Biophorie competition: PCR technology voted “Breakthrough of the Biotech Century”

Press release

The “polymerase chain reaction”, or PCR for short, is the Nobel Prize-winning biotechnology that has changed our lives the most, making it the “Breakthrough of the Biotech Century”. This is how participants in the 2020 Biophorie competition voted at the turn of the year. The competition was organised by BIO Deutschland as part of the theme year “101 years of biotechnology”. “PCR is the basis of many findings and methods in biotechnology, and enables many other innovations. This makes it highly important. The method is also very elegant – simple, precise and very powerful,” was one of the reasons given. Some 36 percent of the participants voted for PCR. “DNA sequencing” (27 percent) came in second, followed at some distance by “induced stem cells” (12 percent). In fourth to sixth place were “genome editing” (10 percent), “DNA shearing and genetic engineering” (9 percent) and “directed evolution” (6 percent). Overall, 141 votes were cast, and 60 participants gave reasons for their decision, thereby qualifying for the raffle. Among them, an iPad Air, two shopping vouchers worth €150 and five sustainably produced drinking bottles were raffled off.