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Lamarck was a French biologist who proposed that physical traits were inherited through generations by two forces. The first force was alchemical and the second was environmental. He first outlined his theory of evolution in a lecture in 1802. While discredited for many years, Lamark's theory that organisms can acquire physical traits from their environment and pass these on to their offspring has resurfaced with the rise of epigenetics, a science that seeks to understand how chemical modifications to genes and proteins made in one generation are passed on to the next one.1744-10-01T00:00:00+00001 Oct 1744 | | Jean-Baptiste Lamarck was born in Bazentin, Picardy, FranceLamarck | French Academy of Sciences |
Schleiden was a botanist. Based on his study of plant structures under the microscope he helped develop the theory that cells are the basic structure in all organisms and the basic unit of reproduction. He also connected the cell nucleus with cell division and suggested that all embryonic plant cells arose from one cell. 1804-04-05T00:00:00+00005 Apr 1804 | | Matthias J Schleiden was bornSchleiden | University of Jena |
Galton is best known for having ignited the debate about 'Nature versus Nurture' in 1869 and coined the term 'Eugenics' in 1883. Inspired by his cousin Charles Darwin's work, he developed a programme of research to understand human variation, looking at their differences in mental capabilities and height to facial characteristics and fingerprint patterns. He pioneered the use of statistical methods to determine human differences and how intelligence and physical traits are passed down through families. 1822-02-16T00:00:00+000016 Feb 1822 | | Francis Galton was born in Birmingham, UKGalton | University College London |
Mendel is today considered the father of modern genetics. An Augustinian monk, Mendel helped establish the basic laws of genetic inheritance by studying the traits between different pea plant generations. Mendel conducted this research between 1853 and 1863. Based on experiments with tens of thousands of different plants, Mendel established that peas followed certain patterns in terms of the traits they inherited. He published his results in 1866, but he did little to promote his work. The importance of his work was only grasped many decades later after his death. 1822-07-20T00:00:00+000020 Jul 1822 | | Gregor Johann Mendel was born in Hyncice, Czech RepublicMendel | Hyncice, Czech Republic |
Lamarck was a French biologist who proposed that physical traits were inherited through generations by two forces. The first force was alchemical and the second was environmental. He first outlined his theory of evolution in a lecture in 1802. While discredited for many years, Lamark's theory that organisms can acquire physical traits from their environment and pass these on to their offspring has resurfaced with the rise of epigenetics, a science that seeks to understand how chemical modifications to genes and proteins made in one generation are passed on to the next one. 1829-12-18T00:00:00+000018 Dec 1829 | | Jean-Baptiste Lamarck diedLamarck | French Academy of Sciences |
von Nageli identified string-like bodies in cell nucleus. He did not know they played role in heredity.
1842-01-01T00:00:00+00001842 | | First observation of chromosomes by Swiss botanist Karl von NageliNageli | |
Flemming was a biologist who is credited with the foundation of cytogenetics. He was the first to describe the behaviour of chromosomes during cell division, a process he called mitosis. This he discovered through investigations of the fins and gills of salamanders. He first published his findings in 1878. In addition to his pioneering scientific work, Flemming is famous for his social activism. Notably he fed the homeless on a weekly basis and donated 20% of his salary to homeless shelters. He also taught mathematics and science to children too poor to attend school. 1843-04-21T00:00:00+000021 Apr 1843 | | Walther Flemming was born in Schwerin, GermanyFlemming | University of Kiel |
van Beneden was a cytologist and embryologist. He worked out how chromosomes divide during cell meiosis. Based on studies of an intestinal worm found in horses, he also showed that fertilisation involves the union of two half-nuclei, one form the male sperm cell and one from the female egg, each containing half the the number of chromosomes found in all cells. He later demonstrated that the chromosome number is constant for every body cell in each species. 1846-03-05T00:00:00+00005 Mar 1846 | | Edouard van Beneden was born in Leuven, Belgianvan Beneden | University of Liege |
Hertwig was a biologist who determined that fertilisation starts when the nuclei of sperm and ovum cells fuse. This he proved in 1876 through experiments with sea urchins. Eight years later he demonstrated, through investigations of frog eggs, that the cell divides along its long axis. He was also prescient in predicting, in 1885, that the nucleic acid is the substance responsible for fertilisation and the transmission of hereditary traits. This phenomenon was proven in 1944. 1849-04-21T00:00:00+000021 Apr 1849 | | Oskar Hertwig was born in Friedberg, GermanyHertwig | Friedberg, Germany |
Kossel was a German biochemist who was a key pioneer in the field of genetics. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1910 for having isolated and described the five organic compounds present in nucleic acid. The compounds he isolated were adenine, cytosine, guanine, thymine, and uracil. These are key to the formation of DNA and RNA. Kossel's work also laid the foundation for determining the composition of protein and its polypetides. 1853-09-16T00:00:00+000016 Sep 1853 | | Albrecht Kossel was born in Rostock, Mecklenburg (now Germany)Kossel | University of Heidelberg |
Stevens was an American biologist who was one of the first scientists to describe the importance of the Y chromosome for determining the sex of some species, and to recognise that females have two X chromosomes. The later she determined after noting male beetles produced two kinds of sperm: each with different sized chromosomes. In 1905 she was awarded $1000 for the best scientific paper written by a woman. Five years later she was listed as one of America's leading 1000 scientists by The New York Times.1861-07-07T00:00:00+00007 Jul 1861 | | Nettie Maria Stevens was born in Cavendish, Vermon, USAStevens | Carnegie Institute, Bryn Mawr College |
Herrick was a physician and cardiologist who reported the first case of sickle-shaped red blood cells in 1910. These he found in the blood of a medical student from Grenada suffering from anaemia. Clinicians subsequently found that the condition, called sickle-cell anaemia, was inherited and was most common in black patients. Sickle-cell anemia was the first disease found to have a genetic cause. Herrick later also observed the first clinical features of coronary thrombosis. 1861-08-11T00:00:00+000011 Aug 1861 | | James Bryan Herrick was born in Oak Park, Illinois, USAHerrick | Rush Medical College |
Oscar Hertwig, Albrecht von Kolliker, Eduard Strasburger, and August Weismann independently show the cell's nucleus contains the basis for inheritance.1864-01-01T00:00:00+00001864 - 1865 | | Nucleus shown to contain genetic substanceHertwig, von Kolliker, Strasburger, Weismann | University of Munich, University of Wurzburg, University of Freiburg |
Conducting experiments breeding peas, Gregor Mendel, Austrian scientist, demonstrates that the inheritance of certain traits in pea plants follows particular patterns. This lays the foundation for what was to become known as the laws of Mendelian inheritance. Athough Mendel's theory was not recognised until the early 20th century, Mendel's work established the general principles for modern genetics.
1865-01-01T00:00:00+00001865 | | Laws of inheritance establishedMendel | Abbey of St Thomas, Brno, Austro-Hungarian Empire |
Ernst Haeckel, German biologist and philosopher, proposes the cell nucleus contains factors responsible for the transmission of hereditary traits.1866-01-01T00:00:00+00001866 | | Theory that cell's nucleus contains genetic substanceHaeckel | University of Jena |
Morgan is considered the father of the modern science of genetics. He received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1933 for demonstrating how genes carried on chromosomes are the mechanical basis of hereditary. This he determined based on some cross-breeding experiments with the fruit fly (Drosophila) that he conducted between 1908 and 1911. 1866-09-25T00:00:00+000025 Sep 1866 | | Thomas Hunt Morgan was born in Lexington KY, USAMorgan | Columbia University, California Institute of Technology |
McClung was a zoologist. He is best known for identifying the role of chromosomes in determining the sex of a species. This he did through a series of experiments with insects between 1901 and 1902. Based on his findings he hypothesised that the accessory chromosome (now known as chromosome X) could be the nuclear element that determined sex. It was the first time a scientist suggested that a given chromosome carried a set of hereditary traits. 1870-04-05T00:00:00+00005 Apr 1870 | | Clarence E McClung was born in Clayton, California, USAMcClung | University of Pennsylvania |
A geneticist and physician, Sutton is famous for putting forward the theory that chromosomes are the carriers of genetic material. He developed the idea in 1902-1903 based on his work with grasshoppers. This research demonstrated there to be matched pairs of maternal and paternal chromosomes and that these separated during meiosis.1877-04-05T00:00:00+00005 Apr 1877 | | Walter Sutton born in Utica, New York, USASutton | Columbia University |
Originally called chromatin, the chromosome is a rod like structure that is found inside the cell nucleus. It was discovered by Walther Flemming with the help of analine dyes. He also described the behaviour of chromosomes during cell division. Flemming first published a comprehensive outline of is findings in his book Zellsubstanz, Kern und Zelltheilung (Cell substance, nucleus and cell division) in 1882.
1878-01-01T00:00:00+00001878 | | Chromosomes and the process of mitiotic cell division first discoveredFlemming | University of Kiel |
Originally called chromatin, the chromosome is a rod like structure that is found inside the cell nucleus. It was discovered by Walther Flemming with the help of analine dyes. 1878-01-01T00:00:00+00001878 | | Chromosome first discoveredFlemming | |
Galton publishes the term in his book 'Inquiries into Human Faculty and Its Development'. 1883-01-01T00:00:00+00001883 | | The term 'Eugenics' is coined by Francis Galton to denote the science of improving stock by judicious matingGalton | |
Mendel is today considered the father of modern genetics. An Augustinian monk, Mendel helped establish the basic laws of genetic inheritance by studying the traits between different pea plant generations. Mendel conducted this research between 1853 and 1863. Based on experiments with tens of thousands of different plants, Mendel established that peas followed certain patterns in terms of the traits they inherited. He published his results in 1866, but he did little to promote his work. The importance of his work was only grasped many decades later after his death. 1884-01-06T00:00:00+00006 Jan 1884 | | Gregor Johann Mendel diedMendel | |
Richard Altmann, German pathologist, renames nuclein as nucleic acid.1889-01-01T00:00:00+00001889 | | Richard Altmann, German pathologist, renames nuclein as nucleic acidAltmann | Leipzig University |
Fisher was a statistician and geneticist who pioneered the use of statistical procedures to study Mendelian genetics and natural selection. His work helped lay the foundation for population genetics and modern statistical science. Between 1919 and 1934 he worked at the Rothamsted Experimental Station where he made major contributions to rational crop breeding programmes. He established a means to track the linkage of genes for different traits and introduced the principle of randomisation for preventing the introduction of bias in experiments. In his early life he was a prominent Eugenicist.1890-02-17T00:00:00+000017 Feb 1890 | | Ronald Aylmer Fisher was born in London, United KingdomFisher | Rothamsted Experimental Station |
Muller was a geneticist. He is best known for the experiments he carried out that demonstrated that X-rays could change the genetic make-up of fruit-flies and the mutations were passed on to subsequent generations. Published in 1927 this work attracted widespread attention as it marked the first time the genetics of a species was intentionally altered. Muller's work opened up new understanding of how mutations are caused and heralded a revolution in genetics research. He was awarded he 1946 Nobel Prize for 'the discovery of the production of mutations by means of X-ray irradiation'.1890-12-21T00:00:00+000021 Dec 1890 | | Hermann J Muller was born in New York, USAMuller | Indiana University |
Haldane was a geneticist, biometrician and physiologist who helped to open up new research paths into population genetics and evolution. He was responsible for the
establishment of human gene maps for haemophilia and colour blindness on the X chromosome and was one of the first to suggest that sickle-cell anaemia provides some immunity to Malaria. Haldane is also remembered for establishing the principles for in vitro fertilisation and for coining the terms 'clone' and 'cloning' in human biology. He was also a strong populariser of science and a renowned socialist. 1892-11-05T00:00:00+00005 Nov 1892 | | John BS Haldane born in Oxford, UKJBS Haldane | University of Cambridge, University of California Berkeley, University of London |
William G Ruppel discovered the nucleotide while trying to isolate the bacterial toxin responsible for tuberculosis. 1898-01-01T00:00:00+00001898 | | A nucelotide called tuberculinic acid found to bind to the protein tuberculin. It is now regarded as the precursor to the discovery of DNA methylationRuppel | Philipps University of Marburg |
Lysenko was a Russian biologist who rejected the principles of Mendelian genetics and embraced the ideas of Jean-Baptiste Lamark who promoted the idea that an organism could pass on characteristics that it acquired during its lifetime to its offspring. Much of his work was directed towards trying to convert wheat crops to grow in different seasons. Stalin appointed Lysenko director of the Institute of Genetics in 1940, a position he retained until 1965. His rejection of orthodox genetics set Soviet agriculture and biology back by many decades. 1898-09-29T00:00:00+000029 Sep 1898 | | Trofim D Lysenko as born in Karlivka, Poltava Governorate,
Russian EmpireLyscheno | Lenin All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences |
Pauling was a chemist and biochemist who helped to pioneer quantum chemistry and mechanics. He combined methods from x-ray crystallography, molecular model building and quantum chemistry. Pauling was the first to find the alpha helix structure of proteins. In 1954 he won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his 'research on the nature of the chemical bond and its application to the elucidation of the structure of complex structures.' He also co-authored the first paper to suggest sickle-cell anaemia was a genetic disease, which introduced the concept of 'molecular disease'. Pauling also won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962, which was awarded to him for his opposition to nuclear weapons.1901-02-28T00:00:00+000028 Feb 1901 | | Linus C Pauling was born in Portland OR, USAPauling | California Institute of Technology |
Theodor Boveri, German biologist, and Walter Sutton, American geneticist and physician, independently develop the theory that chromosomes carry genetic material.1902-01-01T00:00:00+00001902 | | Chromosomes linked with inheritanceBoveri, Garrod | Zoological-Zootomical Institute, Columbia University |
Archibald Garrod, an English physician, suggests that genetic defects cause the loss of enzymes and hereditary metabolic diseases, providing the first premise for gene therapy.
