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Invention of the Microscope
Robert Hooke coined the term "cells" and Anton Van Leeuwenhoek observed the first microorganisms because of the invention of the microscope. -
Simple Laws of inheritance discovered
Gregor Mendel, an Austrian monk working with pea plants, discovered the simple laws of inheritance of traits that allowed one to prediect the outcome of crosses with certain traits. -
Establishment of the Science of Microbiology
Louis Pasteur descrived the scientific basis for fermentation, wine making, and the brewing of beer, established the science of mirobiology, and proposed the Germ Theory, claiming that microorganisms were responsible for infectious dieseases. -
Nucleic Acid found in White Blood Cells
johann Miescher found nucleic acid in white blood cells from pus in vandages. This later led scientists to believe that DNA might be the inheritable material of an organism. -
Genes are discovered on Chromosomes
Studying fruit flies, Thomas Hunt Morgan discovered that genes were on chromosomes. -
Genetic material can be moved between bacteria strains
Fred Griffith, using mice, proved that genetic material could be moved from one strain of bacteria to another. -
Penicillin was isolated
Sir Alexander Fleming insolated penicillin from a fungus. Many of his ideas are used to develop biotechnology drugs today. -
Ratios of componants in DNA discovered
Chargaff showed that in DNA the number of units of adenine equaled those of thymine and the number of units of cytosine equaled those of guanine. -
DNA discovered as hereditary material
Beadle and Tatum proposed the "One gene produces one enzyme" hypothesis. 1944 Avery, McCarty, and McLeod established that indead DNA was the hereditary material that was transferred. -
Proved viruses replicated using DNA
Using their famous "blender experiment," Hershey and Chase proved viruses replicated using DNA and confirmed the role of DNA as the hereditary material. -
DNA was discovered to be a double helix
Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins established through X-ray crystallography that DNA was indeed a double helix. -
Structure of DNA discovered
Watson and Crick discovered the structure of DNA -
Plasmid DNA discovered
Hayes discovered plasmid DNA, circular pieces of DNA found in bacteria. -
Mechanism of gene expression discovered
Walter Gilbert discovered the mechanism of gene expression through his study of messenger RNA. -
Bacterial Restriction Enzymes are discovered that cut DNA
Arber, Nathans, and Smith discovered bacterial restriction enzymes that cut DNA. -
64 codons discovered and researched
Khorana and Nirenberg discovered the 64 codons (the triplet code of 3 bases in DNA) that code for the 20 amino acids making up protiens. -
DNA plasmids isolated and purified
DNA plasmids were isolated and purified by Vinograd. -
The first transformation of the bacterium Escherichia coli.
Madel and Higa were responsible for the first transformation of the bacterium Escherichia coli. -
First cloning experiments conducted
Cloning experiments were conducted by Boyer and Cohen. -
The world's first genetic engineering company was founded.
Genentech, the world's first genetic engineering company, was founded. -
Guidelines for work with recominant DNA in microorganisms were drawn
140 scientists met to draw up the gudelines for work with recombiant DNA in microorganisms. Paul Berg was a key organizer. -
Sequencing DNA is discovered
Sanger and Gilbert found a way to sequence DNA. Given an unknown peice of DNA, they were able to read the correct order of bases of adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine. -
A synthetic insulin gene was inserted into E. coli.
Boyer inserted a synthetic insulin gene into E. coli. -
Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) discovered
Botstein found that one could be identified by the pattern made of one's DNA through a digest by different enzymes. This DNA fingerprint was called a REstriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP). -
The first human baby from in vitro fertilization was born.
Louise Joy Brown was born, the first human baby resulting from in vitro fertilization, in which sperm and egg joined in a petri dish. The fertilized egg is later implanted in a womb. -
Supreme Court rules that genetically altered life forms can be patented
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that genetically altered life forms can be patented. This resulted in a huge startup of biotech companies. -
First transgenic animals.
Ohio University made the first transgenic animals. -
A human insulin gene is inserted inside bacteria
Eli Lilly Company placed a human insulin gene inside bactera. -
Plants are transformed with Agrobacterium-mediated gene transfer
Schnell, Chilton, Van Montagu, Fraley, and Horsch transformed plants with Agrobacterium-mediated gene transfer. -
PCR is invented to amplify DNA
Kary Mullis invented plymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify DNA in the laboratory. -
RFLP is applied to the profiling of DNA in criminal cases
Jeffries applied RFLP in DNA profiling to the study of criminal cases. -
The use of the gene gun is discovered
Genes were moved into an organsim through the use of a gene gun. -
An automated flourscence sequencer was invented
An automated fluorescence sequencer was invented, speeding up the labor-intense process. -
NIH revised saftey guidelines for recombinant DNA
NIH revised safety guidelines for recombiant DNA to include plants grown in greenhouses and animals raised in barns. -
RNA interference discovered
Andrew Fire and Craig Mello discovered RNA interference, silencing of genes, in the worm C. elegans. -
MAb technology discovered
Kohler, Milstein, and Jerne used monoclonal antibody (MAb) technology. -
YACs are invented
Maynard Olson and colleagues at Washington University invented "yeast artificial chromosomes," or YACs, which are expression vectors for large progeins. -
Dolly the sheep
Ian Wilmut cloned Dolly the sheep from an adult cell of an ewe at the Roslin Institute in Scotland. -
DNA microarray technology invented
DNA microarray (DNA chip) technology, looking at the expresstion of all genes of an organism at one time on a microscope slide or silicon chip, was developed. -
A new automated DNA sequencer is invented
Dabiri and Garner invented an automated DNA sequencer that had a capability of sequencing 76,800 base pairs per hour, 5 to 30 times faster than existing sequencers. Technology like this greatly sped up the Human Genome Project. -
The term riboswitch is coined
Ron Breaker coined the term ribowitch for part of an mRNA molecule that can regulate its own activity and therfore gene expression. -
The Human Genome Project is completed
Announcement was made of the completion of the Human Genome Project (initiated in 1990) by Francis Collins and Craig Venter. The project provided the ability to find genes and gave rise to the sequencing of other genomes.
