Table 1.

An overview of the main recent innovations and advancements in biotechnologies and their potential applications to improve human health.

Technology/Innovation	Approximate date	Applications/benefits	Reference(s)
Recombinant DNA technology	1970s	Allowed experimental manipulation of DNA fragments in laboratory setting.	74,75
Monoclonal antibodies	1973	Mainly used in clinical setting for targeted therapy and prevention of transplant rejection.	76,77
RNA Interference	1990	This epigenetic process allowed post-transcriptional silencing of several pathogenic/unwanted genes in a range of organisms and foods.	78–80
Targeted therapy	1992	Allowed a more specific treatment of diseases using monoclonal antibodies.
Human Genome Project	2003	Deciphering the human genome sequence and promoting a plethora of medical and non-medical applications.	81–83
Whole genome sequencing (NGS)	2005	Massively parallel sequencing technology generated huge amounts of DNA sequence data with higher accuracy that can be aligned and compared to a reference genome/sequence.	84–86
induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)	2006	Provision of unprecedented opportunities for cell therapies against several diseases and injuries.	87,88
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML)	2010	These advanced smart computing technologies are providing substantial support to healthcare management processes, clinical decisions, robotic surgery, data archiving and sharing, as well as digital health.	89–92
Gene editing and gene therapy	2012	Site-specific editing/correction of DNA structure for therapeutic purposes.	93,94