1902-01-01T00:00:00+00001902 - 1908 | | Metabolic disease explained by genetic defectsGarrod | Oxford University |
McClintock was a pioneer in the field of cytogenetics, a branch of genetics concerned with how chromosomes affect cell behaviour. Based on her investigation of how chromosomes change in reproductiuon in maize she demonstrated in the late 1920s that genes can shift to different locations by themselves. In the 1940s and 1950s she showed that genes are responsible for turning physical characteristics on and off, a process called transposition. Initially scientists were sceptical of her findings so she stopped publishing her data in 1953. By the 1960s and 1970s attitudes towards her work changed as more scientists made similar findings. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1983 for her work.1902-06-16T00:00:00+000016 Jun 1902 | | Barbara McClintock was born in Hartford CT, USAMcClintock | University of Missouri |
Beadle, a geneticist, was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1958 for discovering the role of genes in regulating biochemical events within cells. He made the discovery in collaboration with Edward Tatum while conducting experiments that exposed Neurospora crassa, a the bread mould, to x-rays to cause mutations. They found that the mutations caused changes in specific enzymes that were involved in metabolic pathways. The work was done at Stanford University.1903-10-22T00:00:00+000022 Oct 1903 | | George Wells Beadle was born in Wahoo, Nebraska, USABeadle | California Institute of Technology, Stanford University |
Snell was a major founder of immunogenetics as a discipline. He is best known for helping to identify the major histocompatibility complex, a group of genes that code for proteins found on the surface of cells that help the immune system differentiate between self and nonself cells, and demonstrating its role in tissue graft rejection. This work laid the foundation for carrying out successful transplants in both animals and humans. Snell shared the 1980 Nobel Prize for Medicine for 'discoveries concerning genetically determined structures on the cell surface that regulate immunological reactions'.1903-12-19T00:00:00+000019 Dec 1903 | | George D Snell was born in Bradford MA, USASnell | Jackson Laboratory |
Flemming was a German biologist who is credited with the foundation of cytogenetics. He was the first to describe the behaviour of chromosomes during cell division, a process he called mitosis. This he discovered through investigations of the fins and gills of salamanders. He first published his findings in 1878. In addition to his pioneering scientific work, Flemming is famous for his social activism. Notably he fed the homeless on a weekly basis and donated 20% of his salary to homeless shelters. He also taught mathematics and science to children too poor to attend school. 1905-08-04T00:00:00+00004 Aug 1905 | | Walther Flemming diedFlemming | University of Kiel |
Ochoa was a biochemist and molecular biologist whose research was devoted to understanding enzymes and their role in intermediary metabolism. He was one of the first scientists to show the pivotal role of high energy phosphates, like adenosine triphosphate, in the storage and release of energy. During this work he discovered the enzyme polynucleotide phosphorylase, which plays an important role in the synthesis of ribonucleic acid (RNA). This enzyme provided the foundation for the subsequent synthesis of artificial RNA and the breaking of the human genetic code. Ochoa was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1959 for his work on the biological synthesis of RNA.1905-09-24T00:00:00+000024 Sep 1905 | | Severo Ochoa was born in Luarca, SpainOchoa | New York University |
The term was first used by the English biologist William Bateson. He used it to described the study of heredity. 1906-01-01T00:00:00+00001906 | | Term 'genetics' coinedBateson | |
A German biophysicist, Delbruck helped discover how viruses replicate their genetic structure, showing that bacterial resistance from viruses is due to random mutation and not the result of adaptive changes. This work showed that viruses reproduce in one step and not exponentially as happens in the case of cellular organisms. In 1969 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine on the back of this work. Blending biochemistry with genetics, Delbruck made substantial contributions to uncovering important aspects of genetics. 1906-09-04T00:00:00+00004 Sep 1906 | | Max Delbruck was born in Berlin, GermanyDelbruck | California Institute of Technology |
Clarke was a physician and geneticist who was one of the first to appreciate the importance of medical genetics in day-to-day clinical practice. Based on his knowledge of how genetics dictated the colour of wing patterns in butterflies, he became interested in the inheritance of human blood types. This paved the way to his development of measures to prevent rhesus haemolytic disease of the newborn. Such babies, born of a positive-Rhesus factor father and a negative-Rhesus factor mother, can result in a fatal anaemia in babies. Clarke established the Nuffield Unit for medical genetics in Liverpool. 1907-08-22T00:00:00+000022 Aug 1907 | | Cyril A Clarke was born in Leicester, UKCyril Clarke | Liverpool University |
Hershey was a bacteriologist and geneticist. He is best known for a series of experiments with bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria) which helped to confirm that DNA, rather than proteins, carried genetic material. These he performed with Martha Chase in 1952. Hershey shared the 1969 Nobel Prize for Medicine for 'discoveries concerning the replication mechanism and the genetic structure of viruses.'
1908-12-04T00:00:00+00004 Dec 1908 | | Alfred D Hershey was born in Owosso, MI, USAHershey | Carnegie Institution of Washington |
Tatum was a biochemist who shared the 1958 Nobel Prize for Medicine for discovering how genes regulate biochemical events in cells. This was based on some experiments he carried out with colleagues at Stanford University in 1941 which involved crossing normal strains of the pink bread mould, Neurospora crassa, with another strain of the mould they had exposed to X-rays to induce genetic mutations. The offspring were found to inherit the mutation which manifested itself as metabolic defect. This led them to conclude that there was a direct link between genes and enzymatic reactions.
1909-12-14T00:00:00+000014 Dec 1909 | | Edward L Tatum was born in Boulder CO, USATatum | Stanford University, Yale University |
Thomas Hunt Morgan, American evolutionary biologist, links the inheritance of a specific trait with a particular chromosome in fruit flies (Drosophila).
1910-01-01T00:00:00+00001910 | | Chromosomes linked with hereditary traitsMorgan | Columbia University |
van Beneden was a Belgian cytologist and embryologist. He worked out how chromosomes divide during cell meiosis. Based on studies of an intestinal worm found in horses, he also showed that fertilisation involves the union of two half-nuclei, one form the male sperm cell and one from the female egg, each containing half the the number of chromosomes found in all cells. He later demonstrated that the chromosome number is constant for every body cell in each species. 1910-04-28T00:00:00+000028 Apr 1910 | | Edouard van Beneden diedvan Beneden | University of Liege |
Fraenkel-Conrat was a biochemist who discovered that RNA is pivotal to the genetic control of viral reproduction and that it is carried in the nucelic core of each virus. This indicated that the viral infectivity resides in the nucleic acid part of the virus.
He made this finding in 1955 during experiments with the tobacco mosaic virus. By 1960 he had determined the complete sequence of the 159 amino acids in the virus. His work demonstrated that virus molecules that retain viral life can be reconstituted from its separate protein and RNA. 1910-07-29T00:00:00+000029 Jul 1910 | | Heinz Ludwig Fraenkel-Conrat was born in Breslau, German Empire
(now Wroclaw, Poland)Fraenkel-Conrat | University of California Berkeley |
Galton is best known for having ignited the debate about 'Nature versus Nurture' in 1869 and coined the term 'Eugenics' in 1883. Inspired by his cousin Charles Darwin's work, he developed a programme of research to understand human variation, looking at their differences in mental capabilities and height to facial characteristics and fingerprint patterns. He pioneered the use of statistical methods to determine human differences and how intelligence and physical traits are passed down through families. 1911-01-17T00:00:00+000017 Jan 1911 | | Francis Galton diedGalton | University College London |
Stevens was an American biologist who was one of the first scientists to describe the importance of the Y chromosome for determining the sex of some species, and to recognise that females have two X chromosomes. This she determined after noting male beetles produced two kinds of sperm: each with different sized chromosomes. In 1905 she was awarded $1000 for the best scientific paper written by a woman. Five years later she was listed as one of America's leading 1000 scientists by The New York Times. 1912-05-04T00:00:00+00004 May 1912 | | Nettie Maria Stevens diedStevens | Bryn Mawr College, Carnegie Institute |
Luria was a microbiologist who made his name in 1943 when he demonstrated, with Max Delbruck, that viruses undergo permanent changes in their hereditary material. The same year he and Delbruck showed phage-resistant bacteria resulted from spontaneous mutations rather than as a direct response to environmental changes. Their work helped explain how bacteria develop antibiotic resistance. Luria had landed up working with Delbruck in the US because he was banned from academic research fellowships in Italy under Mussolini's Italian fascist regime because of his Jewish background. In 1969 Luria was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for helping to discover the replication mechanism and the genetic structure of viruses.
1912-08-13T00:00:00+000013 Aug 1912 | | Salvador E Luria was born in Torino, ItalyLuria | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Mazia was a cell biologist whose passion was to understand how cells reproduce. As a doctoral researcher he was one of the first to establish the role of calcium in egg activation in the process of fertilisation. Following this, he worked on the process of cell division, structure and division. He is best known for the work he did in 1931 which helped identify the cell structure responsible for mitosis, the process when a eukaryotic cell divides chromosomes into two identical daughter cells. Mazia also determined how the nucleus and chromosomes change during the cell cycle.1912-12-18T00:00:00+000018 Dec 1912 | | Daniel Mazia was born Scranton, PA, USAMazia | University of California Berkeley |
Dulbecco was a virologist who in the 1950s helped to pioneer the growth of animal viruses in culture and work out how certain viruses cause tumours in the cells they infect. He and his colleagues demonstrated that the virus inserted DNA into the DNA of the host cell and this cell transformed into a cancer cell which reproduced the viral DNA along with its own thereby producing more cancer cell. This work not only aided better understanding of how viruses cause cancer, but also HIV. Dulbecco shared the 1975 Nobel Prize for Medicine for his 'discoveries concerning the interaction between tumour viruses and the genetic material of the cell.'1914-02-22T00:00:00+000022 Feb 1914 | | Renato Dulbecco was born in Catanzaro, ItalyDulbecco | Imperial Cancer Research Fund Laboratory |
Crick is best known for the work he did with James Watson that identified the double-helix structure of DNA in 1953, for which he shared the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1962. He also developed the central dogma of molecular biology which explained how genetic information flowed within a biological system, moving from DNA to RNA and then protein. His subsequent work looked at the way in which the brain works and the nature of consciousness. 1916-06-08T00:00:00+00008 Jun 1916 | | Francis H C Crick was born in Northampton, UKCrick | Laboratory of Molecular Biology |
An American geneticist and physician, Sutton is famous for putting forward the theory that chromosomes are the carriers of genetic material. He developed the idea in 1902-1903 based on his work with grasshoppers. This research demonstrated there to be matched pairs of maternal and paternal chromosomes and that these separated during meiosis. 1916-11-10T00:00:00+000010 Nov 1916 | | Walter S Sutton diedSutton | Columbia University |
Wilkins was a biophysicist whose development of x-ray diffraction techniques helped determine the structure of DNA. He obtained the first x-ray patterns on DNA in 1950. This work led to his winning the Nobel Prize in 1962. Following his work on DNA, Wilkins directed his attention to studying the structure of various forms of RNA and a wide group of genetic problems, like ageing. In his younger years, Wilkins was recruited to work on the Manhattan atomic bomb project during the war. Wilkins became profoundly disillusioned with nuclear weapons after the bombing of Japan and was the president of the British Society for Social Responsibility in Science from 1969 to 1991.
