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In 1831, Darwin had joined a five year scientific expedition. During his time away was influenced by Lyell's suggestion that fossils found in rocks were evidence of animals that had lived millions of years ago. The breakthrough came when he noted that the Galapagos Islands each supported its own variety, which were closely related but had slight differences that seemed to have adapted in response to their individual environments.
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In 1866, Augustinian monk was the first person to shed light on the way in which characteristics are passed down the generations. He is widely considered to be the father of genetics. However, he enjoyed no such notoriety during his lifetime, with his discoveries largely passing the scientific community by. He was so ahead of the game that it took three decades for his paper to be taken seriously.
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In 1869, Swiss physiological chemist Friedrich Miescher first identified what he called "nuclein" in the nuclei of human white blood cells, which we know today as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).
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In the history of DNA, the Eugenics movement highlights the lack of understanding the new discovery at the time. The term 'eugenics' was first used around 1883 to refer to the "science" of heredity and good breeding.
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In 1902, Sir Archibald Edward Garrod became the first person to associate Mendel's theories with a human disease. Garrod had studied medicine at Oxford University before following in his father's footsteps and becoming a physician.
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Scientists routinely use our growing understanding of genetics for disease diagnosis and prognosis. It took decades for cytogenetics (the study of chromosomes) to be recognised as a medical discipline.
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Marshall Nirenberg arrived at the National Institute of Health as a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. DeWitt Stetten, Jr.'s laboratory. He decided to focus his research on nucleic acids and protein synthesis in the hope of cracking 'life's code'.
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An international team of researchers reached a major milestone, when they unravelled for the first time the full genetic code of a human chromosome. The chromosome in question was chromosome 22, which contained 33.5 million "letters," or chemical components.
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History was made in 2003 when the Human Genome Project was finally completed. The international research project could be described as the greatest journey ever made – albeit an inwards one.
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Scientists have continued to develop their understanding of DNA. Researchers announced that they had successfully created an organism with an expanded artificial genetic code. This success could eventually lead to the creation of organisms that can produce medicines or industrial products organically.
