HISTORICAL EXPERIMENTAL EVENTS

IN BIOTECHNOLOGY RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Revised June 2010

ANTON VAN LEEUWENHOEK

• DEVELOPED THE MICROSCOPE

AND OBSERVED MICROOGANISMS

1670s

Gregor Mendel• FORMULATED BASIC LAWS OF HEREDITY THROUGH EXPERIMENTS WITH PLANTS 1866

JOHAN FRIEDRICK MIESCHER

• ISOLATED DNA FROM

NUCLEI OF A

WHITE BLOOD CELL

1869

ROBERT KOCK• PROVED MICROORGANISMS

CAUSE DISEASE

1893

THOMAS MORGAN• PROVED GENES ARE CARRIED ON CHROMOSOMES

PHRASE“BIOTECHNOLOGY” WAS COINED 1910

ROUS

• DISCOVERED

1ST CANCER-CAUSING

VIRUS - 1911

THOMAS HUNT MORGAN

• RESEARCH CONTRIBUTED

TO KNOWLEDGE OF

X & Y CHROMOSOMES

EARLY 1900 s

ALEXANDER FLEMING

• DISCOVERED PENICILLIN

1928

ERNST RUSKA• BUILT 1ST

ELECTRON

MICROSCOPE

1932

Rosalind Franklin

• EARLY X-RAY PHOTOGRAPHS

REVEALED A

DOUBLE HELIX

STRUCTURE

JAMES WATSON&

FRANCIS CRICK

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH

ON DNA STRUCTURE -1953 (DOUBLE HELIX STRUCTURE)

ARTHUR KORNBERG• DISCOVERED DNA

POLYMERASE & A METHOD OF DNA REPLICATION

1956

PAUL BERG• USED

RESTRICTION ENZYMES TO

CUT & PASTE SECTIONS OF DNA

1972

COHEN & BOYER

• 1ST SUCCESSFUL RECOMBINANT DNA EXPERIMENT WITH BACTERIAL GENES - 1973

• “GENETIC ENGINEERING” EVOLVED

• 1973 – 1ST PATEND FOR GENE CLONING

ROBERT SWANSON• STARTED GENETECH COMPANY

• GENETICALLY ENGINEERED INSULIN, “HUMULIN” WAS PRODUCED - 1978

BIOGEN • PRODUCED INTRFERON

THROUGH RECOMBINANT DNA - 1980

BARBARA McCLINTOCK

• STUDIED GENETICS OF CORN

• AWARED NOBEL PRIZE 1983

BISHOP & VARMUS

• RESEARCHED &

IDENTIFIED

ONCOGENES

(1982 – 1989)

HUMAN GENOME PROJECT1988

• MASSIVE EFFORT TO MAP &

SEQUENCE THE COMPLETE

HUMAN GENETIC

CODE

AMGEN - 1991• DEVELOPS NEUPOGEN

• USE TO TREAT LOW

WHITE BLOOD CELL

COUNT DURING

CHEMOTHERAPY

GENETICS INSTITUTE - 1992

• DEVELOPED 1ST GENETICALLY ENGINEERED BLOOD CLOTTING FACTOR

FDA - 1993• DECLARES GENETICALLY

ENGINEERED FOOD SAFE

AND DOESN’T REQUIRE

SPECIAL REGULATIONS

KARY MULLIS• DEVELOPED PCR,

• DNA SEQUENCING &

• DNA FINGERPRINTING - 1993

CALGEN - 1994• PRODUCED THE 1ST GENETICALLY

ENGINEERED TOMATO

• IT IS RESISTANT TO ROTTING

LINUS PAULING - 1994

• DESCRIBED SICKLE CELL ANEMIA

• GREAT CHEMIST OF 20TH CENTURY

IAN WILMUT 1997

CLONED A SHEEPFROM AN ADULT

SHEEP DNA

CELERA GENOMICS

• HUMAN GENOME PROJECT

• COMPLETES DRAFT OF DNA MAPPING

- 2000 -

21ST CENTURY BIOTECHNOLOGY IS CENTERED IN:

• BIOLOGY

• CHEMISTRY

• PHYSICS

BIOTECHNOLOGY TECHNIQUES TODAY:

• CELL & TISSUE TECHNIQUES

• DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES

• GENETIC ENGINEERING