1916-12-15T00:00:00+000015 Dec 1916 | | Maurice H F Wilkins was born in Pongaroa, New ZealandWilkins | King's College London |
A geneticist by training, Sager enjoyed two careers. She first made her mark in the 1950s and 1950s when she discovered the transmission of genetic traits through chloroplast DNA. This was the first example of genetics not involving the cell nucleus. Later on, in the early 1970s, she became a major pioneer in cancer genetics. She was one of the first to propose and investigate the function of tumour suppressor genes. 1918-02-07T00:00:00+00007 Feb 1918 | | Ruth Sager was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, USASager | Rockefeller University |
Kornberg was a biochemist renowned for his research on enzymes which create DNA. In 1956 he and his team isolated the first enzyme known to be involved in the replication of DNA. It would be called DNA polymerase I. For this work Kornberg shared the 1959 Nobel Prize for Medicine. The Prize was given for the discovery of the 'mechanisms in the biological synthesis of ribonucleic acid and deoxyribonucleic acid.'1918-03-03T00:00:00+00003 Mar 1918 | | Arthur Kornberg was born in Brooklyn NY, USAKornberg | Stanford University |
Lewis was a developmental geneticist who shared the 1995 Nobel Prize for Medicine for discoveries concerning the genetic control of early embryonic development. He made these discoveries based on the fruit fly. By crossbreeding thousands of flies he demonstrated that genes were arranged on the chromosome in the same order as their body segments, whereby the first set of genes controls the development of the head and thorax, the middle set the abdomen, and the final set the hind parts. He also discovered that the genetic regulatory functions could overlap. A fly with a defective gene in the thoracic region could develop an extra set of wings. His work helped explain the causes of congenital deformities.
1918-05-20T00:00:00+000020 May 1918 | | Edward B Lewis was born in Wilkes-Barre, PA, USALewis | California Institute of Technology |
Monod was a biochemist who, together with Francois Jacob, worked out the genetic control of enzyme and virus synthesis based on their experiments with Escherichia coli in the early 1960s. They proposed that a messenger molecule in cells carries codes from the DNA in the cell nucleus to the site of protein synthesis in the cell's cytoplasm. This molecule was later called messenger RNA which is now the basis of COVID-19 vaccines. Based on his work Monrod was awarded a Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1965.
1920-06-07T00:00:00+00007 Jun 1920 | | Jacques Monod was born in Nancy, FranceMonod | Pasteur Institute |
Jacob was a French biologist who on the back of experiments in bacteria with Jacques Monod provided the first evidence of the existence and role of an intermediary molecule, now known as messenger RNA, which carries genetic information from genes to the cell's protein factories for the production of specific proteins. He shared the Nobel Prize in 1965 for 'discoveries concerning genetic control of enzyme and virus synthesis.'1920-06-17T00:00:00+000017 Jun 1920 | | Francois Jacob was born in Nancy, FranceJacob | Pasteur Institute |
Witkin is best known for her work on DNA mutagenesis and DNA repair. She helped elucidate the first co-ordinated stress response. This she did by studying the response of bacteria to UV radiation. Witkins was one of the first few women to be elected to the US National Academy of Sciences, in 1977. She was also awarded the National Medal of Science in 2002. 1921-03-09T00:00:00+00009 Mar 1921 | | Evelyn Witkin was born in New York City, USAWitkin | New York City |
The son of Jewish Polish immigrants, Benzer was a molecular biologist who proved that genetic mutations were caused by changes in the DNA sequence. This was based on some experiments he pursued with mutant T4 bacteriophages, known as r mutants. In 1952 he spotted abnormal behaviour in one mutant strain and a year later devised a technique to measure the recombination frequency between different r mutant strains to map the substructure of a single gene. His work laid the path to determining the detailed structure of viral genes. Benzer also coined the term cistron to denote functional subunits of genes. Together with Ronald Konopka, his student, Benzer also discovered the first gene to control an organism's sense of time, in 1971. 1921-10-15T00:00:00+000015 Oct 1921 | | Seymour Benzer was born in Brooklyn, NY, USABenzer | Purdue University, California Institute of Technology |
Khorana was a chemist who shared the 1968 Nobel Prize for Medicine for the elucidation of the genetic code and its function in protein synthesis. He helped demonstrate that the chemical composition and function of a new cell is determined by four nucleotides in DNA and that the nucleotide code is transmitted in groups of three, called codons, and these codons instruct the cell to start and stop the production of proteins. His work also laid the foundation for the development of polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a technique that makes it possible to make billions of copies of small fragments of DNA.
1922-01-09T00:00:00+00009 Jan 1922 | | Har Gobind Khorana was born in Raipur, IndiaKhorana | University of Wisconsin-Madison, Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Holley was a biochemist who shared the 1968 Nobel Prize for Medicine for explaining how the genetic code controls the synthesis of proteins. This stemmed from his research on RNA which he began in the late 1940s. By 1960 and he and collaborators showed that amino acids were assembled into proteins by transfer RNAs (tRNAs). In 1965 he managed to determine the composition of a tRNA that incorporates the amino acid alanine into protein molecules. 1922-01-28T00:00:00+000028 Jan 1922 | | Robert W Holley was born in Urbana IL, USAHolley | Cornell University |
Hertwig was a German biologist who determined that fertilisation starts when the nuclei of sperm and ovum cells fuse. This he proved in 1876 through experiments with sea urchins. Eight years later he demonstrated, through investigations of frog eggs, that the cell divides along its long axis. He was also prescient in predicting, in 1885, that the nucleic acid is the substance responsible for fertilisation and the transmission of hereditary traits. This phenomenon was proven in 1944. 1922-10-25T00:00:00+000025 Oct 1922 | | Oskar Hertwig diedHertwig | |
Lederberg is best known for having discovered the lambda phage, an indispensable tool for studying gene regulation and genetic recombination. She also invented the replica plating technique which is pivotal to tracking antibiotic resistance. 1922-12-18T00:00:00+000018 Dec 1922 | | Esther Lederberg was born in Bronx, New York, USAEsther Lederberg | Wisconsin University |
A molecular biologist, Smith was a key pioneer in nucleic acid research. One of the few to realise the importance of nucleic acids before Watson and Crick uncovered the structure of DNA in 1953, Smith helped to elucidate the structure of ribonucleic acid molecules (RNA), the genetic material of many plant and animal viruses. This was helped by his development of paper chromatographic methods for analysing nucleosides and other units which make up DNA. He also helped to discover rare and unexpected modifications of DNA bases in bacterial genomes which are now understood to prevent attack from DNA viruses. 1924-12-08T00:00:00+00008 Dec 1924 | | John D Smith was born in Southampton, UKJohn D Smith | California Institute of Technology, Laboratory of Molecular Biology |
Lederberg was an American geneticist who helped discover the mechanism of genetic recombination in bacteria. This was based on some experiments he performed with Edward Tatum in 1946 which involved mixing two different strains of bacteria. Their experiments also demonstrated for the first time that bacteria reproduced sexually, rather than by cells splitting in two, thereby proving that bacterial genetic systems were similar to those of multicelluar organisms. Later on, in 1952, working with Norton Zinder, Lederberg found that certain bacteriophages (viruses that affect bacteria) could carry a bacterial gene from one bacterium to another. In 1958 Lederberg shared the Nobel Prize for Medicine for 'discoveries concerning genetic recombination and the organisation of the genetic material of bacteria.' 1925-05-23T00:00:00+000023 May 1925 | | Joshua Lederberg was born in Montclair, NJ, USAJoshua Lederberg | University of Wisconsin |
Smithies was a geneticist and physical biochemist. He first made his mark in 1955 through his invention of starch gel electrophoresis, a technique used to study human protein variation. Later on, in the 1980s he developed a method for targeted gene replacement in mice, now known as gene targeting, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2007. His method facilitated the creation of thousands of lines of mice carrying desired genetic mutations. Such mice are now widely used to investigate the role of many different genes in human health and disease.1925-06-23T00:00:00+000023 Jun 1925 | | Oliver Smithies was born in Halifax, United KingdomSmithes | University of Washington, University of North Carolina |
T.B. Johnson, R.D. Coghill, 'The discovery of 5-methyl-cytosine in tuberculinic acid, the nucleic acid of the Tubercle bacillus', Journal of the American Chemical Society, 47/11 (1925, 2838–44. 1925-11-01T00:00:00+0000November 1925 | | T.B. Johnson and R.D. Coghill reported detecting a minor amount of methylated cytosine derivative as byproduct of hyrdrolysis of tuberculinic acid with sulfuric acid but other scientists struggled to replicate their results. Johnson, Coghill | Yale University |
Lejeune was a paediatrician and geneticist who made the first link between chromosome abnormalities and disease. In 1958 he found that children with Down syndrome had 47 chromosomes instead of the usual 46. Five years later he showed that a chromosome deletion on chromosome 5 was linked to Cri du chat, a rare genetic disorder that causes severe cognitive, speech and motor disabilities. He also discovered several other diseases related to chromosomal abnormalities in the early 1970s. LeJeune was a strong advocate for improving the lives of children with Down Syndrome and opposed abortion. 1926-06-13T00:00:00+000013 Jun 1926 | | Jérôme-Jean-Louis-Marie Lejeune was born in Montrouge, FranceLejeune | Paris School of Medicine |
Brenner was born to humble Jewish immigrants. His father was a cobbler from Lithuania and his mother came from Latvia. Entering university at the age of 15 Brenner completed a degree in science because in his second year it was realised that he would be too young to qualify as a doctor. Specialising in genetics, Brenner shared the 2002 Nobel Prize for Medicine for helping to discover how genes regulate tissue and organ development. Using the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans as a model organism, Brenner demonstrated that triplets of nucleotides within RNA encode the individual amino acids of a protein, and signals when protein manufacture should stop. 1927-01-13T00:00:00+000013 Jan 1927 | | Sydney Brenner was born in Germiston, South AfricaBrenner | Laboratory of Molecular Biology |
Nirenberg was a biochemist and geneticist who shared the 1968 Nobel Prize for Medicine for interpreting the genetic code and its function of protein synthesis. The Prize was given on the back of some experiments Nirenberg conducted in 1960 and 1961 which identified particular codons (3 chemical units of DNA) that specified each of the 20 amino acids that make up protein molecules. 1927-04-10T00:00:00+000010 Apr 1927 | | Marshall W Nirenberg was born in New York NY, USANirenberg | National Institutes of Health |
Kossel was a German biochemist who was a key pioneer in the field of genetics. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1910 for having isolated and described the five organic compounds present in nucleic acid. The compounds he isolated were adenine, cytosine, guanine, thymine, and uracil. These are key to the formation of DNA and RNA. Kossel's work also laid the foundation for determining the composition of protein and its polypetides. 1927-07-05T00:00:00+00005 Jul 1927 | | Albrecht Kossel diedKossel | University of Heidelberg |
Watson is a molecular biologist and geneticist who helped to determine the double-helix structure of DNA in 1953, for which he shared the 1962 Nobel Prize for Medicine. Watson also helped set up the Human Genome Project, which he headed up between 1990 to 1992. He left the project after campaigning against the NIH patenting the human genome. In 2007 he became the second person to publish his fully sequenced genome online. This he did to encourage the development of personalised medicine. 1928-04-06T00:00:00+00006 Apr 1928 | | James D Watson was born in Chicago, IL, USAWatson | Laboratory of Molecular Biology |
Zinder was a biologist who discovered how hereditary information is transferred from one organism to another. The process is known as genetic transduction. Carrying out experiments with the bacteria species Salmonella, Zinder discovered that bacteriophages, a type of virus, carry genes from one bacterium to another. He did the work with Joshua Lederberg, his doctoral supervisor. 1928-11-07T00:00:00+00007 Nov 1928 | | Norton D Zinder was born New York City, USAZinder | Rockefeller University |
