Biology

Biology 1990-2012

By brickbiology
  • Period: to

    Biological Timeline 1990-012

  • First Gene Therapy Procedure

    First Gene Therapy Procedure
    September 14, 1990 the first gene therapy trial occurred on four-year old girl with a genetic disease that left her defenseless against infections.The normal genes for making the necessary enzyme were inserted into her own WBC's and then the reinjected into her. She was then able to produce enzyme and is living a normal life. Dr. W. French Anderson developed and performed the procedure. Can be applied to a large number of genetic disorders and may be only viable form of treatment.

  • Discovery of G proteins

    Discovery of G proteins
    Rodbell and Gilman found that a transducer, the G protein, provided the link between the hormone receptor and the amplifier of the signal. They used genetic and biochemical techniques to identify the G-protein. They observed a mutated lymphoma (defective) cell that had normal receptor and amplifier but lacked a transducer (G-protein). Discovery of G-proteins allows for proper medical diagnosis by filling in the gap. They were awarded Nobel Prize (medicine) in 1994 for the discovery.

  • First Genome Sequence Published

    First Genome Sequence Published
    • A team headed by J. Craig Venter from TIGR and Nobel laureate Hamilton Smith sequenced the genome for the bacterium Haemophilus influenzae. The team developed new computational methods in order to be able to perform the task (previously would have been undoable). The information that has become available as well as the process is an absolutely tremendous step for bioinformatics and biotechnology and can lead to diagnosis of genetic human diseases.

  • First Protease Inhibitor to Combat AIDS/HIV

    First Protease Inhibitor to Combat AIDS/HIV
    The Protease inhibitor drug Saquinavir was approved for use in human treatment for AIDS/HIV. Protease Inhibitors block the HIV protease which is an enzyme HIV needs to make copies of itself. Was viewed as a monumental breakthrough for people living with AIDS. Spurred a substantial subsequent pharmaceutical field in PI's for HIV/AIDS and other diseases such as Hepatitis C. In 1997 there was the first reduction in the number of AIDS deaths since epidemic began in 1981 due to PI treatment.

  • Zanzibar Leopard Goes Extinct

    Zanzibar Leopard Goes Extinct
    • The Zanzibar Leopard is thought to have evolved in isolation from the African Leopard since at least the end of the last ice age, when the island was separated from mainland Tanzania by rising sea levels.
    • In 1996, researchers tried to find any sign of the Zanzibar leopard and could not, declaring it to be extinct.
    http://www.petermaas.nl/extinct/speciesinfo/zanzibarleopard.htm

  • GM Foods at local Markets

    GM Foods at local Markets
    J. Sainsbury and Safeway Stores in the UK introduced the first genetically modified food product to consumers. The first product introduced was a tomato paste; the tomatoes were a variant from the first-ever genetically modified food, a tomato referred to as “Flavr Savr” http://www.disabled-world.com/fitness/gm-foods.php

  • University of Michigan finds hormone to regrow myelin sheaths

    University of Michigan finds hormone to regrow myelin sheaths
    Diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer's and Lou Gehrig’s Disease indicate the damaging of the myelin sheath. Due to this damage, neurons are unable to send signals. Researchs at the University of Michigan have discovered that IGF-1 induces the growth of these sheaths offering a potential treatment for these diseases. http://www.aardenbiohealth.com/Positive-effects-on-Disease-Disorders/

  • Dolly the Sheep

    Dolly the Sheep
    Dolly the sheep was the first animal successfully cloned by scientists at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh. Dolly was born July 5, 2007 and lived for 6.5 years. She was created by fusing the nucleus of from a six-year old sheep cell with an oocyte with its nucleus removed and implanted into a surrogate mother. http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn3393-dolly-the-sheep-dies-young.html

  • Pyrenean Ibex Goes Extinct

    Pyrenean Ibex Goes Extinct
    • The last known surviving animal was found dead in 2000 in Northern Spain, but scientists kept some DNA samples.
    • Recently, scientists inserted the DNA into the egg of a domestic goat, later giving birth to a Pyrenean ibex clone which sadly died 7 minutes later because of lung defects.
    http://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/pyrenean-ibex-timeline-extinction-in-2000-resurrected-in-2009-extinction-again-in-2009.html

