1859: Darwin Published On the Origin of Species, Proposing Continual Evolution of Species: 1. 1859 A.D. 2. Darwin's exploratory survey on the H.M.S. Beagle had brought him into contact with a wide variety of living organisms and fossils. The adaptations he saw in the finches and tortoises on the Galapagos Islands struck him particularly acutely. Darwin concluded that species change through natural selection, or to use Wallace's phrase "the survival of the fittest" in a given environment. 3. Charles Darwin 4. Darwin's book immediately attracted attention and controversy not only from the scientific community but also from the general public who were ignited by the social and religious implications of the theory. Darwin eventually produced six editions of this book. In time, a growing understanding of genetics and of the fact that genes inherited from both parents remain distinct entities even if the characteristics of parents appear to blend in their children explained how natural selection could work and helped vindicate Darwin's proposal. 5. Galapagos Islands 6. No Known Awards 1869: DNA First Isolated: 7. 8. 9. 10. 1869 A.D. Friedrich Miescher isolates DNA for the first time. Friedrich Miescher Miescher isolated a material rich in phosphorus from the cells and called it nuclein. He found nuclein in other types of cells as well including salmon sperm. In the early 1900s other scientists began to describe the chemical properties of DNA in much more detail. 11. University of Tubingen in Southern Germany 1900: Rediscovery of Mendel's Work: 12. 13. 14. 15. 1900 A.D. Hugo DeVries, Carl Correns, Erich von Tschermak Rediscovery of Mendel's Work They helped expand awareness of the Mendelian laws of inheritance in the scientific world. By 1900, cells and chromosomes were sufficiently understood to give Mendel's abstract ideas a physical context. 16. Europe 1902: Chromosome Theory of Heredity 17. 18. 19. 20. 1902 A.D. Walter Sutton Chromosome Theory of Heredity In many ways, Sutton reiterated the work of Theodor Boveri, a German scientist who in the late 1880s and early 1890s observed that chromosome numbers are cut in half as egg cells mature and concluded that sperm and egg nuclei have half sets of chromosomes. 21. Columbia University, New York, USA 1941: One Gene, One Enzyme: 22. 23. 24. 25. 1941 A.D. One Gene One Enzyme Theory George Beadle and Edward Tatum By supplying a variety of compounds in the nutrient medium and seeing which allow various mutant strains to grow and which don't Beadle and Tatum saw that they could deduce the sequence of biochemical reactions in cells that make necessary compounds like amino acids. The scientists concluded that the function of a gene is to direct the formation of a particular enzyme which regulates a chemical event. A mutation can alter a gene so it no longer produces the normal enzyme, resulting in a physical symptom, like the need for nutritional supplements. Beadle and Tatum proposed that in general each gene directs the formation of one and only one enzyme. 26. Caltech 27. 1958 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1944: DNA is Transforming Principle: 28. 29. 30. 31. 1944 A.D. Transforming Principle Oswald Avery, Colin MacLeod, Maclyn McCarty Bacteriologists suspected the transforming factor was some kind of protein. The transforming principle could be precipitated with alcohol which showed that it was not a carbohydrate like the polysaccharide coat itself. But Avery and McCarty observed that proteases enzymes that degrade proteins did not destroy the transforming principle. Neither did lipases enzymes that digest lipids. They found that the transforming substance was rich in nucleic acids but ribonuclease which digests RNA did not inactivate the substance. They also found that the transforming principle had a high molecular weight. They had isolated DNA, this was the agent that could produce an enduring heritable change in an organism. 32. USA 1953: DNA Double Helix: 33. 34. 35. 36. 1953 A.D. DNA Double Helix Francis Crick, James Watson Watson and Crick raced to find the structure before anyone else. They were competing with Linus Pauling, who had earlier discovered the alpha-helical structure of some protein molecules. While Watson and Crick were still working on their model, Pauling published a paper suggesting a triple-helical structure for DNA. Others quickly realized that the model was chemically flawed. Watson and Crick used paper cutouts of the bases and metal scraps from a machine shop to come up with their own model. 37. USA 38. Watson, Crick, and Wilkins received the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine 1959: Chromosome Abnormalities Identified: 39. 