Founded by Clarence Little, one of the leading researchers into genetic differences governing the rejection of foreign tissues. 1929-01-01T00:00:00+00001929 | | Jackson Memorial Laboratories established to develop inbred strains of mice to study the genetics of cancer and other diseases | Jackson Memorial Laboratoroies |
Ruddle helped pioneer human gene mapping and established many of the techniques and a framework for setting up the Human Genome Project. He generated, with Jon W. Gordon and George Scango the first successful transgenic mouse. This heralded the development of genetically modified animals as research models to investigate the function of genes and genetic cause of disease. Ruddle also discovered, with William McGinnis, the first human homeobox genes, important regulators of gene development. 1929-08-19T00:00:00+000019 Aug 1929 | | Frank Ruddle was born in West New York, New JerseyRuddle | Yale University |
Griffin was a leading expert on viruses that cause cancer. She was the first woman appointed to Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital. In 1980 she completed the sequence of the poliovirus, the longest piece of eukaryotic DNA to be sequenced at that time. She devoted her life to understanding the Epstein-Barr virus, the cause of Burkitt's Lymphoma, a deadly form of cancer. The virus is also now thought to cause multiple sclerosis. 1930-01-23T00:00:00+000023 Jan 1930 | | Beverly Griffin was born in Delhi, Louisiana, USAGriffin | Imperial College |
This was based on their experiments with the variegated colour pattern of maize kernels which showed that some genetic elements on the chromosome are capable of movement. They published their results in 'A Correlation of Cytological and Genetical Crossing-Over in Zea Mays',PNAS, 7/8 (1931), 492-97. 1931-08-01T00:00:00+0000August 1931 | | Barbara McClintock and Harriet Creighton, her graduate student, provided first experimental proof that genes are positioned on chromosomesMcClintock, Creighton | Cornell University |
Michael Smith shared the 1993 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for a technique that enables researchers to introduce specific mutations into genes and, thus, to the proteins that they encode. He developed the method, known as site-directed mutagenesis, in the 1970s, in collaboration with Fred Sanger and Clyde A Hutchinson III. The advantage of the technique was that it allowed comparisons to be made of different protein molecules and provided a means to deliberately alter a specific gene thereby making it possible to modify the characteristics of an organism. His work opened up a new chapter for studying and treating genetic diseases. Site-directed mutagenesis is a pivotal tool today in genetic and protein research and engineering and at the forefront of the development of monoclonal antibody drugs. 1932-04-26T00:00:00+000026 Apr 1932 | | Michael Smith was born in Blackpool, United KingdomMichael Smith | University of British Columbia |
Temin was a geneticist and virologist who shared the 1975 Nobel Prize for Medicine for his work on the interactions between tumour viruses and the genetic material of the cell. In 1969 he demonstrated that certain tumour viruses carry the ability to reverse the flow of information from RNA back to DNA using the enzyme reverse transcriptase. The same enzyme is now is known to be linked to the widespread spread of viral diseases like AIDs and hepatitis B. 1934-12-10T00:00:00+000010 Dec 1934 | | Howard M Temin was born in Philadelphia, PA, USATemin | University of Wisconsin |
Altman was a molecular biologist who shared the 1989 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for discovering the catalytic properties of RNA. This emerged out of some work Altman carried out between 1978 and 1983 on a bacterial enzyme called RNAs-P. His research helped transform the basic understanding of nuclear acids, which up to this moment had been understood to only carry genetic information. It also opened up the possibility of using genetic engineering to develop new forms of therapy against viral infections. 1939-05-07T00:00:00+00007 May 1939 | | Sidney Altman was born in Montreal, CanadaAltman | Harvard University, Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Yale University |
Hartwell shared the 2001 Nobel Prize for Medicine for helping to discover protein molecules that regulate the cell cycle. This was based on his identification of more than 100 genes that control the growth and division of cells in baker's yeast in the late 1960s. He also discovered optional pauses in the cell cycle which allowed time for the repair of damaged DNA. This work has advanced the understanding of cancer and other diseases related to when the cell cycle breaks down. From 1997 to 2010 Hartwell served as the president and director of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. 1939-10-30T00:00:00+000030 Oct 1939 | | Leland H Hartwell was born in Los Angeles, CA, USAHartwell | Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center |
The mice were developed by George Snell. 1940-01-01T00:00:00+00001940 | | The first cogenic line of inbred mouse strains were developed, which helped determine the major histocompatibility complex, a set of genes that code for proteins found on the surfaces of cells which help the immune system recognise foreign substances. Snell | Jackson Laboratory |
MK Barrett, 'The influence of genetic constitution upon the induction of resistance to transplantable tumors', Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2 (1940), 387-93.1940-01-01T00:00:00+00001940 | | Inbred strains of mice bred at Jackson Memorial Laboratory showed that resistance to transplanted tumours were due to body's resistance to genetically different tissueBarrett | Jackson Memorial Laboratoroies |
George Beadle and Edward Tatum, American geneticists, demonstrate that genes are responsible for the production of an enzyme.
1941-01-01T00:00:00+00001941 | | Genes shown to regulate biochemical events within cellsBeadle, Tatum | Stanford University Medical School |
Evans first made his name in the early 1980s when he and a colleague discovered embryonic stem cells in mice and determined that the cells could be used as a vehicle for transmitting altered genetic material into the mouse genome. Based on this he managed to produce a generation of mice with Lesch-Nyhan syndrome, a hereditary sex-linked metabolic disorder. This work paved the way to the development of 'knock-out mice', laboratory mice that have been genetically modified to model a specific human disease. Evans shared the 2007 Nobel Prize for Medicine for discovering the 'principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells.'1941-01-01T00:00:00+00001 Jan 1941 | | Martin J Evans was born in Stroud, United KingdomEvans | Cardiff University |
C.H. Waddington, 'The Epigenotype', Endeavour, 1 (1942), 18-20.1942-01-01T00:00:00+00001942 | | 'Epigenetics' coined as a term to describe how genes interact with the environment to produce the physical traits of an organism Waddngton | Cambridge University |
Sulston was a biologist who played a central role in sequencing the genome of the Caenorhabditis elegans, a transparent nematode (roundworm). It was the first animal to have its genome sequenced. Based on his work with the nematode, Sulston helped set up the project to sequence the human genome which he did as director of the Sanger Centre. The first draft of the human genome sequence was completed in 2000. In 2002 he shared the Nobel Prize for identifying how genes regulate the life cycle of cells through apoptosis. 1942-03-27T00:00:00+000027 Mar 1942 | | John E Sulston born in Cambridge, UKSulston | Laboratory of Molecular Biology |
Nusslein-Volhard shared the 1958 Nobel Prize for Medicine for discoveries relating to genetic control of early embryonic development. She demonstrated this through her investigations of how genes regulate the early development of fruit flies. Her findings laid a pathway to understanding genetic defects in human embryos. 1942-10-20T00:00:00+000020 Oct 1942 | | Christiane Nusslein-Volhard was born in Magdeburg, GermanyNusslein-Volhard | Max-Planck-Institute for Developmental Biology |
Avery made the point in a letter to his brother Roy Avery. 1943-05-15T00:00:00+000015 May 1943 | | Oswald claimed DNA to be the 'transforming factor' and the material of genesAvery | Rockefeller University |
Witkin discovered the radiation resistance after exposing E coli stain B bacteria to high doses of UV light. She subsequently worked out that the resistance was due to a particular genetic mutation in the bacteria strain which inhibited cell division. Witkin did the work under the guidance of Milislav Demerec at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. She published her findings in EM Witkin, 'A case of inherited resistance to radiation in bacteria', Genetics, 31 (1946) 236; EM Witkin, 'Inherited Differences in Sensitivity to Radiation in Escherichia Coli', PNAS USA, 32/3 (1946), 59–68. Witkin's work laid the foundation for showing that cell division is inhibited when DNA is damaged and was the first demonstration of a cell checkpoint. 1944-01-01T00:00:00+00001944 | | Evelyn Witkin discovered radiation resistance in bactieraWitkin | Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory |
Sharp is a geneticist and molecular biologist. He shared the 1993 Nobel Prize for Medicine for the discovery of RNA splicing. This was awarded on the back of some research he did in 1977 which showed that RNA can be divided up into introns and exons, after which the exons can be joined together. This process can happen in different ways. It provides the means for the gene to form a number of different proteins. Sharp also co-founded Biogen, set up in 1978, and helped found Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and Magen Biosciences.1944-06-06T00:00:00+00006 Jun 1944 | | Phillip A Sharp was born in Falmouth, Kentucky, USASharp | Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Biogen, Alynylam Pharmaceuticals, Magen Biosciences |
Morgan is considered the father of the modern science of genetics. He received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1933 for demonstrating how genes carried on chromosomes are the mechanical basis of hereditary. This he determined based on some cross-breeding experiments with the fruit fly (Drosophila) that he conducted between 1908 and 1911.1945-12-04T00:00:00+00004 Dec 1945 | | Thomas Hunt Morgan diedMorgan | Columbia University, California Institute of Technology |
McClung was a zoologist. He is best known for identifying the role of chromosomes in determining the sex of a species. This he did through a series of experiments with insects between 1901 and 1902. Based on his findings he hypothesised that the accessory chromosome (now known as chromosome X) could be the nuclear element that determined sex. It was the first time a scientist suggested that a given chromosome carried a set of hereditary traits. 1946-01-17T00:00:00+000017 Jan 1946 | | Clarence E McClung diedMcClung | University of Pennsylvania |
Kornberg is a biochemist whose research is focused on working out the mechanism and regulation of transcription, which is the first step in the pathway of gene expression. In 2006 he won the Nobel Prize for working out the protein pathway that a cell's genetic information takes when transferred to a new cell. He showed how information is carried from the genes and converted to molecules called messenger ribonucleic acid (RNA). This he worked out by mapping out the process in yeast. Kornberg was the first to work out how transcription works at a molecular level in eukaryotes, a group of organisms, including humans, whose cells have a well-defined nucleus. 1947-04-24T00:00:00+000024 Apr 1947 | | Roger D Kornberg was born in St. Louis, MO, USAKornberg | Stanford University |
Horvitz is a biologist who shared the 2002 Nobel Prize for Medicine for discoveries into how genes regulate tissue and organ development through cell death. Critically he showed in 1986, through investigations of the nematode worm, Caenorhabditis elegans, that the process was controlled by two 'death genes', ced-3 and ced-4. He subsequently identifed another gene, ced-9, which protects against cell death by interacting with ced-3 and ced-4. Later on he found that humans had a counterpart ced-3 gene. His work on cell death, known as apoptosis, opened the door to the development of new cancer treatments.1947-05-08T00:00:00+00008 May 1947 | | H Robert Horvitz was born in Chicago IL, USAHorvitz | Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Wieschaus is an evolutionary developmental biologist who shared the 1995 Nobel Prize for Medicine for research into genetic controls during early embryonic development. Working together with Nüsslein-Volhard on embryo formation in Drosophila, the fruit fly, Wieschaus helped establish that approximately 5,000 of the fly's 20,000 genes are important to embryo development, of which 150 are essential.
