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Friedrich Miescher
He was the first to extract DNA from the nuclei, and identified it as a distinct molecule. He never actually learned the function of DNA. -
Frederick Griffith
He accidentally identified DNA and learned tat it could change from one strain to another. He made his discovery while testing mice for pneumonia causing bacteria. -
Oswald Avery, Maclyn McCarty, & Colin McCleod
They clarified the chemical nature of genes when they discovered - through experimentation- that DNA (not proteins) can transform a cell's properties. They used deadly ad un-deadly bacteria in their experiment to prove that DNA causes bacterial transformation. -
Erwin Chargaff
At Columbia University Medical School, he did careful experiments that led him to discover 2 rules contributing to base pairing. This discovery helped others discover the double-helix structure of DNA. -
Barbara McClintock
She discovered transposition and used it to prove that genes can turn physical characteristics on and off. She discovered that some genes could be mobile, and she studied chromosome breakage. -
Linus Pauling
Along with 2 other men, Pauling correctly proposed the alpha helix and beta sheet as primary structure in protein, leading him to incorrectly say that DNA was a triple helix. He won the race to the Alpha helix against Sir Lawrence Bragg. -
Alfred Hershey & Martha Chase
They helped to confirm that DNA is genetic material. They showed when bacteriophages made of protein and DNA infect bacteria, DNA enters but most of the protein does not. Their results were not conclusive. -
Rosalind Franklin & Maurice Wilkins
They correctly identified DNA's twisted ladder structure. Franklin got 2 sets of high-resolution photos of crystallized DNA fibers. Rosalind never got a Nobel Prize, and Wilkins showed Watson and Crick the X-Rays, which included Photo 51. -
James Watson & Frances Crick
They discovered that DNA's structure was a double helix. They used other scientists' research and data to construct models. Their first one was an incorrect 3-stranded one. -
Matthew Meselsin & Franklin Stahl
They conducted an experiment that supported Watson and Crick's hypothesis that DNA replication was semiconservative. Their experiment has been called "The most beautiful experiment in Biology". -
Frederick Sanger
He and his partner introduced the dideoxycytidine chain-termination method for sequencing DNA. His group sequenced the first DNA-based genome. It was a single-stranded bacteriophage. -
Paul Berg
He is famous for pioneering gene splicing. This was the first step towards modern-day genetic engineering. He was the first scientist to create a molecule containing DNA from 2 different species. -
Kary Mullis
He was a DNA chemist who invented improvements to the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). He had the idea to use primers to bracket desired DNA and copy it using DNA polymerase to allow rapid amplification. He thought of this one night while driving with his girlfriend. -
J. Craig Venter
He lead the first draft sequence of the human genome. He and his team were the first to transfect a cell with a synthetic chromosome. He is currently the CEO of his institute (JCVI).
