GENETIC
ENGINEERING
Opening the book of life
… or pandora’s box?
The beginnings
1869
DNA isolated
 1944
DNA proved to be the
hereditary material
 1953
DNA structure
determined

Image Credit : www.chem.ucsb.edu/
© 2010 Paul Billiet ODWS
Working with DNA
1961
DNA can be split on heating and stuck
back together again on cooling
(reannealing)
DNA hybridisation possible
 1962
The first restriction endonucleases
discovered
Molecular scissors

© 2010 Paul Billiet ODWS
Working with DNA
1966
The genetic code worked out
Discovered to be a universal code
 1967
DNA ligase discovered
Molecular glue
Fragments of DNA can be stuck together

© 2010 Paul Billiet ODWS
Recombinant DNA technology
1973
DNA cloning carried out on bacteria
Gene identified
Cut with restriction enzyme
Spliced into a plasmid using ligase
Plasmid reintroduced into a bacterium
 Gene copied whenever the bacterium
divides
 Non-bacterial gene can be expressed in
the bacterium

© 2010 Paul Billiet ODWS
Recombinant DNA technology

1977
Rapid sequencing of DNA developed
© 2010 Paul Billiet ODWS
Recombinant DNA technology

1982
Transgenic mice and fruit flies produced
© 2010 Paul Billiet ODWS
Recombinant DNA technology
1983 Polymerase chain reaction invented
 1985 Genetic fingerprinting developed

Image Credit: Sir Alec Jeffreys
Image Credit: Kary Mullis
Medecine
1989
Cystic fibrosis gene cloned and sequenced
 1990
Trials for gene therapy begin

© 2010 Paul Billiet ODWS
Agriculture

1994
Genetically modified organisms for food
© 2010 Paul Billiet ODWS
Human Genome Project
1990-2003
The human genome worked out
Goals of the human genome project
 identify all the approximately 20,000-25,000
genes in human DNA
 determine the sequences of the 3 billion chemical
base pairs that make up human DNA
 store this information in databases
 improve tools for data analysis
 transfer related technologies to the private sector
 address the ethical, legal, and social issues
(ELSI) that may arise from the project

http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/project/about.shtml
Genomics

Today:
Over 70 Eukaryotes sequenced
About 25 of these are mammals
Over 350 prokaryotes have been
sequenced
© 2010 Paul Billiet ODWS