1947-06-08T00:00:00+00008 Jun 1947 | | Eric F Wieschaus was born in South Bend, Indiana, USAWieschaus | European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Princeton University |
This was based on McClintock's finding that two genes that controlled for pigmentation in maize could move along the chromosome to a different site and that these changes affected the behaviour of neighbouring genes. She suggested that this explained new mutations in pigmentation and other characteristics. 1948-01-01T00:00:00+00001948 - 1950 | | McClintock developed her theory of genetic transpositionMcClintock | Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory |
R.D. Hotchkiss, 'The quantative separation of purines, pyrimidines, and nucleosides by paper chromatography', J Biol Chem, 175/1 (1948), 315-32. 1948-03-10T00:00:00+0000March 1948 | | Hotchkiss discovered the first naturally modifed DNA nucleotide, cytosine, in a chromatography of calf thymus DNAHotchkiss | Rockefeller Institute |
Nurse is a geneticist who shared the 2001 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for discovering key regulators of the cell cycle. He helped to demonstrate how the cell knows when to reproduce and make copies of itself. This he did by working on the cell cycle in fission yeast, a relatively simple single cell organism. In the mid-1970s Nurse discovered that the yeast cell cycle was controlled by one particular gene - cdc2. The gene serves as a master switch that regulates the timing of events such as cell division. In 1987 Nurse found a corresponding gene in humans, called the cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (cdk1). Nurse's findings are important to understanding why certain cells begin to multiply uncontrollably and become cancerous.1949-01-25T00:00:00+000025 Jan 1949 | | Paul M Nurse was born in Norwich, United KingdomNurse | Imperial Cancer Research Fund, Francis Crick Institute |
Lindquist was a molecular biologist whose work on yeast proteins opened up new avenues for understanding gene functioning and degenerative diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's as well for drug resistance, cancer and prion biology. Most of her career was devoted to looking at how proteins change shape during cell division to carry out genetic functions. She demonstrated that protein-folding errors can occur in all species and that the biological changes this can cause can be passed from one offspring to the next without the need for RNA or DNA. Linquist was the first demale director of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at MIT. 1949-06-05T00:00:00+00005 Jun 1949 | | Susan Lindquist was born in Chicago, Illiniois, USALinquist | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
The lambda phage has become a key tool in molecular biology and is important for genetic engineering. It has the advantage that it can be easily grown in E Coli and is not pathogenic except in the case of bacteria. Lederberg's discovery paved the way to understanding the transfer of genetic material between bacteria, the mechanisms involved in gene regulation and how piece of DNA break apart and recombine to make new genes. EM Lederberg, 'Lysogenicity in Escherichia coli strain K-12', Microbial Genetics Bulletin, 1, (1950), 5-9. 1950-01-01T00:00:00+0000January 1950 | | Esther Lederberg discovered the lambda phageEsther Lederberg | University of Wisconsin |
Jeffreys, a British geneticist, pioneered the process for DNA fingerprinting, a technique that helps identify individuals based on their genetic makeup. It was based on his discovery in 1984 that each individual had unique numbers of repeated DNA fragments, called restriction fragment length polymorphisms, in their cells. 1950-01-09T00:00:00+00009 Jan 1950 | | Alec Jeffreys was born in Oxford, UKJeffreys | University of Leicester |
HE Alexander and G Leidy, 'Transformation of Type Specificity of H. influenzae,' American Pediatric Society, French Lick, May 10, 1950.1950-05-10T00:00:00+000010 May 1950 | | Hattie E Alexander and Grace Leidy reported success using DNA to alter the hereditary characteristics of Hemophilus influenzaeAlexander, Leidy | Columbia University |
G.R. Wyatt, 'Recognition and estimation of 5-methylcytosine in nucleic acids', Biochem J, 48/5 (1951), 581-4.1951-05-01T00:00:00+0000May 1951 | | 5-methcytosine isolated in nucleic acids for the first timeWyatt | |
Szotak is a biologist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for helping to discover how chromosomes are protected by telomeres, a section of DNA at the end of a chromosome. He is also known for having constructed the world's first yeast artificial chromosome, a breakthrough that has helped scientists to map the location of genes in mammals and develop techniques for mapping genes. Szotak is also responsible for the development of a technique known as in vitro evolution of RNA which makes it possible to discover RNAs with desired functions. 1952-11-09T00:00:00+00009 Nov 1952 | | Jack Szostak was born in London, United KingdomSzotak | Harvard University |
Herrick was an American physician and cardiologist who reported the first case of sickle-shaped red blood cells in 1910. These he found in the blood of a medical student from Grenada suffering from anaemia. Clinicians subsequently found that the condition, called sickle-cell anaemia, was inherited and was most common in black patients. Sickle-cell anemia was the first disease found to have a genetic cause. Herrick later also observed the first clinical features of coronary thrombosis. 1954-03-07T00:00:00+00007 Mar 1954 | | James Bryan Herrick diedHerrick | Rush Medical College |
Pauling was an American chemist and biochemist who helped pioneer quantum chemistry and mechanics. He combined methods from x-ray crystallography, molecular model building and quantum chemistry. Pauling was the first to find the alpha helix structure of proteins. In 1954 he won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his 'research on the nature of the chemical bond and its application to the elucidation of the structure of complex structures.' He also co-authored the first paper to suggest sickle-cell anaemia was a genetic disease, which introduced the concept of 'molecular disease'. Pauling also won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962, which was given for his opposition to nuclear weapons.
1954-10-31T00:00:00+000031 Oct 1954 | | Linus Pauling was awarded the Nobel PrizePauling | California Institute of Technology |
Avery was a Canadian-American physician and bacteriologist who provided the first evidence that that genes are made up of DNA. In 1944 he and colleagues conducted a series of experiments in mice using two sets of bacteria, one smooth (virulent) and the other rough (nonvirulent), associated with pneumonia. In the first instance they injected the virulent bacteria into the mouse, which went on to die. Next they injected the non-virulent bacteria into a mouse, which survived. They then heated the virulent bacteria to kill it and injected it into a mouse, which survived. Following this they injected a mixture of heat-killed bacteria with the virulent bacteria into the mouse, which died. Finally they injected a mixture of harmless bacteria with DNA extracted from the heated lethal bacteria in a mouse which died. The experiment showed that the harmless bacteria became lethal when mixed with DNA from the virulent bacteria. 1955-02-02T00:00:00+00002 Feb 1955 | | Oswald T Avery diedAvery | Rockefeller University |
The molecule was first observed by the American scientists Elliot Volkin and Lazarus Astrachan in experiments conducted with bacteriophage-infected Escherichia coli. Calling the new molecule 'DNA-like RNA', Volkin and Astrachan published their finding in 'Phosphorus incorporation in Escherichia coli ribonucleic acid after infection with bacteriophage T2', Virology, 2 (1956), 149-61. 1956-01-17T00:00:00+00001956 | | First observation of messenger RNA, or mRNAAstrachan, Volkin | Oak Ridge National Laboratory |
C.H. Waddington, The Strategy of the Genes: A Discussion of Some Aspects of Theoretical Biology (London, 1957).1957-01-01T00:00:00+00001957 | | Conrad Waddington develops model of epigenetic landscape to show the process of cellular decision-making during biological developmentWaddngton | Cambridge University |
The method, known as the T4 rII system, was developed by Seymour Benson. It involved cross-breeding two different r mutant strains of the T4 bacteriophage and recording when a recombination resulted in a normal rII sequence. Based on his mapping of over 2400 rII mutants Benzour provided the first evidence that the gene is not an indivisible entity and that genes are linear. S Benzer, 'On the Topology of the Genetic Fine Structure', PNAS, 45/11 (1959), 1607–20. 1959-11-01T00:00:00+00001 Nov 1959 | | New technique published for mapping the gene shows genes are linear and could not be dividedBenzer | Purdue University, California Institute of Technology |
McClintock noticed the phenomenon during her experiments with maize. She reported her findings to the annual symposium at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. 1961-01-01T00:00:00+00001961 | | 'Jumping genes', transposable elements, discovered by Barbara McClintockMcLintock | Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory |
Greider is best known for her discovery of telomerase, an enzyme made up of protein and RNA subunits that help elongate and protect chromosomes. The enzyme is found in fetal tissues, adult germ cells and also tumour cells. Greider made the discovery in 1984 when she was a graduate student of Elizabeth Blackburn. She was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2009 on the back of this work. 1961-04-15T00:00:00+000015 Apr 1961 | | Carol W Greider was born in San Diego CA, USAGreider | Johns Hopkins University |
M.F. Lyon, 'Gene action in the X-chromosome of the mouse', Nature, 190 (1961), 372–73.1961-04-22T00:00:00+000022 Apr 1961 | | Genes linked to X-chromosome inactivation in female mice embyosLyon | Cambridge University |
The experiment was conducted by Sidney Brenner, Francois Jacob, and Matt Meselson and published as 'An unstable intermediate carrying information from genes to ribosomes for protein synthesis', Nature, 190 (1961), 576-81. They established the mRNA was responsible for transporting genetic information from the nucleus to the protein-making machinery in a cell. 1961-05-13T00:00:00+000013 May 1961 | | Experiment confirms existence of mRNABrenner, Jacob, Meselson | University of Cambridge, Pasteur Institute, California Institute of Technology |
The phenomenon was observed in human fibroblasts (WI-38). It was named the 'Hayflick Limit' after Leonard Hayflick who discovered it. His work was published in L Hayflick, PS Moorhead, 'The serial cultivation of human diploid cell strains', Experimental Cell Research, 25/3 (1961), 585-621. The Hayflick Limit is now known to relate to genetic instability in aging cells and the development of cancer.1961-12-01T00:00:00+0000December 1961 | | Normal cell population discovered to only be able to divide a limited number of times before it stopsHayflick | Wistar Institute |
Werner Arber, Swiss microbiologist and geneticist, and his doctoral student Daisy Dussoix proposed that bacteria produce restriction and modification enzymes to counter invading viruses. They published their findings in 'Host specificity of DNA produced by Escherichia coli I and II', Journal Molecular Biology, 5 (1962), 18–36 and 37-49.1962-01-23T00:00:00+000023 Jan 1962 | | Idea of restriction and modification enzymes bornArber, Dussoix | University of Geneva |
Fisher was a British statistician and geneticist who pioneered the use of statistical procedures to study Mendelian genetics and natural selection. His work helped lay the foundation for population genetics and modern statistical science. Between 1919 and 1934 he worked at the Rothamsted Experimental Station where he made major contributions to rational crop breeding programmes. He established a means to track the linkage of genes for different traits and introduced the principle of randomisation for preventing the introduction of bias in experiments. In his early life he was a prominent Eugenicist. 1962-07-29T00:00:00+000029 Jul 1962 | | Ronald Aylmer Fisher diedFisher | Rothamsted Experimental Station |
The award was given to James Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins. The work of these individuals was built upon that of Rosalind Franklin who died before the Nobel Prize was awarded. 1962-10-18T00:00:00+000018 Oct 1962 | | Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine awarded for determining the structure of DNAWatson, Crick, Wilkins | Laboratory of Molecular Biology |
John Burdon Sanderson Haldane was a geneticist, biometrician and physiologist who helped to open up new research paths into population genetics and evolution. He was responsible for the establishment of human gene maps for haemophilia and colour blindness on the X chromosome and was one of the first to suggest that sickle-cell anaemia can provide some immunity to malaria. Haldane is also remembered for establishing the principles for in vitro fertilisation and for coining the terms 'clone' and 'cloning' in human biology. He was also a strong populariser of science and a renowned socialist.1964-12-01T00:00:00+00001 Dec 1964 | | JBS Haldane diedJBS Haldane | University of Cambridge, University of California Berkeley, University of London |
The code was worked out by Marshall Nirenberg with the help of his colleagues Heinrich Mathaei and Severo Ochoa. They showed that a sequence of three nucleotide bases (a codon) determined each of the 20 amino acids that make up proteins. The code was painstakingly worked out and recorded on a series of charts. Together these charts plotted out how a DNA sequence gets translated into an RNA sequence and in turn is translated into a protein sequence.1965-01-18T00:00:00+000018 Jan 1965 | | First summary of the genetic code was completedNirenberg, Mathaei, Ochoa | National Institutes of Health |
The feat was achieved by Henry Harris and John Watkins. The two cells, one derived from a mouse and the other from a human, were fused together using a parainfluenza virus that had been inactivated using ultraviolet light. The resulting hybrid cell contained both human and mouse chromosomes. By fusing cells from different species Harris and Watkins aimed to get a plenitude of stable genetic markers, which were in short supply in animal cells. Their technique was published in H. Harris, JF Watkins, G Campbell, EP Evans, CE Ford, 'Mitosis in hybrid cells derived from mouse and man', Nature, 207 (7 Aug 1965), 606–08. 1965-08-07T00:00:00+00007 Aug 1965 | | Mouse and human cells successfully fusedHarris, Watkins, Campbell, Evans, Ford | Oxford University |
Muller was an American geneticist. He demonstrated that X-rays could change the genetic make-up of fruit-flies and that the mutations could be passed on to subsequent generations. Published in 1927 this work attracted widespread attention. It marked the first time the genetics of a species was intentionally altered. Muller's work opened up new understanding of how mutations are caused and heralded a revolution in genetics research. He was awarded he 1946 Nobel Prize for 'the discovery of the production of mutations by means of X-ray irradiation'.1967-04-15T00:00:00+000015 Apr 1967 | | Hermann J Muller diedMuller | Indiana University |
The technique was developed by Mary Weiss and Howard Green. Their method involved fusing a mouse cell that was unable to make the enzyme thymidine kinase with a human cell that could make the enzyme. They then let the cells multiply in a nutrient solution that was deadly to any cells that lacked the enzyme. This killed off all the cells except one clump of identical cells (clone) that produced the enzyme. These cells they found contained the same identical clone. Weiss and Green's technique provided a crucial step towards human gene mapping. Their work was published in 'Human-mouse hybrid cell lines containing partial complements of human chromosomes and functioning human genes', PNAS USA 58/3 (1967): 1104-11.
1967-09-01T00:00:00+0000September 1967 | | Chromosome with a specific gene isolated from hybrid cells produced from fused mouse and human cellsWeiss, Green | New York University |
W. Arber, S.Linn, 'DNA modification and restriction', Annual Review Biochemistry, 38 (1969), 467-500.1969-07-01T00:00:00+0000July 1969 | | Discovery of methylase, an enzyme, found to add protective methyl groups to DNAArber, Linn | University of Geneva |
The method uses (quinacrine mustard) which causes chromosomes to show light and dark lateral bands along their length. This makes it possible to accurately identify all 22 autosomes and X and Y chromosomes. With this method scientists can observe slight abnormalities and extra chromosomes such as those implicated in Down's syndrome. The staining technique was devised by Torbjourn Casperson, Lore Zech and other colleagues at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. It was published in T Caspersson, L Zech, C Johansson, EJ Modest, 'Identification of human chromosomes by DNA-binding fluorescent agents', Chromosoma, 30/2 (1970), 213-27, DOI:10.1007/BF00282002
1970-06-01T00:00:00+0000June 1970 | | First method published for staining human or other mammalian chromosomes Casperson, Zech, Johansson, Modest | Karolinska Institute |
Reverse transcriptase is a restriction enzyme that cuts DNA molecules at specific sites. The enzyme was simultaneously discovered independently by Howard Temin and David Baltimore. Temin made the discovery while working on Rous sacoma virions and Baltimore was working on the poliovirus and vesicular stomatis virus. The discovery laid the foundations for the the disciplines of retrovirology and cancer biology and ability to produce recombinant DNA. The findings were published in D Baltimore, 'RNA-dependent DNA polymerase in virions of RNA tumour viruses' Nature, 226 (1970), 1209–11 and HM Temin, S Mizutani, 'RNA-dependent DNA polymerase in virions of Rous sarcoma virus', Nature, 226 (1970), 1211–13.
