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Friedrich Miescher
Friedrich researched the composition of lymphoid cells, also known as white blood cells, which he discovered were a component of pus infections. He experimented and isolated a new molecule, nuclein, which he determined was made up of hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and phosphorus. He later continued to work on nuclein for the rest of his career. -
Linus Pauling
In 1921, he attempted an experiment on the orientation of iron atoms by a magnetic field. In 1922, he began an experiment on the structures of some crystals. He also started theoretical work on the nature of the chemical bond. He discovered the alpha helix protein structure through modeling and x-ray diffraction. -
Frederick Griffith
A British bacteriologist who was studying bacterial pneumonia in mice. He was hoping to create a vaccine for pneumonia. He was using R and S cells in a series of experiments, which would test their ability to cause pneumonia. He tested this experiment on mice and the experiment was called the Griffith Experiment. It was the first widely accepted experiment of a bacterial transformation. -
Barbara McClintock
Studied corn's hereditary characteristics, such as their different colors, studied how these characteristics were passed down through generations and how they lined to the changes in plants' chromosomes. She proved genetic elements can change position on a chromosome and that this can cause genes nearby to become active or inactive -
Oswald Avery, Maclyn McCarty, and Colin McCleod
Oswald Avery showed that nucleic acid, or DNA, was the chemical basis for specific and apparently heritable transformations in bacteria. He discovered this by injecting mice with live, harmless strands of pneumonia. The mice were expected to live, but instead, they all died. All three of them tried to purify twenty gallons of bacteria what they called the "transforming factor." They noted that it did not seem to be a protein or carbohydrate, but a nucleic acid. -
Erwin Chargaff
Erwin wanted to understand the composition of DNA. In 1950 he experimented and figured out important facts that led to the structure of DNA. He also determined three rules called the Chargaff rules. They were that any strand of DNA is going to have an equal amount of purine and pyrimidine bases, so, (G+C)(A+T). -
Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase
Alfred Hershey and his research assistant Martha Chase discovered that DNA was genetic material. Alfred learned that phage could recombine when it was co-infected with the bacteria host. They are most famous for the Hershey- Chase experiment. In the experiment it showed that DNA was a principal component entering the host cell during an infection. -
Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins
Rosalind did fundamental investigations on the properties of coal and graphite upgrade the x-ray crystallographic laboratory there for work with DNA. Maurice Wilkins decided to study DNA by x-ray crystallographic techniques. -
James Watson and Francis Crick
They were two scientists who worked together to figure out that DNA was made up of a double helix. As well, as learning DNA contained human genes. They wanted to redo Linus Paulings incorrect model. According to them DNA replicated itself into two separate strands. DNA is a double helix polymer. Together with the work they did they won a noble piece prize. -
Matthew Meselson and Franklin Stahl
Together the two men configured a DNA model with two helical strands wound together in a double helix, they tested the hypothesis of DNA replication. To do this they invented a new technique called density gradient configuration. They supported Watson & Cricks idea/ hypothesis that DNA replication was semi- conservative. They tried their experiment on Escherichia Coli, though they did have few struggles along the way. -
Paul Berg
Paul was interested in the genetics of microbes and he wanted/learned that techniques of animal cell structure. Including in his research was his curiosity of nucleic acids. He wondered if it was possible to insert foreign genes into a virus, which would then try to create new cells. He used the virus from monkeys called lamda, which he then made into DNA of simian virus SV40. As well he also earned a nobel piece prize for his hard work and discovery. -
Frederick Sanger
Investigated ways to sequence RNA because it was similar, this led to techniques that worked for DNA, and also led to the dideoxy method which is commonly used in sequencing reactions today -
Kary Mullis
Mullis carried out research on the synthesis of oligonucleotides. He invented the polymerase chain reaction, a technique that amplifies specific DNA sequences from small amounts of genetic material -
J. Craig Venter
Craig was apart of the Human Genome Project. After he moved to San Diego he began to study genes that were involved in signal transmission between neurons. He came up with an alternative method to gene identification since he knew it would take to long, so he came up with (EST) expressed sequence tags- small segments of DNA, found in expressed genes. He used the EST's to identify thousands of genes and became recognized and was awarded the National Medal of Science in 2008.
