History of Genetics Timeline

 
by Waleed Cheema

1859-Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin theory of evolution and origin
of species book changed the way many people
viewed the world and passed on to future
generations.

1866-Gregor Mendel
Gregor Mendel discovered the basic
principles of genetics through his
experiments with pea plants

1869-Friedrich Miescher
Friedrich Miescher discovered DNA from
white blood cells and called it "nuclein"

1882- Walther Flemming

Walter Flemming studied cytogenetics and he
was the first person to conduct a study of
chromosomes during division and called this
process mitosis

1902-Archibald Edward Garrod

Archibald Edward Garrod was the first to associate
Gregor Mendel's theories with human disease and
found out many genetic diseases were attributed to
inborn errors of metabolisms
 1911-Thomas Hunt Morgan
Thomas Hunt Morgan and his students study
fruit fly chromosomes. They show that
chromosomes carry genes, and also discover
genetic linkage.

1944-Oswald Avery
Oswald Avery and his group identified the
nature of DNA as a "transforming principle"
meaning it could become deadly.

1950-Erwin Chargaff
Erwin Chargaff discovered that the makeup
of DNA differed by species

1952-Rosalind Franklin
Rosalind Franklin took high resolution
photographs of DNA fibres and her research
led to the understanding of the structure of DNA

1953- Maurice Wilkins

Maurice Wilkins initiated the experimental
research into DNA that culminated in
Watson and Crick's discovery of its structure
in 1953.
 1953-James Watson
James Watson helped discover the double
helix structure of DNA and received the Nobel
Prize for his contribution in 1962.

1953-Francis Crick
Francis Crick helped solve the puzzle that had
confused scientists for decades with James
Watson, they published the news of their
discovery and received the Nobel Prize in 1962.

1960- Sydney Brenner

Sydney Brenner, discover that mRNA takes
information from DNA in the nucleus to the
protein-making machinery in the cytoplasm

1965-Marshall Nirenberg
Marshall Nirenberg became the first person to
determine the order of 20 different amino acids
in proteins and later in 1968, he jointly received
the Nobel Prize with his efforts of his work.

1968- Har Gobind Khorana

1968 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with
Marshall Nirenberg for research that helped to show
how the nucleotides in nucleic acids, which carry the
genetic code of the cell, control the cell’s synthesis of proteins.
 1977-Frederick Sanger
Frederick Sanger became the first person to
order the amino acids and obtain a protein
sequence, in which later he received a Nobel
reward.

1985- Kary Mullis

Kary Mullis invented the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)

Summary

Charles Darwin (1859)

Charles Darwin proposed a theory of evolution occurring by the process of natural selection, which he
then worked on over the following 20 years. He published his book called "The Origins of Species"
and talked about the scientific theory that populations evolve over the course of generations through a
process called natural selection. The book presented a body of evidence that the diversity of life arose
by common descent through a branching pattern on evolution. The book was controversial because
people think that God had created the world etc, and the book has changed the way many people
viewed the world.

Gregor Mendel (1866)

Gregor Mendel is considered to be the father of genetics. Between 1856 and 1863, Mendel did
experiements on pea plants, attempting to cross breed them to see which traits are inheritaed betwee
parent and offspring and he identified seven characteristics. They were height, pod shape and colour,
seed shape and colour, and flower position and colour. He found out that when a yellow pea plant and
green pea plant were bred together, their offspring was always yellow. However, the next generation
plants, the green pea plants returned in a ratio 3:1. Gregor Mendel created the terms "recessive" and
"dominant" in relation to the traits to explain his experiments. In the previous example, the green trait
was recessive and the yellow trait was dominant.
 Fredrich Miescher (1869)
Fredrich Miescher found "nuclein" in the nuclei of human white blood cells, which we know today as
Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA). Fredrich Miescher made arrangements for a local surgical clinic to send
him pus saturated bandages, which he planned out to wash and take out the white blood cells and
extract the proteins. But during the process, he came across a substance unusual chemical property
that did not look like what he was searching for and quickly realized he found a new substance and
sensed the importance of what he just found. It took 50 years for scientists to appreciate his work.

Walther Flemming (1882)

Walther Flemming studied cytogenetics and was the first to detail how chromosomes move during
mitosis, or cell division. Dividing cells had already been observed 40 years before by Carl Nageli but
Walther Flemming misinterpret the evidence as something observed dead. Walther Flemming did his
experiments and observed cell division in the salamander fish embryos. He developed a way to stain
chromosomes to observe them clearly. Walther Flemming created the name Mitosis and that is what
he called the process. He published his book in 1882, his terms prophase, metaphase, anaphase are
used today to describe the steps of the cell division.

Archibald Edward Garrod (1902)

Archibald Edward Garrod became the first person to associate Mendel's theories with human disease.
Archibald Edward Garrod talked to Mendel's advocate William Bateson and concluded that alkaptonuria
the disorder was recessive. In 1902, he published "The Incidence of Alkaptonuria", this book was the firs
published account of recessive inheritance in humans. It was also the first time that a genetic disorder h
been attributed to inborn "errors of metabolism". These were the certain diseases that had the result fro
errors in the body's chemical pathway.