1970-07-27T00:00:00+000027 Jul 1970 | | Reverse transcriptase first isolatedBaltimore, Temin, Mizutani | Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Wisconsin |
The observation was made by Hugh McDevitt and colleagues using two methods of genetic mapping to determine the immune response in immunised mice. The work suggested predictable, inherited susceptibility to some diseases. It was published in HO McDevitt, BD Deak, D Shreffler, J Klein, JH Stimpfling, GD Snell, 'Genetic control of the immune response', Journal of Experimental Medicine, 135 (1972), 1259-78. 1972-02-07T00:00:00+00007 Feb 1972 | | Immune response genes discoveredMcDevitt, Deak, Shreffler, Klein, Stimpfling, Snell | Stanford University, University of Michigan, Jackson Laboratory |
The first person who proposed the workshop was Frank Ruddle who convened the first meeting. He was inspired to set up the workshop by the rapid development in mapping by somatic-cell hybridisation. The workshop was sponsored by the National Science Foundation and March of Dimes. It was held at Yale University, New Haven. Papers from the conference were published in Cytogenet Cell Genetics, 13 (1974), 1-216. 1973-06-10T00:00:00+000010 Jun 1973 - 13 Jun 1973 | | First international workshop on human gene mapping heldRuddle | |
A.D. Riggs, 'X inactivation, differentiation, and DNA methylation', Cytogenet Cell Genet, 14 (1975), 9–25; R. Sager, R. Kitchin, 'Selective silencing of eukaryotic DNA', Science, 189/4201 (1975), 426-33. 1975-01-01T00:00:00+00001975 | | DNA methylation suggested as mechanism behind X-chomosome silencing in embryosRiggs, Sager, Kitchen | City of Hope National Medical Center, Harvard University |
R. Holliday, J.E. Pugh, 'DNA modification mechanisms and gene activity during development', Science, 187 (1975), 226–32.1975-01-01T00:00:00+00001975 | | DNA methylation proposed as important mechanism for the control of gene expression in higher organismsHoilliday, Pugh | National Institute for Medical Research |
Tatum was an American biochemist who shared the 1958 Nobel Prize for Medicine for discovering how genes regulate biochemical events in cells. This was based on some experiments he carried out with colleagues at Stanford University in 1941 which involved crossing normal strains of the pink bread mould, Neurospora crassa, with another strain of the mould they had exposed to X-rays to induce genetic mutations. The offspring were found to inherit the mutation which manifested itself as metabolic defect. This led them to conclude that there was a direct link between genes and enzymatic reactions.1975-11-05T00:00:00+00005 Nov 1975 | | Edward L Tatum diedTatum | Stanford University, Yale University |
The suggestion was put forward by J Michael Bishop and Harold Varmus based on their research on the SRC gene of the Rous sarcoma virus, which they found to be nearly identical to a sequence in the normal cellular DNA of several different bird species. The findings were published in D Stehelin, HE Varmus, JM Bishop, PK Vogt, 'DNA related to the transforming gene(s) of avian sarcoma viruses is present in normal avian DNA', Nature, 260/5547 (1976), 170-3.1976-03-11T00:00:00+000011 Mar 1976 | | Proto-oncogenes suggested to be part of the genetic machinery of normal cells and play important function in the developing cellBishop, Varmus, Stehelin, Vogt | University of California San Francisco |
Monod was a French biochemist who, together with Francois Jacob, worked out the genetic control of enzyme and virus synthesis based on their experiments with Escherichia coli in the early 1960s. They proposed that a messenger molecule in cells carries codes from the DNA in the cell nucleus to the site of protein synthesis in the cell's cytoplasm. This molecule was later called messenger RNA and is now the basis of COVID-19 vaccines. Based on his work Monrod was awarded a Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1965. 1976-05-31T00:00:00+000031 May 1976 | | Jacques Monod diedMonod | Pasteur Institute |
Lysenko was a Russian biologist who rejected the principles of Mendelian genetics and embraced the ideas of Jean-Baptiste Lamark who promoted the idea that an organism could pass on characteristics that it acquired during its lifetime to its offspring. Much of his work was directed towards trying to convert wheat crops to grow in different seasons. Stalin appointed Lysenko director of the Institute of Genetics in 1940, a position he retained until 1965. His rejection of orthodox genetics set Soviet agriculture and biology back by many decades. 1976-11-20T00:00:00+000020 Nov 1976 | | Trofim Denisovich Lysenko diedLysenko | Lenin All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences |
The method, known as the oocyte stem, was developed by Janet Mertz together with John Gurdon and Edward M DeRobertis. It was published in EM. De Robertis, JB. Gurdon, GA. Partington, JE Mertz, RA, 'Injected amphibian oocytes: a living test tube for the study of eukaryotic gene transcription?', Biochemistry Society Symposium, 42 (1977),181-91.1977-01-01T00:00:00+00001977 | | First method developed for studying gene regulation in a higher organismMertz, Gurdon, De Robertis | Laboratory of Molecular Biology |
A German biophysicist, Delbruck helped discover how viruses replicate their genetic structure, showing that bacterial resistance from viruses is due to random mutation and not the result of adaptive changes. This work showed that viruses reproduce in one step and not exponentially as happens in the case of cellular organisms. In 1969 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine on the back of this work. Blending biochemistry with genetics, Delbruck made substantial contributions to uncovering important aspects of genetics.1981-03-09T00:00:00+00009 Mar 1981 | | Max Delbruck diedDelbruck | California Institute of Technology |
S.J. Compere, R.D. Palmiter, 'DNA methylation controls the inducibility of the mouse metallothionein-I gene lymphoid cells', Cell, 25 (1981), 233–240. 1981-07-01T00:00:00+0000July 1981 | | First evidence provided to show that DNA methylation involved in silencing X-chromosomeCompere, Palmitter | Howard Hughes Medical Institute |
1982-01-01T00:00:00+00001982 - 1985 | | Studies reveal azacitidine, a cytoxic agent developed by Upjohn, inhibits DNA methylation | |
1982-01-01T00:00:00+00001982 | | Azacitidine fails to win FDA approval for treatment of acute myelogenous leukaemia due to lack of controlled studies showing clinical benefit | |
A.P. Feinberg, B. Vogelstein, 'Hypomethylation distinguishes genes of some human cancers from their normal counterparts', Nature, 301/5895 (1983), 89-92.1983-01-06T00:00:00+00006 Jan 1983 | | Widespread loss of DNA methylation found on cytosine-guanine (CpG) islands in tumour samplesFeinberg, Vogelstein | Johns Hopkins University |
The first genetic fingerprint was discovered by accident by Alec Jeffrey when conducting experiments to look at how genetic variations evolved. 1984-09-10T00:00:00+000010 Sep 1984 | | First genetic fingerprint revealedJeffreys | University of Leicester |
A. Bird, M. Taggart, M. Frommer, O.J. Miller, D. Macleod, ‘A fraction of the mouse genome that is derived from islands of nonmethylated, CpG-rich DNA’, Cell, 40/1 (1985 Jan;40(1):91-9.
1985-01-01T00:00:00+0000January 1985 | | DNA methylation found to occur on specific DNA segments called CpG islandsBird, Taggart, Fromer, Miller, Macleod | Edinburgh University, Kanematsu Laboratories, Columbia University |
This was developed by the British geneticist Alec Jeffreys. He developed the technique as part of his efforts to trace genes through family lineages. It was based on his discovery that each individual had unique numbers of repeated DNA fragments, called restriction fragment length polymorphisms, in their cells. The principle was described in A J Jeffreys, V Wilson, S L Thein, 'Hypervariable 'minisatellite' regions in human DNA', Nature, 314 (1985), 67-73.
1985-03-07T00:00:00+00007 Mar 1985 | | DNA fingerprinting principle laid out Jeffreys | University of Leicester |
Undertaken to prove maternity of a 15 year old boy threatened with deportation to Ghana by the UK Home Office because of doubts over the identity of his mother, an immigrant based in the UK. The test proved the boy was related to his mother. Without the test the mother and son would not have been able to remain together in the same country. 1985-05-17T00:00:00+000017 May 1985 | | 1st legal case resolved using DNA fingerprintingJeffreys | University of Leicester |
T. Bestor, A. Laudano, R. Mattaliano, V. Ingram, 'Cloning and sequencing of a cDNA encoding DNA methyltransferase of mouse cells', Journal Molecular Biology, 203 (1988), 971–83. 1988-10-20T00:00:00+000020 Oct 1988 | | Cloning of first mammalian enzyme (DNA methyltransferase, DNMT) that catalyses transfer of methyl group to DNA Bestor, Laudano, Mattaliano, Ingram | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Beadle, an American geneticist, was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1958 for discovering the role of genes in regulating biochemical events within cells. He made the discovery in collaboration with Edward Tatum while conducting experiments that exposed Neurospora crassa, a the bread mould, to x-rays to cause mutations. They found that the mutations caused changes in specific enzymes that were involved in metabolic pathways. The work was done at Stanford University.1989-06-09T00:00:00+00009 Jun 1989 | | George Wells Beadle diedBeadle | California Institute of Technology, Stanford University |
V. Greger, E. Passarge, W. Hopping, E. Messmer, B. Horsthemke, 'Epigenetic changes may contribute to the formation and spontaneous regression of retinoblastoma', Human Genetics, 83 (1989), 155–58. 1989-09-01T00:00:00+0000September 1989 | | DNA methylation suggested to inactivate tumour suppressor genesGreger, Passarge, Hopping, Messmer, Horsthemke | Institute of Human Genetics |
The was determined by a team led by Marie-Claire King who conducted a genetic analysis of 23 extended families, a total of 329 relatives. J Hall, M Lee, B Newman, J Morrow, L Anderson, B Huey, M King, 'Linkage of early-onset familial breast cancer to chromosome 17q21', Science, 250/4988 (1990): 1684–89. 1990-12-01T00:00:00+0000December 1990 | | BRCA1, a single gene on chromosome 17, shown to be responsible for many breast and ovarian cancersKing, Lee, Newman, Morrow, Anderson, Huey | University of California Berkeley |
Luria was an IItalian microbiologist who made his name in 1943 when he demonstrated, with Max Delbruck, that viruses undergo permanent changes in their hereditary material. The same year he and Delbruck showed phage-resistant bacteria resulted from spontaneous mutations rather than as a direct response to environmental changes. Their work helped explain how bacteria develop antibiotic resistance. Luria had landed up working with Delbruck in the US because he was banned from academic research fellowships in Italy under Mussolini's Italian fascist regime because of his Jewish background. In 1969 Luria was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for helping to discover the replication mechanism and the genetic structure of viruses.1991-02-06T00:00:00+00006 Feb 1991 | | Salvador E Luria diedLuria | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
