The beginning of time: Cells are formed By bptruett Jan 1, 1665 Robert Hooke creates the Cell Theory. Period: Jan 1, 1960 to Jan 1, 1970 Artificial cells are created at McGill University (the predecessor to synthetic cells) Jan 1, 1996 Dolly the sheep is cloned making the first animal not made naturally. Nov 1, 2002 DOE invests $12 million in Venter’s genome research Jan 1, 2004 Students at MIT create a modify a cell Jan 1, 2007 A computer is programmed with DNA Jan 1, 2010 British scientists create a bacteria strand from man made DNA May 21, 2010 Scientists create a single-cell synthetic organism Jul 14, 2010 ExxonMobile invests $600 million in SGI in order to produce synthetic cell biofuels Jan 1, 2012 Cells with artificial cell membrane are mass produced Feb 10, 2013 MIT scientists run electrical circuits through a cell