Thomas Hunt Morgan (1911)

Thomas Hunt Morgan is known for his experiments with fruit flies. He conducted experiments of
breeding a thousand fruit flies with red eyes, he found one with white eyes. He began to breed the
white-eyed fruit fly and found that in one generation of flies, the trait was only present in males. Morgan
later found out that the factor controlling the eye colour was the same chromosomes that had sex. This
result helped show Morgan and his students that chromosomes carry the genes that allow offsprings
to inherit traits from their parents.
 Oswald Avery (1944)

Oswald Avery was the one that found out that DNA was identified as a "transforming principle".
Oswald Avery worked at a hospital for medical research and discovered that if a harmless form of
bacteria was mixed in with a lethal form, the harmless bacteria would be deadly. With his colleagues,
he was determined to find out which substance is responsible for the transformation. Through his
experiments and researchs, it was revealed to be DNA. In 1944, Avery and his colleagues published
a book in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, they talked about how DNA was a transforming
principle and it was paving the way for one of the biggest discoveries of the 20th century.

Erwin Chargaff (1950)

Erwin Chargaff is known for his discovery that DNA differed by species. He began his work studying
nucleic acids and he first devised a method of analyzing the nitrogenous components and sugars of
DNA from different species. Chargaff submitted his research to the Journal of Biological Chemistry
(JBA) about the complete analysis of DNA preparations but the JBA rejected and it did not publish his
research. Erwin Chargaff improved his research and was able to analyse DNA from a wide range of
species. In 1950, Chargaff found two discoveries of nucleic acids and they are now known as the
Chargaff rules.

Rosalind Franklin (1952)

Rosalind Franklin is known for her research understanding the structure of DNA and high resolution
photgraphs of DNA fibres. Franklin worked at John Randall's labratory at King's college and her role
was to set up and improve the x-ray crystallography unit. She worked with Maurice Wilkins and was
able to produce two sets of high resolution photographs of DNA fibres. Between 1951-53 her research
came close to discovering the structure of DNA. But, she was beaten to the post by Thomas Watson
and Francis Crick.

Maurice Wilkins (1953)

Maurice Wilkins is known as the third man of the double helix because most of the glory went to Thoma
Watson and Francis Crick. Maurice Wilkins began studying nucleic acids and proteins with X-ray images.
He gathered data about nucleic acid structure when Rosalind Franklin joined him with the studying.
Wilkins thought Franklin was going to be his assistant but Franklin was in charge of the X-ray studies of
DNA. This caused tention and they were divided so there was less communication going on between
them. If Wilkins and Franklin cooperated better, maybe they would have had been the first to discover
the DNA's structure.
 James Watson and Francis Crick (1953)

James Watson and Francis Crick were the first to discover the double helix structure of DNA in 1953.
Watson and Crick met at Cambridge University and began to study the structure of DNA at the Cavendis
Laboratory. Using the X-ray data and model buildings the solved the puzzle that had scientists confused
for decades. They published the famous paper in nature in 1953 and they were awarded the Nobel prize
for Medicine in 1962 with Maurice Wilkins.

Sydney Brenner (1960)

Sydney Brenner discovered the mRNA. Before that Brenner discovered steps in how cells use DNA to
make proteins. He found amino acids three base codes that make up protein. And he found RNA
moleucles that take the information from the DNA in the nucleus to the protein making machinery in
the cytoplasm. Sydney Brenner won the nobel prize award in 2002 for his discoveries.

Marshall Nirenburg (1965)

Marshall Nirenburg became the first person to determine the order of 20 amino acids in proteins. He
discovered the first triplet , a sequence of three bases of DNA that codes for one of the twenty amino acid
that serve as the building blocks of proteins. Nirenburg's experiments were with german scientist Johann
Matthaei, they show that RNA could trigger protein synthesis so that is when they started to solve the
coding problem. In 1965, Nirenburg became the first person to sequence the code.

Har Gobind Khorana (1968)

Har Gobind Khorana joined Marshall Nirenburg to crack the genetic code. He made important
Khorona made discoveries related to the genetic code and its function in protein synthesis. Khorona
contributions like building different RNA chains with the help of enzymes. Using these enzymes,
provided details about which serial combinations of nucleotides form which specific amino acid. He
he was able to produce proteins. The amino acid sequences of these proteins then solved the rest of
also determined that some of the codons prompt the cell to start or stop the manufacture of proteins.
the puzzle. They discovered tRNA and won the 1968 Nobel Prize for Medicine.

Frederick Sanger (1977)

Frederick Sanger became the first person to order a amino acid and obtain a sequence. In 1962, he
he worked on DNA sequencing and proteins. He then started working on sequencing RNA, when they
began to become relevant to DNA and eventually become the dedoxy method used in sequencing
reactions today.

Kary Mullis (1985)

Kary Mullis invented the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Made with small amounts of DNA that can be
copied in large quantities over a short period of time. This technique has been revolutionized many
aspects of current research, including the diagnosis of genetic defects and the detection of AIDS virus
in human cells.