History of DNA research

2004 The rat genome is sequenced.

2002 The mouse genome is sequenced.

2001 Publication of the human genome sequence.

2000 Human genome sequenced and assembled.

1999 The Drosophila genome is sequenced.

1998 The worm C. elegans is sequenced.

1996 An archaeon (and extremophile) is sequenced.

1996 The yeast genome is sequenced.

1995 A free-living organism, Haemophilus influenzae, is sequenced.

1991 J. Craig Venter describes a fast new approach to gene discovery using Expressed Sequenced Tags.

1986 Leroy Hood develops the automated sequencer.

1986 Launching the effort to sequenced the human genome.

1983 Kary Mullis conceives and helps develop polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

1978 David Botstein initiates the use of restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs).

1977 Walter Gilbert and Frederick Sanger devise techniques for sequencing DNA.

1973 Herbert Boyer and Stanley N. Cohen develop recombinant DNA technology.

1972 Paul Berg creates first recombinant DNA molecules.

1970 Hamilton O. Smith discovers the first site-specific restriction enzyme.

1970 Howard Temin and David Baltimore independently discover reverse transcriptase.

1969 Jonathan Beckwith isolates a bacterial gene.

1967 Mary Weiss and Howard Green employ somatic cell hybridization to advance human gene mapping.

1961 François Jacob and Jacques Monod develop a theory of genetic regulatory mechanisms.

1961 Marshall Nirenberg cracks the genetic code.

1957 Francis H. C. Crick sets out the agenda for molecular biology.

1956 Arthur Kornberg crystallizes DNA polymerase, the enzyme required for synthesizing DNA.

1953 Francis H. C. Crick and James D. Watson discover the chemical structure of DNA meets the unique requirements for a substance that encodes genetic information.

1950 Erwin Chargaff discovers regularity in proportions of DNA bases for different species.

1944 Oswald T. Avery, Maclyn McCarty and Colin MacLeod identify DNA as the "transforming principle" responsible for specific characteristics in bacteria.

1943 Max Delbrück and Salvador Luria begin the study of bacterial genetics.

1941 George W. Beadle and Edward L. Tatum show how genes direct the synthesis of enzymes that control metabolic processes.

1934 John Desmond Bernal uses X-ray crystallography to illuminate the structure of proteins.

1927 Hermann J. Muller demonstrates that X-rays can induce mutations.

1913 Alfred H. Sturtevant creates the first gene map.

1910 Thomas Hunt Morgan establishes the chromosomal theory of heredity.

1909 Wilhelm Johannsen provides basic terminology for genetics.

1908 Archibald E. Garrod postulates that genetic defects cause many inherited diseases.

1904 William Bateson describes gene linkage, showing that more than one gene may be required for a particular characteristic or trait.

1902 Theodor Boveri and Walter Sutton propose that chromosomes bear hereditary factors in accordance with Mendalian laws.

1900 Independently of one another, Hugo de Vries, Erich von Tschermak and Carl Correns rediscover Mendel's published, but long neglected, paper outlining the basic laws of inheritance.

1888 Theodor Boveri establishes the individuality and continuity of chromosomes.

1882 Walther Flemming discovers a substance he calls chromatin.

1876 Francis Galton offers a statistical approach to understanding inheritance.

1869 Johann Friedrich Miescher extracts what comes to be known as DNA from the nuclei of white blood cells.

1866 Gregor Mendel publishes "Experiments in Plant Hybridisation," establishing the basic laws of inheritance.

1859 Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species.