History of Genetics Timeline

As scientists sought to understand more about the nature of inheritance of traits, hereditary processes were explained in ever increasing detail beginning at the populational level and going toward the molecular level. Keeping this fact in mind will help in understanding the timeline which follows.

Year Scientist(s) Discovery

1858Charles Darwin Alfred Russel Wallace

Joint announcement of the theory of natural selection-that members of a population who are better adapted to the environment survive and pass on their traits.

1859 Charles Darwin Published The Origin of Species.

1866 Gregor MendelPublished the results of his investigations of the inheritance of "factors" in pea plants.

1900Carl Correns Hugo de Vries Erich von Tschermak

Mendel's principles were independently discovered and verified, marking the beginning of modern genetics.

1902 Walter SuttonPointed out the interrelationships between cytology and Mendelism, closing thegap between cell morphology and heredity.

1905Nettie Stevens Edmund Wilson

Independently described the behavior of sex chromosomes-XX determines female; XY determines male.

1908 Archibald GarrodProposed that some human diseases are due to "inborn errors of metabolism" that result from the lack of a specific enzyme.

1910 Thomas Hunt MorganProposed a theory of sex-linked inheritance for the first mutation discovered in the fruit fly, Drosophila, white eye. This was followed by the gene theory, including the principle of linkage.

1927 Hermann J. Muller Used x-rays to cause artificial gene mutations in Drosophila.

1928 Fred GriffithProposed that some unknown "principle" had transformed the harmless R strainof Diplococcus to the virulent S strain.

1931Harriet B. CreightonBarbara McClintock

Demonstrated the cytological proof for crossing-over in maize.

1941George BeadleEdward Tatum

Irradiated the red bread mould, Neurospora, and proved that the gene produces its effect by regulating particular enzymes.

1944Oswald AveryColin MacLeodMaclyn McCarty

Reported that they had purified the transforming principle in Griffith's experiment and that it was DNA.

1945 Max DelbruckOrganised a phage course at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory which was taught for 26 consecutive years. This course was the training ground of the first two generations of molecular biologists

late 1940s

Barbara McClintockDeveloped the hypothesis of transposable elements to explain colour variations in corn.

1950 Erwin ChargaffDiscovered a one-to-one ratio of adenine to thymine and guanine to cytosine in DNA samples from a variety of organisms.

1951 Rosalind Franklin Obtained sharp X-ray diffraction photographs of DNA.

1952Martha ChaseAlfred Hershey

Used phages in which the protein was labelled with 35S and the DNA with 32P for the final proof that DNA is the molecule of heredity.

1953Francis CrickJames Watson

Solved the three-dimensional structure of the DNA molecule.

1958Matthew MeselsonFrank Stahl

Used isotopes of nitrogen to prove the semiconservative replication of DNA.

1958 Arthur KornbergPurified DNA polymerase I from E. coli, the first enzyme that made DNA in a test tube.

1966Marshall NirenbergH. Gobind Khorana

Led teams that cracked the genetic code- that triplet mRNA codons specify eachof the twenty amino acids.

1970Hamilton SmithKent Wilcox

Isolated the first restriction enzyme, HindII, that could cut DNA molecules within specific recognition sites.

1972Paul BergHerb Boyer

Produced the first recombinant DNA molecules.

1973 Joseph SambrookLed the team at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory that refined DNA electrophoresis by using agarose gel and staining with ethidium bromide.

1973Annie ChangStanley Cohen

Showed that a recombinant DNA molecule can be maintained and replicated in E. coli.

1975International meeting at Asilomar, California urged the adoption of guidelines regulating recombinant DNA experimentation.

1977 Fred Sanger Developed the chain termination (dideoxy) method for sequencing DNA.

1977The first genetic engineering company (Genentech) is founded, using recombinant DNA methods to make medically important drugs.

1978Somatostatin became the first human hormone produced using recombinant DNA technology.

1981Three independent research teams announced the discovery of human oncogenes (cancer genes).

1983 James GusellaUsed blood samples collected by Nancy Wexler and her co-workers to demonstrate that the Huntington's disease gene is on chromosome 4.

1985 Kary B. MullisPublished a paper describing the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), the most sensitive assay for DNA yet devised.

1988The Human Genome Project began with the goal of determining the entire sequence of DNA composing human chromosomes.

