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units of inheritance in pairs; dominance and recessiveness; equal segregation; independent assortment.
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Mendel's experiments from 1866 are "rediscovered" and confirmed by three separate researchers (one Dutch, one German, one Austrian). A British man (William Bateson) soon translates Mendel's paper into English and champions the study of heredity in England
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Some genes are linked and do not show independent assortment, as seen by Bateson and Punnett.
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First experiments on quantitative traits in broad beans by Wilhelm Johanssen and in wheat by Herman Nilsson-Ehle
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The chromosome theory of heredity is confirmed in studies of fly eye color inheritance by T.H. Morgan and colleagues.
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Genetic recombination is caused by a physical exchange of chromosomal pieces, as shown in corn by Harriet Creighton and Barbara McClintock.
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One gene encodes one protein, as described by Beadle and Tatum.
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Genetic material can be transferred laterally between bacterial cells, as shown by Lederberg and Tatum
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In DNA, there are equal amounts of A and T, and equal amounts of C and G, as shown by Erwin Chargaff. However, the A+T to C+G ratio can differ between organisms.
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DNA is in the shape of a double helix with antiparallel nucleotide chains and specific base pairing. This was deduced by Watson and Crick, who used Rosalind Franklin's data provided by Maurice Wilkins
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Discovery that messenger RNA is the intermediate between DNA and protein.
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DNA fingerprinting, gene therapy, and genetically modified foods come onto the scene
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The first cloning of a mammal (Dolly the sheep) is performed by Ian Wilmut and colleagues, from the Roslin institute in Scotland.
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The sequence of the human genome is released, and the "post-genomic era" officially begins
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Controversies continue over human and animal cloning, research on stem cells, and genetic modification of crops.