The Emergence of Biotechnology: DNA to Genentech

2025-01-24T12:49:35-05:00

This is the second session of a day-long symposium on the development of biotechnology, specifically covering the 1950s through 1980s. This symposium was presented jointly by the Chemical Heritage Foundation (now the Science History Institute) and the Biomolecular Sciences Initiative.

Everett Mendelsohn provides an introduction and closing statement to this session and also introduces each speaker. William Rutter discusses the movement of scientists from academic to commercial biotech companies that occurred 1975-1985. George Rathmann covers the business and financial aspects of these companies, in particular AmGen and Genentech. Herbert Boyer covers the same historical period, mostly focusing on his own history with Genentech.