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Gregor Mendel
http://youtu.be/cWt1RFnWNzk
Gregor Mendel was an Austrian monk who discovered the basic principles of heredity through experiments in his garden. Mendel's observations became the foundation of modern genetics and the study of heredity, and he is widely considered a pioneer in the field of genetics. He through his work on pea plants, discovered the fundamental laws of inheritance. He deduced that genes come in pairs and are inherited -
Friedrich Miescher identifies nuclein,DNA with associated proteins, from cell nuclei
In 1869, Friedrich Miescher isolated "nuclein," DNA with associated proteins, from cell nuclei. He was the first to identify DNA as a distinct molecule. Phoebus Levene was an organic chemist in the early 1900's. He is perhaps best known for his incorrect tetranucleotide hypothesis of DNA. -
Rosalind Franklin creates Photograph 51, showing a distinctive pattern that indicates the helical shape of DNA
Rosalind Franklin was born in London in 1920. She studied X-ray diffraction techniques in Paris. She took two sets of high-resolution photos of crystallized DNA fibers and looked at the dimensions of DNA strands, with phosphates on the outside of what appeared to be a helical structure. Franklin’s paper on her X-ray diffraction data was published in the same issue of Nature as Watson and Crick’s paper introducing their 3-D model of DNA structure. -
James Watson and Francis Crick discover the double helix structure of DNA
The discovery in 1953 of the double helix, the twisted-ladder structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), by James Watson and Francis Crick marked a milestone in the history of science and gave rise to modern molecular biology, which is largely concerned with understanding how genes control the chemical processes within cells. -
Marshall Nirenberg cracks the genetic code for protein synthesis
The Nirenberg and Matthaei experiment was a scientific experiment performed on May 15, 1961, by Marshall W. Nirenberg and his post doctoral fellow, Heinrich J. Matthaei. The experiment cracked the genetic code by using nucleic acid homopolymers to translate specific amino acids. -
Frederick Sanger develops rapid DNA sequencing technique
The Gilbert-Maxam method involved multiplying, dividing, and carefully fragmenting DNA. A stretch of DNA would be multiplied a millionfold in bacteria. Each strand was radioactively labeled at one end. Nested into four groups, chemical reagents were applied to selectively cleave the DNA strand along its bases—adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C) and thymine (T). Carefully dosed, the reagents would break the DNA into a large number of smaller fragments of varying length. -
First genetic disease mapped, Huntington’s Disease
A genetic marker linked to Huntington disease was found on chromosome 4 in 1983, making Huntington disease, or HD, the first genetic disease mapped using DNA polymorphisms. -
Invention of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology for amplifying DNA
The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a biochemical technology in molecular biology used to amplify a single, or a few copies, of a piece of DNA across several orders of magnitude, generating thousands to millions of copies of a particular DNA sequence. -
Cystic Fibrosis gene mutation identified
The positional cloning of the gene responsible for cystic fibrosis (CF) was the important first step in understanding the basic defect and pathophysiology of the disease. This study aims to provide a historical account of key developments as well as factors that contributed to the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene identification work. -
First evidence provided for the existence of the BRCA1 gene
BRCA1 and BRCA2 are human genes that produce tumor suppressor proteins. These proteins help repair damaged DNA and, therefore, play a role in ensuring the stability of the cell’s genetic material. When either of these genes is mutated, or altered, such that its protein product either is not made or does not function correctly, DNA damage may not be repaired properly. As a result, cells are more likely to develop additional genetic alterations that can lead to cancer. -
The Human Genome Project begins
On June 26, 2000, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium announced the production of a rough draft of the human genome sequence. In April, 2003, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium is announcing an essentially finished version of the human genome sequence. This version, which is available to the public, provides nearly all the information needed to do research using the whole genome. -
Haemophilus influenzae becomes first bacterium genome sequenced
Demonstrating the value of a new strategy of "shotgun" sequencing, J. Craig Venter and colleagues published, in May 1995, the first completely sequenced genome of a self-replicating, free-living organism—the bacteria Haemophilus influenzae Rd. -
“Bermuda Principles” drafted for Human Genome Project free data access
The Bermuda Principles set out rules for the rapid and public release of DNA sequence data. The Human Genome Project, a multinational effort to sequence the human genome, generated vast quantities of data about the genetic make-up of humans and other organisms. But, in some respects, even more remarkable than the impressive quantity of data generated by the Human Genome Project is the speed at which that data has been released to the public. -
Celera Genomics Corporation founded for sequencing the human genome
In 1998, Michael Hunkapiller, developer of a new sequencing machine at Applied Biosystems (ABI), and Tony White, head of ABI's parent company, the Perkin-Elmer Corporation of Norwalk, Connecticut (later Applera Corporation), approached Venter to lead a new company. The idea was to use ABI's innovative sequencing technology that was ten times faster than existing equipment to map the complete human genome in three years, ahead of the government's 15-year $3 billion effort, at a fraction of the co -
Chromosome 22 first human chromosome to be decoded
In 1999, researchers working on the Human Genome Project announced they had determined the sequence of base pairs that make up this chromosome. Chromosome 22 was the first human chromosome to be fully sequenced. Identifying genes on each chromosome is an active area of genetic research, because researchers use different approaches to predict the number of genes on each chromosome, the estimated number of genes varies. Chromosome 22 contains about 693 genes. -
First draft of the human genome released
The Human Genome Project international consortium published a first draft and initial analysis of the human genome sequence. The draft sequence covered more than 90 percent of the human genome. One surprise is that the estimated number of genes was lower than expected, just 30,000-35,000. (The final genome sequence produced in 2003 has further lowered this estimate to the 20,000-25,000 range) The sequence data was immediately and freely released to the world. -
Mouse becomes first mammalian research organism with decoded genome
An analysis of the mouse genome by an international consortium of scientists, a landmark event in biology, shows it is so similar to that of people that it should speed efforts to understand the human genome and the genetic roots of disease. -
Human Genome Project completion announced
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5udAYXDLjw
Portion of the Human Genome Project Timeline from 1990 to 2003
The International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium announced the successful completion of the Human Genome Project more than two years ahead of schedule and under budget. The primary goal of the project was to produce a reference sequence of the human genome. In 2001, the international consortium published a draft sequence.