  • Spix's Macaw Goes Extinct

    Spix's Macaw Goes Extinct
    • The Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Natural Renewable Resources announced that the last known wild Spix's Macaw disappeared and the species is now oficially extinct in the wild.
    http://www.macawlanding.org/lastspix.html

  • AbioCor Artificial Heart

    AbioCor Artificial Heart
    Robert Tools was on his death bed, with a month left to live when AbioCor delivered him an artificial heart. Previously, artificial hearts where attached to tubes and wires connecting to a refrigerator size power unit but the AbioCor heart possesses a self-contained battery pack which can strap to the patients waist. Robert who was unable to lift hand due to illness is not able to walk to the ice-cream store and restaurants with loved-ones. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1001

  • Terrorsist Attack in USA

    Terrorsist Attack in USA
    Terrorists members of al-Qaeda hijacked two airplanes and crashed them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center.

  • The iPod is here.

    The iPod is here.
    Apple releases their portable music player the iPod.

  • Targeted Cancer Drug Gleevec First Approved by FDA

    Targeted Cancer Drug Gleevec First Approved by FDA
    • Developed via research by Peter Nowell and David Hungerford in Philidalphia
    • a "miricle drug" initially approved by the FDA for the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia which is a rare cancer affecting white blood cells.
    • since then, it has also been approved for several types of gastrointestinal tumors
    • scientists are now testing the posibility of using it with other diseases such as stroke
    http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/gleevec-the-breakthrough-in-cancer-treatment-565

  • Completion of the Human Genome Project

    Completion of the Human Genome Project
    • The Human Genome Project lasted 13 years beginning in October, 1990, and being completed in 2003.
    • It was an international effort to discover all of the estimated human genes (totallingn 20,000-25,000), and make them accessible for study
    • Another goal of the project was to sequence the 3 billion DNA subunits in the human genome
    • This work was completed 50 years after the structure of DNA was determined by Watson and Crick
    http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/project/hgp.shtml

  • Facebook Goes Live

    Facebook Goes Live
    The social networking website Facebook goes live connecting university students in North America.

  • First Partial Face Transplant

    First Partial Face Transplant
    • The first person to undergo a partial face transplant (mouth, nose, and chin) was Isabelle Dinoire in France in 2005 after her dog mauled her
    • Surgery completed at the Cntre Hospitalier Universitair Nord by Bernard Devauchelle
    • First partial transplant in United States was in 2008
    • The world's first full face transplant was completed in Spain in 2010
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabelle_Dinoire

  • Commercial Approval of HPV Vaccine

    Commercial Approval of HPV Vaccine
    • HPV is a virus closely related to cervical cancer
    • For more than 10 years, Scottish born Ian Frazer (worked in Australia and US) worked on creating a vaccine to prevent HPV
    • It gained commercial approval in 2006 under the common name of Gardasil
    • Many areas in Canada are considering providing to all young females for free in the near future which is causing controversy as people believe it will encourage promiscuity in girls
    http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v25/n12/full/nbt1207-1377.html

  • Baiji River Dolphin Goes Extinct

    Baiji River Dolphin Goes Extinct
    • The Baiji river dolphin was found throughout China in its history.
    • In its final years, it was only found in the Yangtze River.
    • Declared extinct in 2006
    http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/12/061214-dolphin-extinct.html

  • The Madeira Large White Goes Extinct

    The Madeira Large White Goes Extinct
    • The size of this butterfly was between 55-60mm and was native to the sub-tropical forests in the Madeira islands off the coast of Portugal
    • The laurisilva forest that they inhabited was very limited in size and only native to this part of the world causing limited distribution.
    • The butterfly were declared officially extinct in November 2007
    http://www.supergreenme.com/go-green-environment-eco:The-Madeira-Large-White

  • World Population Reaches 7 Billion!!

    World Population Reaches 7 Billion!!
    The world population reaches 7 billion people today!

  • Western Black African Rhino Goes Extinct

    Western Black African Rhino Goes Extinct
    • Oficially declared extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature
    • there are still some in captivity
    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45236688/ns/world_news-world_environment/t/africas-western-black-rhino-declared-extinct/