For the first time in our country, in the academic year 1957/58, the course "Chemistry and Technology of Antibiotics" was introduced at the Food Technology Department of the Faculty of Technology in Zagreb. The course was taught at the time by Professor Gavra Tamburašev. During that period, he also participated in teaching at the 7th level of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry in Zagreb with the course "Biological Drugs", and at the Faculty of Science in Zagreb with the course "Fundamentals of Microbiology".

With the development of the Food Technology Department, the Laboratory for Chemistry and Technology of Antibiotics was established, and Professor Gavra Tamburašev was elected Head of Laboratory, remaining in that position until his retirement. From 1981, the Head of Laboratory was Professor Zdravko Duvnjak, PhD, followed by Professor Srećko Matošić, PhD (from 1984), from 2003 Professor Jagoda Šušković, PhD, and from 2021 Professor Blaženka Kos, PhD.

After the Food Technology Department was renamed the Biotechnology Department of the Faculty of Technology, in 1961 the Laboratory became an integral part of the newly established Chair of Biotechnology.

Expanding its scope of activities, in 1976 the Laboratory for Chemistry and Technology of Antibiotics grew into the Laboratory for Technology of Antibiotics and Enzymes. The course "Enzyme Technology" was taught by Professor Zdravko Duvnjak, PhD until 1984, and later, the courses "Antibiotic Technology" and "Enzyme Technology" were taught by Professor Srećko Matošić, PhD until 1998. With the change of the curriculum, from 1998 onwards, the teaching of these two courses is conducted within the courses: "Biotechnological Production of Drugs and Specific Chemicals" and "Enzyme Production and Enzyme Engineering".

In addition to the above-mentioned courses, the teaching staff of the Laboratory for Technology of Antibiotics and Enzymes participated in undergraduate teaching with lectures on the courses: "Process Practical", "Process Design", "Industrial Microbiology" and "Biochemical Engineering" until 1997, and since then on the courses: "Design of Biotechnological Processes", "Physiology of Industrial Microorganisms" and "Biochemical Engineering I", as well as in postgraduate teaching with the courses: "Biotechnology of Industrial Antibiotics", "Process Development of Enzyme Production and Application" and "Biochemical Engineering".

Due to the widespread and uncontrolled use of antibiotics over the past 50 years, and the pressing problems of antibiotic resistance, as early as 1992 we established research in our laboratory on the probiotic concept (manipulation of the intestinal microflora with probiotic bacteria), which would strengthen the body's defense system, thereby reducing the risk of infectious diseases, which would consequently lead to a reduction in the use of antibiotics, and thus of antibiotic resistance. This research of ours expanded the scientific and teaching scope of the Laboratory, which since 2006 has been named the "Laboratory for Technology of Antibiotics, Enzymes, Probiotics and Starter Cultures".

Since 2021, the Head of the Laboratory has been Professor Blaženka Kos, PhD. Today, the research focus of the Laboratory is on lactic acid bacteria that produce specific macromolecules such as bacteriocins, exopolysaccharides, surface proteins and proteolytic enzymes with promising applications in the form of functional food, dietary supplements or live biotherapeutic products, produced as nano- and microencapsulated, lyophilized preparations.