The roots of the Program of Biotechnology can be traced to the Department of Brewing of Hiroshima High Institute of Technology launched in 1929 with the aim of promoting education and research for industrial application of microbial action centering on brewing microorganisms. After that, the educational institute was reorganized into Fermentation Engineering (Cluster 3) of the School of Engineering, Hiroshima University, and then into the Department of Molecular Biotechnology of the Graduate School of Advanced Sciences of Matter to create new knowledge through the merger of science and engineering, or specifically an amalgam of biotechnology and materials science. Thus, devoted efforts have been made to develop highly specialized professionals equipped with sufficient ability to pursue the elucidation of various molecular and metabolic functions, including those of microorganisms and higher organisms, and to apply research findings to industry.

However, to accelerate innovation in the area of biotechnology to meet various social needs, including environmental conservation and remediation, green energy, and health and longevity, it is necessary to foster individuals with the ability to work in close collaboration with those in other areas of biological research. To this end, the Program of Biotechnology aims to develop human resources who have the ability to realize the educational and research visions mentioned above and take a comprehensive and interdisciplinary engineering approach to science and technology in a far broader area of biological research, and who can respond flexibly to a wide variety of social needs from a global perspective.