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From 1856-1863, Gregor Mendel spent his time creating laws of heredity, or inheritance. He published 3 laws in 1865. 1.) The Law of Segregation, 2.) The Law of Independent Assortment, and 3.) The Law of Dominance.
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In 1869, Friedrich Miescher isolated DNA from cell nuclei with proteins. He was the first to identify it as a distinct separate molecule.
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In 1944, Oswald Avery conducted an experiment that showed when DNA is isolated from one strain of bacteria, it is able to make another strain and transfer characteristics onto that second strain.
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1944, Evelyn Witkin discovered how DNA repair themselves.
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In 1950, Erwin Chargaff published a paper that said in DNA of any species, the ratio of adenine to thymine is equal, same with the ratio of cytosine to guanine. Later becoming known as the Chargaff’s Ratio. This was an important clue for solving the structure of DNA.
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In 1952, Rosalind Franklin got 2 sets of high-resolution photos of crystallized DNA fibers. From this she formed the basic dimensions of DNA strands.
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In 1952, Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase did an experiment called the blender experiment that that proved phage DNA was the genetic material, and not protein.
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1954, James Watson and Francis Crick came up with the structure for DNA. A double-helix form.
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1961, Nirenberg and his group deciphered the entire genetic code by matching amino acids to synthetic triplet nucleotides.
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In 1984, Alec Jeffreys discovered the technique of genetic fingerprinting in a laboratory in the Department of Genetics at the University of Leicester.
