In 1972, the idea of moving a gene from one species to another was pure fantasy. Scientists knew how to cut DNA with special proteins called restriction enzymes, and they knew how to insert rings of DNA called plasmids into bacteria. But no one had ever put the two ideas together. That all changed when two scientists, Stanley Cohen of Stanford and Herbert Boyer of UCSF, met at a conference in Hawaii.

Over a late-night corned beef sandwich, they realized something huge. Boyer’s lab worked on an enzyme that could snip DNA and leave behind “sticky ends.” Cohen’s lab worked with plasmids that could be easily transferred into bacteria. What if, they wondered, they used Boyer’s enzyme to cut out a gene from one organism and paste it into one of Cohen’s plasmids? Could they trick the bacteria into copying, or “cloning,” a foreign gene?

This wasn’t a corporate project; it was pure, curiosity-driven science funded by you. Both labs were supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). This federal funding gave them the freedom to follow a wild idea that had no guaranteed payoff.

Back in California, they did it. They successfully snipped a gene from one bacterium and pasted it into another, creating the world’s first recombinant DNA—a genetically engineered organism. They had invented cloning.

The impact was immediate and monumental. This discovery, made possible by public funding, launched the entire biotechnology revolution. Boyer co-founded the company Genentech, which used the cloning technique to turn bacteria into tiny medicine factories. For the first time, they could produce vast quantities of human proteins.

The benefits to America have been immeasurable:

• Human Insulin: Millions of diabetics no longer had to rely on less-effective pig insulin.
• Human Growth Hormone: Children with growth disorders had a safe and reliable treatment.
• Clotting Factors: People with hemophilia received life-saving therapies without the risk of blood-borne diseases.

The patents for this technology became some of the most lucrative in history, generating billions of dollars and creating an entire industry that employs hundreds of thousands of Americans. It all started with two scientists, a late-night snack, and the crucial support of U.S. public funding for basic research.