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Gregor Mendel & Pea Plants
Gregor Mendel • Austrian monk • First person to create a workable theory of trait transfer • “Father of genetics” • Examined dominant and recessive traits and how parents pass along their traits to offspring • Used purple pea plants and white pea plants • Ran experiments on 29,000 pea plants from 1856-1863 • Later tried experiments with bees -
Theory of Natural Selection
Charles Darwin & Alfred Russel Wallace announce the Theory of Natural Selection stating that the strong, survivng members of a species will pass along their genes. -
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History of Genetics
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Mendel's Discoveries Verified
In 1900, two scientists rediscovered Mendel's theory on dominant and recessive traits and verified it to be true, thus introducing the theory to be generally accepted in the scientific community. -
Discovery of Sex Chromosomes
Nettie Stevens and Edmund Wilson discovered sex chromosomes. XX = female XY = male -
Discovery of Sex-Linked Inheritance
In 1910, Thomas Hunt Morgan discovered that there was a way for offspring to inherit traits on the sex chromosomes. He discovered this by using fruit flies and observing "white eye" in fruit flies. -
A's, C's, T's, and G's
In 1950, Erwin Chargaff discovered that there was a 1-to-1 ratio of adenine to thymine and guamine to cytosine in DNA by examining DNA for several different species. -
First DNA Photographs
In 1951, the first sharp X-ray diffraction photographs of DNA were taken. -
3-D DNA Molecule
In 1953, Francis Crick and James Watson solved the 3-D structure of DNA. -
Somatostatin
In 1978, Somatostatin became the first hormone produced by recombinant DNA technology. It is used to inhibit the secretion of growth hormones. -
Huntington's Disease & Chromosome 4
In 1983, James Gusella used blood samples from his co-workers to prove that the gene for Huntington's Disease is on chromosome 4. -
Human Genome Project
In 1988, the Human Genome Project began. -
DNA Fingerprinting
In 1989, Alec Jeffreys was the first to use DNA fingerprinting in murder, paternity, and immigration cases. He coined the term "DNA Fingerprinting". -
FlavrSavr Tomatoes
In 1993, FlavrSavr Tomatoes were genetically altered to have a longer shelf life. -
Dolly the Sheep
In 1996, Dolly the Sheep was cloned from an adult somatic cell, using nuclear transfer. She lived for 7 years and became the centerpiece of the debate on all things biotechnical. -
Cloning for Consumption
In 2008, the FDA declared that cloned meat is just as safe to eat as meat from uncloned animals. To this day, there is still a debate over the safety and labeling of cloned meat.
