International Biotechnologist Day

On June 16, 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Ananda Mohan Chakrabarty, a genetic engineer, who had developed a bacterium, derived from the genus Pseudomonas, capable of breaking down crude oil and thereby treating oil spills faster and with less environmental damage. Since this ruling, it has been accepted that genes, as long as they have been isolated, are patentable objects. This fact is considered the birth of the biotechnology industry and since that day the International Day of the Biotechnologist is celebrated.