Introduction

This chapter critiques the definition of “biotechnology” promoted by the biotech industry, discusses the rise of the biotech industry, introduces the concept of a “biotech juggernaut,” and demonstrates dynamics of this juggernaut from post-World War II to the present. Topics addressed include the “friendlier” postwar recasting of the eugenics concept, the emergence and subsidence of the responsible science movement, and the rise of entrepreneurial biology after passage of the Bayh-Dole Act and the Diamond vs. Chakrabarty Supreme Court decision. The case of Jesse Gelsinger is discussed as an example of the human cost of hyped technology and the effect of this misstep on stalling gene therapy research. The dominating commercialization of biotechnology is discussed, especially with respect to conflicts of interest on the part of research bioentrepreneurs and the complicity of bioethicists and science reporters in obscuring these conflicts.