1989 Alec JeffreysCoined the term DNA fingerprinting and was the first to use DNA polymorphisms in paternity, immigration, and murder cases.

1989Francis CollinsLap-Chee Tsui

Identified the gene coding for the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator protein (CFTR) on chromosome 7 that, when mutant, causes cystic fibrosis.

1990First gene replacement therapy-T cells of a four-year old girl were exposed outside of her body to retroviruses containing an RNA copy of a normal ADA gene. This allowed her immune system to begin functioning.

1993 FlavrSavr tomatoes, genetically engineered for longer shelf life, were marketed.

1995

July 28, 1995First Bacterial GenomeA team from The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) publishes the 1.8 Mbpgenome of the Gram-negative bacillus Haemophilus influenzae, the first cellular organism to be fully decoded.

November 10, 1995FDA Lifts Special Restrictions on Biotech DrugsHealth and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala announces that FDA will eliminate a host of special restrictions on biotechnology companies and their products, bringing them into the mainstream of drug regulation.

1996

July 5, 1996Dolly DeliveredIan Wilmut and colleagues from the Roslin Institute and PPL Therapeutics deliver the first mammal cloned from an adult somatic cell. She will live until 2003.

April 3, 1996Biotech Crops in U.K.First weed- and insect-resistant biotech crops commercialised: U.K. authorities call Roundup Ready soybeans "as safe as conventional soybeans."

1998

November 6, 1998Human Embryonic Stem CellsJames Thomson, Jeffrey Jones, and co-workers report isolating five human embryonic stem cell lines from human blastocysts, noting "These cell lines should be useful in human developmental biology, drug discovery, and transplantation medicine."

December 11, 1998C. elegans SequencedThe C. elegans Sequencing Consortium (based at Washington University and the Sanger Centre) reports the full 97 Mbp genome of Caenorhabditis elegans, revealing more than 19,000 genes.

June 4, 1998Preliminary Human Genome MapThe “rough draft” map of the human genome will “speed up the process of getting very useful sequences in the hands of people who want it,” says NHGRIdirector Francis Collins.

1999

July 1, 1999Single-Use BioreactorVijay Singh, then head of large scale cell culture at Schering-Plough, describes a “disposable bioreactor for cell culture using wave-induced agitation,” inaugurating a significant trend in the manufacture of biologicals.

September 17, 1999Gene-Therapy ExperimentThe death of 18-year-old Jesse Gelsinger in a University of Pennsylvania gene-therapy trial prompts an agonizing, industry-wide reappraisal.

2000

December 14, 2000Arabidopsis GenomeFour articles lay out the genome of Arabidopsis thaliana, the first plant to be sequenced. The analysis covers 115.4 Mbp of the 125 Mbp genome, and 25,498genes encoding proteins from 11,000 families.

June 26, 2000Genome Sequenced (But It’s a Draft)President Bill Clinton and Prime Minister Tony Blair, flanked by J. Craig Venter of Celera Genomics and Francis Collins of NHGRI, proclaim "the completion of the first survey of the entire human genome."

August 2000Permeability AssessmentFDA publishes Biopharmaceutics Classification System (BCS) guidance; Absorption Systems’ novel Caco-2 testing leads to optimised standards for permeability assessment.

2001

February 16, 2001Human Genome, End of the Beginning?A consortium including scientists from Celera Genomics and 13 other organisations publishes first consensus sequence of human genome: 2.91-billion bp generated by whole-genome shotgun sequencing. Findings: 26,588 v-encoding transcripts, plus about 12,000 possible (but weakly supported) genes, "separated by large tracts of apparently noncoding sequence. Only 1.1% of the genome is spanned by exons, whereas 24% is in introns, with 75% of the genome being intergenic DNA."

August 9, 2001Stem Cell RestrictionsAfter months of lobbying from both sides and tense internal White House debate, President George W. Bush limits work on embryonic stem cells and bans creation of new eSC lines.

September 22, 2001NAS Stem Cell ReportNational Academy of Sciences publishes "Stem Cells and the Future of Regenerative Medicine."

2002

October 3, 2002Malaria/Mosquito GenomesTeams from TIGR and the Sanger Centre report the 23 Mbp, AT-rich genomic sequence of Plasmodium falciparum, the malaria parasite, which carries some 5,300 genes. The same week, Celera Genomics researchers publish their genome of malaria’s Anopheles mosquito vector.

