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1628: William Harvey
Proved that blood circulated throughout the body. -
1861: Louis Pasteur
Made many discoveries in the field of biology including germ theory of disease. -
1865: Gregor Mendel
Founded modern genetics. For example, he explained how traits may be inherited through generations by experimenting on pea plants. -
1901: Karl Landsteiner
Discovered that there were different types of blood and developed our modern classification of the blood groups. -
1921: Frederick Banting & Charles Best
Discovered insulin and the mechanisms of diabetes. -
1928: Alexander Fleming
Discovered penicillin, introduced the world of antibiotics, and drastically decreased the number of deaths due to infection. -
1939: Linus Pauling
Conducted research into the nature of the chemical bond. -
1956: Gertrude B. Elion & George H. Hitchings
Discovered the immunosuppressant Azathioprine that functioned as a treatment for leukemia and a way to make organ transplants possible. -
1983: Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar
Discovered how cells repair damaged DNA and gave us a better understanding of the causes of cancer and the aging process. -
1985: Kary Mullis
Devised the polymerase chain reaction process used in DNA analysis in which a small amount of DNA can be copied in large quantities over a short period of time.