M. Frommer, L.E. McDonald, D.S. Millar, C.M. Collis, F. Watt, G.W. Grigg, P.L. Molloy, C.L. Paul, 'A genomic sequencing protocol that yields a positive display of 5-methylcytosine residues in individual DNA strands', PNAS, 89/5 (1992), 1827-31.1992-03-01T00:00:00+00001 Mar 1992 | | Method devised to isolate methylated cytosine residues in individual DNA strands providing avenue to undertake DNA methylation genomic sequencing | |
Mouse genetated with genes knocked out that produce the enzyme DNA methyltransfgerase involved in DNA methylation. E. Li, T.H. Bestor, R. Jaenisch, 'Targeted mutation of the DNA methyltransferase gene results in embryonic lethality', Cell, 69/6 (1992), 915-26.1992-06-12T00:00:00+000012 Jun 1992 | | First transgenic mouse model created for studying link between DNA methylation and diseaseLi, Bestor, Jaenisch | Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research |
McClintock was a pioneer in the field of cytogenetics, a branch of genetics concerned with how chromosomes affect cell behaviour. Based on her investigation of how chromosomes change in reproductiuon in maize she demonstrated in the late 1920s that genes can shift to different locations by themselves. In the 1940s and 1950s she showed that genes are responsible for turning physical characteristics on and off, a process called transposition. Initially scientists were sceptical of her findings so she stopped publishing her data in 1953. By the 1960s and 1970s attitudes towards her work changed as more scientists made similar findings. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1983 for her work.1992-09-02T00:00:00+00002 Sep 1992 | | Barbara McClintock diedMcClintock | University of Missouri |
W.F. Zapisek, G.M. Cronin, B.D. Lyn-Cook, L.A. Poirier, 'The onset of oncogene hypomethylation in the livers of rats fed methyl-deficient, amino acid-defined diets', Carcinogenesis, 13/10 (1992), 1869-72.1992-10-01T00:00:00+00001 Oct 1992 | | First experimental evidence showing links between diet and DNA methylation and its relationship with cancerZapisek, Cronin, Lyn-Cook, Poirier | FDA, National Center for Toxicological Research |
Holley was an American biochemist who shared the 1968 Nobel Prize for Medicine for explaining how the genetic code controls the synthesis of proteins. This stemmed from his research on RNA which he began in the late 1940s. By 1960 and he and collaborators showed that amino acids were assembled into proteins by transfer RNAs (tRNAs). In 1965 he managed to determine the composition of tRNA that incorporates the amino acid alanine into protein molecules.1993-02-11T00:00:00+000011 Feb 1993 | | Robert W Holley diedHolley | Cornell University |
Ochoa was a Spanish biochemist and molecular biologist whose research was devoted to understanding enzymes and their role in intermediary metabolism. He was one of the first scientists to show the pivotal role of high energy phosphates, like adenosine triphosphate, in the storage and release of energy. During this work he discovered the enzyme polynucleotide phosphorylase, which plays an important role in the synthesis of ribonucleic acid (RNA). This enzyme provided the foundation for the subsequent synthesis of artificial RNA and the breaking of the human genetic code. Ochoa was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1959 for his work on the biological synthesis of RNA. 1993-11-01T00:00:00+00001 Nov 1993 | | Severo Ochoa diedOchoa | New York University |
Temin was an American geneticist and virologist who shared the 1975 Nobel Prize for Medicine for his work on the interactions between tumour viruses and the genetic material of the cell. In 1969 he demonstrated that certain tumour viruses carry the ability to reverse the flow of information from RNA back to DNA using the enzyme reverse transcriptase. The same enzyme is now is known to be linked to the widespread spread of viral diseases like AIDs and hepatitis B.1994-02-09T00:00:00+00009 Feb 1994 | | Howard M Temin diedTemin | University of Wisconsin |
Lejeune was a French paediatrician and geneticist who made the first link between chromosome abnormalities and disease. In 1958 he found that children with Down syndrome had 47 chromosomes instead of the usual 46. Five years later he showed that a chromosome deletion on chromosome 5 was linked to Cri du chat, a rare genetic disorder that causes severe cognitive, speech and motor disabilities. He also discovered several other diseases related to chromosomal abnormalities in the early 1970s. LeJeune was a strong advocate for improving the lives of children with Down Syndrome and opposed abortion.1994-04-03T00:00:00+00003 Apr 1994 | | Jérôme-Jean-Louis-Marie Lejeune diedLejeune | Paris School of Medicine |
Pauling was an American chemist and biochemist who helped to pioneer quantum chemistry and mechanics. He combined methods from x-ray crystallography, molecular model building and quantum chemistry. Pauling was the first to find the alpha helix structure of proteins. In 1954 he won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his 'research on the nature of the chemical bond and its application to the elucidation of the structure of complex structures.' He also co-authored the first paper to suggest sickle-cell anaemia was a genetic disease, which introduced the concept of 'molecular disease'. Pauling was also awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962 for his opposition to nuclear weapons.
1994-08-19T00:00:00+000019 Aug 1994 | | Linus C Pauling diedPauling | California Institute of Technology |
1995-01-01T00:00:00+00001995 | | Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, Eric Wieschaus and Edward B Lewis jointly awarded Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for illuminating the genetic control of embryonic developmentNusslein-Volhard, Wieschaus, Lewis | |
P.W. Laird, L. Jackson-Grusby, A. Fazeli, S. L. Dickinson, W. E. Jung, E. Li, R.A. Weinberg, R. Jaenisch, 'Suppression of intestinal neoplasia by DNA hypomethylation', Cell, 81 (1995),197-205, April 21, 1995,1995-04-21T00:00:00+000021 Apr 1995 | | First evidence published to demonstrate reduced DNA methylation contributes to formation of tumoursLaird, Jackson-Grusby, Fazeli, Dickinson, Jung, Li, Weinberg, Jaenisch | Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts General Hospital |
Snell was a major founder of immunogenetics as a discipline. He is best known for helping to identify the major histocompatibility complex, a group of genes that code for proteins found on the surface of cells that help the immune system differentiate between self and nonself cells, and demonstrating its role in tissue graft rejection. This work laid the foundation for carrying out successful transplants in both animals and humans. Snell shared the 1980 Nobel Prize for Medicine for 'discoveries concerning genetically determined structures on the cell surface that regulate immunological reactions'.1996-06-06T00:00:00+00006 Jun 1996 | | George D Snell diedSnell | Jackson Laboratory |
Mazia was an American cell biologist whose passion was to understand how cells reproduce. As a doctoral researcher he was one of the first to establish the role of calcium in egg activation in the process of fertilisation. Following this, he worked on the process of cell division, structure and division. He is best known for the work he did in 1931 which helped identify the cell structure responsible for mitosis, the process when a eukaryotic cell divides chromosomes into two identical daughter cells. Mazia also determined how the nucleus and chromosomes change during the cell cycle. 1996-06-09T00:00:00+00009 Jun 1996 | | Daniel Mazia diedMazia | University of California Berkeley |
A geneticist by training, Sager enjoyed two careers. She first made her mark in the 1950s and 1950s when she discovered the transmission of genetic traits through chloroplast DNA. This was the first example of genetics not involving the cell nucleus. Later on, in the early 1970s, she became a major pioneer in cancer genetics. She was one of the first to propose and investigate the function of tumour suppressor genes. 1997-03-29T00:00:00+000029 Mar 1997 | | Ruth Sager diedSager | Rockefeller University |
Hershey was an American bacteriologist and geneticist. He is best known for a series of experiments with bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria) which helped to confirm that DNA rather than proteins carried genetic material. These he performed with Martha Chase in 1952. Hershey shared the 1969 Nobel Prize for Medicine for 'discoveries concerning the replication mechanism and the genetic structure of viruses.' 1997-05-22T00:00:00+000022 May 1997 | | Alfred D Hershey diedHershey | Carnegie Institution of Washington |
Introduction of RNA into cells is shown to silence genes in the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans. This led to the coining of the rerm 'RNA interference'. A Fire, S Xu, M K Montgomery, S A Kostas, S E Driver, C C Mello, 'Potent and specific genetic interference by double-stranded RNA in Caenorhabditis elegans', Nature, 391 (1998), 806–11.1998-02-01T00:00:00+0000February 1998 | | Double stranded RNA demonstrated to be potent mechanism for silencing genesFire, Mello, Xu, Montgomery, Kostas, Driver, | Carnegie Institution of Washington, Johns Hopkins University, University of Massachusetts Cancer Center |
Fraenkel-Conrat was a German-American biochemist who discovered that RNA is pivotal to the genetic control of viral reproduction and that it is carried in the nucelic core of each virus. This indicated that the viral infectivity resides in the nucleic acid part of the virus. He made this finding in 1955 during experiments with the tobacco mosaic virus. By 1960 he had determined the complete sequence of the 159 amino acids in the virus. His work demonstrated that virus molecules that retain viral life can be reconstituted from its separate protein and RNA.1999-04-10T00:00:00+000010 Apr 1999 | | Heinz Ludwig Fraenkel-Conrat diedFraenkel-Conrat | University of California Berkeley |
M. Toyota, N. Ahuja, M. Ohe-Toyota, J.G. Herman, S.B. Baylin, J-P.J. Issa, 'CpG island methylator phenotype in colorectal cancer', PNAS, 96/15 (1999), 8681–86.1999-07-20T00:00:00+000020 Jul 1999 | | DNA methylation of CpG islands shown to be linked to colorectal cancerToyota, Ahuja, Ohe-Toyota, Herman, Baylin, Issa | Johns Hopkins University |
H.D. Morgan, H.G. Sutherland, D.I. Martin, E. Whitelaw, 'Epigenetic inheritance at the agouti locus in the mouse', Nature Genetics, 23 (1991), 314–18.1999-11-01T00:00:00+0000November 1999 | | First evidence from mammals that epigenetic changes can be passed down generations Morgan, Sutherland, Martin, Whitelaw | University of Sydney |
Michael Smith shared the 1993 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for a technique that enables researchers to introduce specific mutations into genes and, thus, to the proteins that they encode. He developed the method, known as site-directed mutagenesis, in the 1970s, in collaboration with Fred Sanger and Clyde A Hutchinson III. The advantage of the technique was that it allowed comparisons to be made of different protein molecules and provide a means to deliberately alter a specific gene thereby making it possible to modify the characteristics of an organism. His work opened up a new chapter for studying and treating genetic diseases. Site-directed mutagenesis is a pivotal tool today in genetic and protein research and engineering and at the forefront of the development of monoclonal antibody drugs.