July 11, 2002Virus SynthesizedResearchers at the State University of New York report the creation of a full-genome cDNA from published sequences of poliovirus, and its reverse transcription into viral RNA.

November 21, 2002HPV VaccineUniversity of Washington researchers show that vaccines can reduce incidence of infection by human papilloma virus, an established cause of cervical cancer.

2003

April 14, 2003Human Genome Map Project CompleteNHGRI and DOE announce completion of the Human Genome Project, two years ahead of schedule and at a cost of $2.7 billion. The completed sequence covers nearly 99% of human genome’s regions and has a 99.99% accuracy.

October 16, 2003China Approves World’s First Gene-Therapy ProductThe China State Food and Drug Administration approves the world’s first commercial gene therapy product—Gendicine, from Shenzhen SiBiono GeneTech, which delivers the p53 gene via an adenovirus vector as a therapy for squamous cell head and neck cancer.

2004 July 28, 2004NAS: Engineered Foods Are SafeNational Academy of Sciences study of engineered foods concludes that, "To date, no adverse health effects attributed to genetic engineering have been documented in the human population."

December 23, 2004DNA Microarray Diagnostic DeviceThe FDA approves Roche AmpliChip Cytochrome P450 Genotyping Test, the first DNA microarray system okayed for clinical applications.

April 1, 2004Lab Rat Genome

Rattus norvegicus becomes the third mammal (after humans and mice) to have its genome sequenced, in a project led by Baylor’s Richard Gibbs.

2005

September 1, 2005Chimpanzee GenomeThe broadly based Chimpanzee Sequencing and Analysis Consortium publishesits draft sequence for what may be our closest living relative, along with a “largely complete catalog” of about 40 million genetic changes that have arisen since the species diverged, casting a long-range light on human evolution.

August 11, 2005Rice Genome MappedThe International Rice Genome Sequencing Project publishes its “Map-based sequence of the rice genome,” covering 95% of the genome of the world’s mostimportant staple crop.

August 25, 2005Reprogrammed Stem CellsHarvard scientists report fusing adult skin cells with embryonic stem cells to reset the culture so that the cells behave like embryonic stem cells.

2006

January 31, 2006Plant-Produced VaccineThough Dow Agro Sciences receives regulatory approval for a plant-made vaccine (from USDA’s Center for Veterinary Biologics, for a vaccine against Newcastle disease in poultry), the product is not marketed. It is nonetheless the first plant-pharmed vaccine to win approval.

2007

June 14, 2007Genome as Complex SystemThe NHGRI’s ENCODE consortium report “Decoding the Blueprint,” portrays the human genome as a complex informational network of genes, regulatory elements, and other factors yet to be discovered. Then NHGRI director Francis Collins predicts, "The scientific community will need to rethink some long-heldviews about what genes are and what they do, as well as how the genome’s functional elements have evolved."

2008

April 3, 2008Some RNAi Therapy QuestionsA study by University of Kentucky researcher Jayakrishna Ambati and co-workers suggests that some RNAi drugs work by activating the immune system rather than by silencing genes.

2009

February 2009Transporter Assays Take a Leap Forward Due to Increased FundingFDA funds over $1M in research to Absorption Systems’ Cell Port Technologies® to develop cell based transporter assays.

November 20, 2009Maize GenomeA consortium based at Iowa State University-Ames publishes a draft sequence of the 2.3 Gbp maize genome. They predict the genome will contain 32,000 genes.

2010

March 30, 2010Court Voids Gene PatentsIn Association for Molecular Pathology, et al. v United States Patent and Trademark Office, et al., U.S. District Court invalidates Myriad Genetics/ University of Utah Research Foundation patents on the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, accepting the argument that genes are products of nature and cannot be patented. Decision was partially reversed on July 29 September 2010Successful System for Drug Transporters IntroducedAbsorption Systems introduces its patented, Caco-2 based Cell Port Technologies® as the most definitive test system for drug transporters.

2011

April 29, 2011Appeals Court OKs Stem Cell FundingU.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia lifted a lower-court injunction. The ruling opens the door for resumed federal funding of research on embryonic stem cells.