History of Biotechnology

By jiaseow

  • First discoveries and developments in biotechnology

    These discoveries and developments were based on common observations about nature.
  • Period: to

    Second phase of evolution and biotechonology

  • Fredrich Miescher discovers white blood cells

    A Swiss biologist reported nuclein, a compound that consisted of nucleic acid that he extracted from pus cells i.e., white blood cells.

  • The term "chromosome" is first used

    In 1888, Heinrich Wilhelm Gottfried Von Waldeyer-Hartz, a German scientist coined the term ‘Chromosome’, which is considered as an organized structure of DNA and protein present in cells or a single piece of coiled DNA containing many genes, regulatory elements, and other nucleotide sequences.

  • First use of the term "biotechnology"

    The term "biotechnology" was first used by Karl Erkey in 1919. Later on, biotechnology was defined by different scientists.

  • Watson and Crick find out about DNA

    In 1953, JD Watson and FHC Crick for the first time cleared the mysteries around the DNA as a genetic material, by giving a structural model of DNA, popularly known as, ‘Double Helix Model of DNA’.

  • Jacob and Monad give the concept of Operon.

  • The first biocement for industrial applications is invented

    Scientist invent the first biocement for industrial applications.

  • Cytoplasmic hybridization is discovered

    In 1975, Kohler and Milestein came up with the concept of cytoplasmic hybridization and produced the first ever monoclonal antibodies, which has revolutionized the diagnostics.

  • The U.S. patent for gene cloning is awarded to Cohen and Boyer.

  • First sequencing of the human genome

    Craig Venter, in 2000, was able to sequence the human genome.

  • The first rough draft of the human genome project is completed.

    The human genome project is a project whose goal is to determine the sequence of base pairs that make up the human genome.

  • Rice becomes the first crop to have its genome decoded

  • The Human Genome Project is completed.

    The human genome has more than 3 billion base pairs of nucleotides. The project whose objective was to record the entire human genome was first established in 1987. Ninety percent of the human genome was published in February 2001, which helped publicize the project and the potential of completing it.
    After completing this project, scientists have been mapping the genomes of other organisms such as honeybees and chimpanzees, and are planning to map the genomes of other model organisms.

  • It is first discovered that a synthetic genome could replicate autonomously

    In 2010, Craig Venter was successful in demonstrating that a synthetic genome could replicate autonomously.