2000-10-04T00:00:00+00004 Oct 2000 | | Michael Smith diedMichael Smith | University of British Columbia |
Clarke was a British physician and geneticist who was one of the first to appreciate the importance of medical genetics in day-to-day clinical practice. Based on his knowledge of how genetics dictated the colour of wing patterns in butterflies, he became interested in the inheritance of human blood types. This paved the way to his development of measures to prevent rhesus haemolytic disease of the newborn. Such babies, born of a positive-Rhesus factor father and a negative-Rhesus factor mother, can result in a fatal anaemia in babies. Clarke established the Nuffield Unit for medical genetics in Liverpool. 2000-11-21T00:00:00+000021 Nov 2000 | | Cyril A Clarke diedClarke | Liverpool University |
2001-01-01T00:00:00+00002001 | | Pharmion licenses azacitidine from Pharmacia and Upjohn to Pharmacia's azacityidine technology, patents and clinical data | |
Research led by Frank J Rauscher, published in Genes and Development.2002-04-14T00:00:00+0000April 2002 | | Identification of new enzyme for silencing certain genes, opening new avenues for cancer treatmentsRauscher | Wistar Institute |
Research carried out by Ramin Shiekhattar published in Journal of Biological Chemistry. 2002-08-20T00:00:00+000020 Aug 2002 | | Link identified between genes responsible for neurofibromatosis, a common neurological disorder, and a protein thought to play role in Alzheimer's diseaseShiekhattar | Wistar Institute |
A British molecular biologist, Smith was a key pioneer in nucleic acid research. One of the few to realise the importance of nucleic acids before Watson and Crick uncovered the structure of DNA in 1953, Smith helped to elucidate the structure of ribonucleic acid molecules (RNA), the genetic material of many plant and animal viruses. This was helped by his development of paper chromatographic methods for analysing nucleosides and other units which make up DNA. He also helped to discover rare and unexpected modifications of DNA bases in bacterial genomes which are now understood to prevent attack from DNA viruses.2003-11-22T00:00:00+000022 Nov 2003 | | John D Smith diedJohn D Smith | California Institute of Technology, Laboratory of Molecular Biology |
2004-01-01T00:00:00+00002004 | | FDA approved first DNA methylation inhibitor drug, azacitidine (Vidaza®), for treatment of rare bone marrow disorder | |
Lewis was an American developmental geneticist who shared the 1995 Nobel Prize for Medicine for discoveries concerning the genetic control of early embryonic development. He made these discoveries based on the fruit fly. By crossbreeding thousands of flies he demonstrated that genes were arranged on the chromosome in the same order as their body segments, whereby the first set of genes controls the development of the head and thorax, the middle set the abdomen, and the final set the hind parts. He also discovered that the genetic regulatory functions could overlap. A fly with a defective gene in the thoracic region could develop an extra set of wings. His work helped explain the causes of congenital deformities. 2004-07-21T00:00:00+000021 Jul 2004 | | Edward B Lewis diedLewis | California Institute of Technology |
Crick is best known for the work he did with James Watson that identified the double-helix structure of DNA in 1953, for which he shared the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1962. He also developed the central dogma of molecular biology which explained how genetic information flowed within a biological system, moving from DNA to RNA and then protein. His subsequent work looked at the way in which the brain works and the nature of consciousness.2004-07-28T00:00:00+000028 Jul 2004 | | Francis H C Crick diedCrick | Laboratory of Molecular Biology |
Wilkins was a New Zealand biophysicist whose development of x-ray diffraction techniques helped determine the structure of DNA. He obtained the first x-ray patterns on DNA in 1950. This work led to his winning the Nobel Prize in 1962. Following his work on DNA, Wilkins directed his attention to studying the structure of various forms of RNA and a wide group of genetic problems, like ageing. In his younger years, Wilkins was recruited to work on the Manhattan atomic bomb project during the war. Wilkins became profoundly disillusioned with nuclear weapons after the bombing of Japan and was the president of the British Society for Social Responsibility in Science from 1969 to 1991. 2004-10-05T00:00:00+00005 Oct 2004 | | Maurice H F Wilkins diedWilkins | King's College London |
Study conducted by team led by Shelley Berger published in Molecular Cell.2005-02-17T00:00:00+0000February 2005 | | Enzyme Ubp10 demonstrated to protect the genome from potential destabilising molecular eventsBerger, Emre | Wistar Institute |
Drug made by MGI Pharma. approved for treatment of myelodysplastic syndromes, bone marrow disorders2006-01-01T00:00:00+00002006 | | FDA approved second DNA methylation inhibitior, decatabine (Dacogen) | |
Drug made by Merck & Co2006-10-06T00:00:00+00006 Oct 2006 | | FDA approved first histone deacetylase inhibitor, Vorinostat (Zolinza), for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma | |
Lederberg is best known for having discovered the lambda phage, an indispensable tool for studying gene regulation and genetic recombination. She also invented the replica plating technique which is pivotal to tracking antibiotic resistance. 2006-11-11T00:00:00+000011 Nov 2006 | | Esther Lederberg diedEsther Lederberg | Wisconsin University |
Kornberg was an American biochemist renowned for his research on enzymes which create DNA. In 1956 he and his team isolated the first enzyme known to be involved in the replication of DNA. It would be called DNA polymerase I. For this work Kornberg shared the 1959 Nobel Prize for Medicine. The Prize was given for the discovery of the 'mechanisms in the biological synthesis of ribonucleic acid and deoxyribonucleic acid.'2007-10-26T00:00:00+000026 Oct 2007 | | Arthur Kornberg diedKornberg | Stanford University |
The son of Jewish Polish immigrants, Benzer was an American molecular biologist who proved that genetic mutations were caused by changes in the DNA sequence. This was based on some experiments he pursued with mutant T4 bacteriophages, known as r mutants. In 1952 he spotted abnormal behaviour in one mutant strain and a year later devised a technique to measure the recombination frequency between different r mutant strains to map the substructure of a single gene. His work laid the path to determining the detailed structure of viral genes. Benzer also coined the term cistron to denote functional subunits of genes. Together with Ronald Konopka, his student, Benzer also discovered the first gene to control an organism's sense of time, in 1971. In later he worked on genes and the process of ageing in fruit flies.2007-11-30T00:00:00+000030 Nov 2007 | | Seymour Benzer diedBenzer | Purdue University, California Institute of Technology |
Achieved by Emmanuel Skordalakes2008-01-01T00:00:00+00002008 | | Structure of telomerase, an enzyme that conserves the ends of chomosomes, was decoded | Wistar Institute |
Lederberg was an American geneticist who helped discover the mechanism of genetic recombination in bacteria. This was based on some experiments he performed with Edward Tatum in 1946 which involved mixing two different strains of bacteria. Their experiments also demonstrated for the first time that bacteria reproduced sexually, rather than by cells splitting in two, thereby proving that bacterial genetic systems were similar to those of multicelluar organisms. Later on, in 1952, working with Norton Zinder, Lederberg found that certain bacteriophages (viruses that affect bacteria) could carry a bacterial gene from one bacterium to another. In 1958 Lederberg shared the Nobel Prize for Medicine for 'discoveries concerning genetic recombination and the organisation of the genetic material of bacteria.'
2008-02-02T00:00:00+00002 Feb 2008 | | Joshua Lederberg diedJoshua Lederberg | University of Wisconsin |
2009-11-01T00:00:00+0000November 2009 | | FDA approved second histone deactylase inhibitor, Romidepsin (Istodax), for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma | |
Nirenberg was a biochemist and geneticist who shared the 1968 Nobel Prize for Medicine for interpreting the genetic code and its function of protein synthesis. The Prize was given on the back of some experiments Nirenberg conducted in 1960 and 1961 which identified particular codons (3 chemical units of DNA) that specified each of the 20 amino acids that make up protein molecules.2010-01-15T00:00:00+000015 Jan 2010 | | Marshall W Nirenberg diedNirenberg | National Institutes of Health |
Khorana was an Indian chemist who shared the 1968 Nobel Prize for Medicine for the elucidation of the genetic code and its function in protein synthesis. He helped demonstrate that the chemical composition and function of a new cell is determined by four nucleotides in DNA and that the nucleotide code is transmitted in groups of three, called codons, and these codons instruct the cell to start and stop the production of proteins. His work also laid the foundation for the development of polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a technique that makes it possible to make billions of copies of small fragments of DNA. 2011-11-09T00:00:00+00009 Nov 2011 | | Har Gobind Khorana diedKhorana | University of Wisconsin-Madison, Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Zinder was an American biologist who discovered how hereditary information is transferred from one organism to another. The process is known as genetic transduction and is important to the spread of antimicrobial resistanmce. Carrying out experiments with the bacteria species Salmonella, Zinder discovered that bacteriophages, a type of virus, carry genes from one bacterium to another. He did the work with Joshua Lederberg, his doctoral supervisor. 2012-02-03T00:00:00+00003 Feb 2012 | | Norton David Zinder diedZinder | Rockefeller University |
Dulbecco was an Italian-American virologist who in the 1950s helped to pioneer the growth of animal viruses in culture and work out how certain viruses cause tumours in the cells they infect. He and his colleagues demonstrated that the virus inserted DNA into the DNA of the host cell and this cell transformed into a cancer cell which reproduced the viral DNA along with its own thereby producing more cancer cell. This work not only aided better understanding of how viruses cause cancer, but also HIV. Dulbecco shared the 1975 Nobel Prize for Medicine for his 'discoveries concerning the interaction between tumour viruses and the genetic material of the cell.' 2012-02-19T00:00:00+000019 Feb 2012 | | Renato Dulbecco diedDulbecco | Imperial Cancer Research Fund Laboratory |
2012-09-28T00:00:00+00002012 | | European approval of decatabine (Dacogen) for treatment of acute myeloid leukaemia | |
Ruddle helped pioneer human gene mapping and established many of the techniques and a framework for setting up the Human Genome Project. He also generated, with Jon W. Gordon and George Scango the first successful transgenic mouse. This heralded the development of genetically modified animals as research models to investigate the function of genes and genetic cause of disease. Ruddle also discovered, with William McGinnis, the first human homeobox genes, important regulators of gene development. 2013-03-10T00:00:00+000010 Mar 2013 | | Frank Ruddle died in New Haven, ConnecticutRuddle | Yale University |
2015-04-01T00:00:00+0000April 2015 | | Chinese regulatory authorities approved Chidamide, a histone deactylase inhibitor, for peripheral T cell lymphoma | |
K.B. Chiappinelli, P.L. Strissel, A. Desrichard, et al, 'Inhibiting DNA methylation causes an interferon response in cancer via dsRNA including endogenous retroviruses', Cell, 162 (2015), 974-86.2015-08-27T00:00:00+000027 Aug 2015 | | Experiments with mice showed that azacytidine treatment enhanced the responsiveness of tumors to anti–CTLA-4 therapy | |
Griffin was a leading expert on viruses that cause cancer. She was the first woman appointed to Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital. In 1980 she completed the sequence of the poliovirus, the longest piece of eukaryotic DNA to be sequenced at that time. She devoted her life to understanding the Epstein-Barr virus, the cause of Burkitt's Lymphoma, a deadly form of cancer.
2016-06-13T00:00:00+000013 Jun 2016 | | Beverly Griffin diedGriffin | Imperial College |
Lindquist was an American molecular biologist whose work on yeast proteins opened up new avenues for understanding gene functioning and degenerative diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's as well for drug resistance, cancer and prion biology. Most of her career was devoted to looking at how proteins change shape during cell division to carry out genetic functions. She demonstrated that protein-folding errors can occur in all species and that the biological changes this can cause can be passed from one offspring to the next without the need for RNA or DNA. Linquist was the first demale director of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at MIT.2016-10-27T00:00:00+000027 Oct 2016 | | Susan Lindquist diedLinquist | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Smithies was a British-born American geneticist and physical biochemist. He first made his mark in 1955 through his invention of starch gel electrophoresis, a technique used to study human protein variation. Later on, in the 1980s he developed a method for targeted gene replacement in mice, now known as gene targeting, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2007. His method facilitated the creation of thousands of lines of mice carrying desired genetic mutations. Such mice are now widely used to investigate the role of many different genes in human health and disease. 2017-01-10T00:00:00+000010 Jan 2017 | | Oliver Smithies diedSmithies | University of Washington, University of North Carolina |
Discovery made as a result of study of 177 members of the Old Order of Amish community in Indiana. S. Khan, et al, 'A null mutation in SERPINE1 protects against biological aging in humans', Science Advances, 3/11 (2017), DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aao16172017-11-15T00:00:00+000015 Nov 2017 | | Rare mutation of gene called Serpine 1 discovered to protect against biological ageing processKhan, Shah, Klyachko, Baldridge, Eren, Place, Aviv, Puterman, Lloyd-Jones, Heiman, Miyata, Gupta, Shapiro, Vaughan | Northwestern University, University of British Columbia, New Jersey Medical School, Tohoku University, |
Sulston was a biologist who played a central role in sequencing the genome of the Caenorhabditis elegans, a transparent nematode (roundworm). It was the first animal to have its genome sequenced. Based on his work with the nematode Sulston helped set up the project to sequence the human genome which he did as director of the Sanger Centre. The first draft of the human genome sequence was completed in 2000. Sulston shared the Nobel Prize in 2002 for identifying how genes regulate the life cycle of cells through apoptosis. 2018-03-09T00:00:00+00009 Mar 2018 | | John E Sulson diedSulston | Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Sanger Institute |
A team of scientists managed to engineer mice to express Cas9 and a DNA sequence needed for the gene drive, called a cassette, which encoded a guide RNA that targets a sequence in the TYR gene which affects the mouse coat colour. This provided a means of tracking the frequency of the genetic modification over several generations of mice. The work was published in HA Grunwald et al. 'Super-Mendelian inheritance mediated by CRISPR–Cas9 in the female mouse germline', Nature, January 23, 2019.2019-01-23T00:00:00+000023 Jan 2019 | | CRISPR-Cas9 used to control genetic inheritance in miceGrunwald, Gntz, Poplawski, Xu, Bier, Cooper | University of California San Diego |
Brenner was born to humble Jewish immigrants in South Africa. His father was a cobbler from Lithuania and his mother came from Latvia. Entering university at the age of 15 Brenner completed a degree in science because in his second year it was realised that he would be too young to qualify as a doctor. Specialising in genetics, Brenner shared the 2002 Nobel Prize for Medicine for helping to discover how genes regulate tissue and organ development. Using the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans as a model organism, Brenner demonstrated that triplets of nucleotides within RNA encode the individual amino acids of a protein, and signals when protein manufacture should stop.
2019-04-05T00:00:00+00005 Apr 2019 | | Sydney Brenner diedBrenner | Laboratory of Molecular Biology |
Known as 'whole exome sequencing', the test makes it possible to scan for around 20,000 human genes in just 27 hours rather than 10 days as was the case previously. The test was developed by South West Genomic Laboratory Hub and enable quick diagnoses of approximately 5,000 rare conditions like cystic fibrosis. 2019-10-01T00:00:00+0000October 2019 | | NHS introduced new fast-track DNA test to scan for rare diseases in babies and children | South West Genomic Laboratory Hub |
Altman was a Canadian molecular biologist who shared the 1989 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for discovering the catalytic properties of RNA. This emerged out of some work Altman carried out between 1978 and 1983 on a bacterial enzyme called RNAs-P. His research helped transform the basic understanding of nuclear acids, which up to this moment had been understood to only carry genetic information. It also opened up the possibility of using genetic engineering to develop new forms of therapy against viral infections. 2022-04-05T00:00:00+00005 Apr 2022 | | Sidney Altman diedAltman | Harvard University, Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Yale University |
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