the family and then as a source of family income and profitability (1). Plants and animals found in the wild were domesticated with gradual long-term improvement in their quality and quantity leading to higher productivity and what is now collectively termed "agriculture" (2). Agriculture thus replaced the former nomadic habit of food collection for immediate consumption (3). Human efforts continued to improve plant and animal yield, as has been documented in the ancient scriptures of many civilizations of the Old and New World (4). Plant and animal domestication associated with food storage probably coincided with the growth of microorganisms (5), giving rise to classic food fermentation and the use ofmicroorganisms to produce fermented food products, the earliest known application of biotechnology (2), which was used for beer brewing, wine production, and bread baking. Domestication of an increasing number of plant crops and animal species from the wild with gradual improvement in agricultural techniques, step-by-step selection of better-performing and more-adaptive genotypes, along with intuitive breeding continued at a slow pace until Mendel's discoveries of the laws of genetics in the 1860s revolutioned plantbreeding programs through planned and controlled experiments (1,2). Plant and animal breeding along with the "old" biotechnology was harnessed fully in the later part of the twentieth century resulting in improved crops and farm animals. The rapid scientific development significantly improved agricultural yields and product quality, better supporting the increasing human demands for a variety offoods. The evolution of short-stalk wheats and isolation of high-yield rice formed the basis of successful achievements of the "Green Revolution" of the 1960s (2,6,7), which was followed by more productive genotypes of cereals like corn, sorghum, rice, and food legumes as well as cattle and poultry. Soon the old biotechnology entered into another revolution with the cloning of DNA in 1973 (1,4) and the development of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) through recombinant DNA technology by the end of 1970s, giving rise to a "new" agricultural biotechnology (2,8).
