In a career-spanning retrospective tied to New Scientist's 70th anniversary, reporter Andy Coghlan selected four biotech moments he found most dramatic and surprising. The piece is framed as a personal account rather than a systematic ranking, so the choices reflect what stood out to one journalist on the beat.
Coghlan's selections span several decades of biotechnology, from early genetic engineering to later advances in medicine and biology. Because the source is a single retrospective essay, there are no conflicting accounts to compare; the value is in the eyewitness perspective of a reporter who covered these developments as they happened.
The article does not provide technical detail on each moment, but it underscores how quickly and unexpectedly the field has evolved. For readers, the list is a reminder that scientific progress often arrives in bursts, and that the people covering it are sometimes as surprised as the rest of us.