History of Biotechnology

  • before DNA

    before DNA
    Robert Hooke coined the term"cell" and Anton Van Leeuwenkhoek observed the first microorganisms becuase of the invention of the micorscope.
  • Before DNA

    Before DNA
    Gregor Mendel, an Austrian monk working withpea platnts, discovered the simple laws of inheritance of traits that allowed one to predtict the outcome of crosses with certin traits.
  • Before DNA

    Before DNA
    Louis Pasteur described the scientific lbasis for fermentation, wine making, and the brewing fo beer, established the science of microbiology, and proposed the Germ Theroy, claiming that microorganisms were responisble for infectious diseases.
  • Bafore DNA

    Bafore DNA
    Johann Miescher found nucleic acid in withie blood cells from pus in bandgaes. This later led scienctists to believe that DNA might be the inheritable material of an organism.
  • DNA science

    DNA science
    Studying furit flies, Thomas Hunt Morgan discovered that genes could be moved form one strain fo bacteria to another.
  • DNA science

    DNA science
    Fred Griffith, using mice, proved that genetic material could be moved from one strain fo bacterica to another.
  • DNA science

    DNA science
    Sir Alexander Fleming isolated penicillin from a fungus. Many of his ideas are used to develop biotechnology drugs today.
  • DNA science

    DNA science
    Chrgaff showed that in DNA the number of units of adenine equaled those of thymine and the number of units of cytosine equaled those of guanine.
  • DNA science

    DNA science
    Beadle and Tatum proposed the "One gene produces an enzyme" hypothesis. 1944 Avery, McCarty, and McLeod established that indeed DNA was the hereditary material that was transfered.
  • DNA science

    DNA science
    Using there famouse "blender experiment", Hershey and Chase proved viruses replicated using DNA and confirmed the role of DNA as the hereditary material.
  • DNA science

    DNA science
    Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins established through X-ray crystallography that DNA was ineed a double helix.
  • DNA science

    DNA science
    Watson and Crick discovered the structure of DNA.
  • DNA science

    DNA science
    Hayes discovered plasmind DNA, circular pieces of DNA found in bacteria.
  • DNA science

    DNA science
    Wa;ter Gilbert discovered the mechanism of gene expression through his study of messenger RNA.
  • DNA science

    DNA science
    Rrber, Nathans and Smith discovered bacterial resriction enzymes that cut DNA.
  • DNA science

    DNA science
    Khorana and Nirenberg discovered the 64 codons (the triplet code of 3 bases DNA) that code for the 20 amino acids making up proteins.
  • DNA science

    DNA science
    DNA plasmids were isolated and purified by vinograd.
  • Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond

    Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond
    Madel and Higa were responsible for the first transformation of the beacterium Escherichia coli.
  • Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond

    Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond
    Cloning experiments were conducted by Boyer and Cohen.
  • Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond

    Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond
    Genentech, the world's first genetic engineering company, was founded.
  • Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond

    Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond
    140 scientists met to draw up guidelines for work with recombinant DNA in microorganisms. Paul Berg was a key organizer.
  • New Tools in the Lab

    New Tools in the Lab
    Sanger Gilbert found a way to sequence DNA. Given an unknown piece of DNA, they were able to read the correct order of bases of adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine.
  • Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond

    Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond
    Boyer inserted a synthetic insulin gene into E.coli.
  • Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond

    Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond
    Botstien found that one could be indentified by the pattern made of one's DNA through a digest by different enzymes. This DNA fingerprint was called a Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP).
  • Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond

    Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond
    Louise Joy Brown was born. the first human baby resulting from in vitro fertilization, in which sperm and egg are joined in a petri dish. The fertilized egg is later implanted in a womb.
  • Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond

    Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond
    The U.S. Supreme court ruled that genetically altered life forms can be patented. This resulted in a huge start up of bitoctech companird.
  • Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond

    Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond
    Ohio University scientist made the first transgenic animnals.
  • Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond

    Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond
    Eli Lilly Company placed human insulin gene inside bacteria.
  • Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond

    Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond
    Schell, Chilton, Van Montagu, Fraley and Horsch transformed plants with Agrobacterium- medicated gene transfer.
  • New Tools in the Lab

    New Tools in the Lab
    Kay Mullis invented polymerase chian reactions to amplify DNA in the laboratory.
  • Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond

    Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond
    Jeffries aapplied RFLP in DNA profilling to th study of criminal cases.
  • New Tools in the Lab

    New Tools in the Lab
    An automated fluorescene sequencer was invented, speeding the labor-intense process.
  • New Tools in the Lab

    New Tools in the Lab
    genes were moved into an organism through the use of a gene gun.
  • Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond

    Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond
    NIH revised saftey guidelines for recombinant DNA to include plants grown in greenhouses and animals raised in barns
  • Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond

    Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond
    Andre Fire and Craig Mello discovered RNA interference, silencing of genes, in worm C. elegans
  • Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond

    Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond
    Kohler, Milstein, and jerne used monocolonal antibody (MAb) technology.
  • Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond

    Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond
    Mynard Olson and colleagues at Washingion University invented " yeast artficical chromosomes", or YAC's which are expressions vectors for large proteins,
  • Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond

    Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond
    Ian Wilmut cloned Dolly the sheep form an adult cell of a ewe at the Roslin Institude in Scotland.
  • New Tools in the Lab

    New Tools in the Lab
    DNa microarry (DNA chip) technology, looking at the experssion of all the genes of an organism at one time on a microscoe slide or silicon chip, was developed.
  • New Tools in the Lab

    New Tools in the Lab
    Dabri and Garner invented an automated DNA sequencer that had a capibility of sequenceing 76,800 base pairs per hour, 5 to 30 times faster than existing sequencers. Technology like this greatly sped up the Human Genome Project.
  • Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond

    Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond
    Ron Breaker coined the term riboswitch for part of an mRNA molecule that can regulate its own activity and therefore gene expression.
  • Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond

    Present: Recombiant DNA Technology and Beyond
    Announcment was made of the completion of the Human Genome Project (initaited in 1990) by Francis Collins and Craig Venter. The project provided the ability to find genes and gave rise to the sequencing of other genomes.