1959 A.D. 40. Chromosome Abnormalities Identified 41. Jerome Lejeune 42. Discovered that Down syndrome is caused by trisomy 21 that is having three instead of 2 copies of chromosome 21. The extra copies of the genes on chromosome 21 affect the development of the brain and body. 43. France, Europe 1961: First Screen for Metabolic Defect in Newborns: 44. 45. 46. 47. 1961 A.D. First Screen for Metabolic Defect in Newborns Robert Guthrie Today, newborns throughout much of the world are screened not just for PKU, but also for hypothyroidism and other inborn disorders where an early warning can be used to prevent dire effects. 48. University of Buffalo, USA 1966: Genetic Code Cracked 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 1966 A.M. Genetic Code Cracked Marshall Nirenberg, Har Khorana, Severo Ochoa Interpreted the genetic code and its protein synthesis. Europe 1968 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1973: First Animal Gene Cloned: 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 1973 A.D. First Animal Gene Cloned Stanford And UCSF Researchers It Showed That Objects Could Be Cloned For Later Medical Uses. United States 1977: Introns Discovered: 60. 61. 62. 63. 1997 A.D. Introns Discovered Richard Roberts and Phil Sharp The discovery of split genes changed the way scientists thought about the architecture of the genome. Human genes are on average interrupted about 10 times, and the introns typically contain about 90 percent of the DNA sequence in the whole gene. Most of the non-coding regions are generally thought of as junk DNA as filler sequences that apparently serve no purpose. 64. USA 65. 1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1982: GenBank Database Formed: 66. 1982 A.D. 67. GenBank Database Formed 68. NIH 69. GenBank NIH's publicly accessible genetic sequence database was formed at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Scientists submit DNA sequence data from a wide range of organisms to GenBank researchers routinely retrieve and analyze the data in the archive. 70. USA 1987: First Human Genetic Map: 71. 72. 73. 74. 1987 A.D. First Human Genetic Map NIH The first comprehensive genetic map of human chromosomes was based on 400 restriction fragment length polymorphisms which are variations in DNA sequence that can be observed by digesting DNA with restriction enzymes. A genetic map contains landmarks that occur in various forms. Tracking which variants are inherited in different people can be used to locate genes responsible for diseases. 75. USA 1990: Launch of the Human Genome Project: 76. 77. 78. 79. 1990 A.D. The Human Genome Project The Human Genome Project The goals of the project included mapping the human genome and eventually determining the sequence of all 3.2 billion letters in it mapping and sequencing the genomes of other organisms important to the study of biology developing technology for analyzing DNA and studying the ethical legal and social implications of genome research. 80. USA 1994: Microbial Genome Project: 81. 82. 83. 84. 1994 A.D. Microbial Genome Program DOE The microbes DOE chose do not cause disease but are important for their environmental energy and commercial roles. The program strives to better understand the bountiful microbial resources on Earth. 85. USA 1997: E. coli Genome Sequenced: 86. 87. 88. 89. 1997 A.D. E. coli Genome Sequenced University of Wisconsin The strain of E. coli used for the sequencing project is not a pathogen . However, some strains of E. coli can cause illness such as food poisoning. Comparing the normal strain with pathogenic strains is expected to help suggest treatments for these illnesses and strategies to prevent infection. 90. USA 1999: Chromosome 22: 91. 92. 93. 94. 1999 A.D. Chromosome 22 HGP In December 1999, the HGP completed the first finished, full-length sequence of a human chromosome chromosome 22. This accomplishment demonstrated the power of the HGP method of clone by clone sequencing to obtain large amounts of highly accurate sequence. 95. USA 2005: Chimpanzee Genomes Sequenced: 96. 97. 98. 99. 2005 A.D. Chimpanzee Genomes Sequenced National Human Genome Research Institute As with the human sequence, the chimpanzee sequence data can be freely accessed through public databases by researchers from around the world and used without restrictions. 100. USA 2014: First Treatment For RA: 101. 2014 A.D. 102. First Treatment For RA 103. Harold Fisher Dvorak 104. They discovered the first treatment for RA using monoclonal antibodies which are genetically engineered natural defense molecules. Not only was this a novel treatment but it was the first demonstration of the efficacy of a biological therapy for a chronic autoimmune disease and led to the recognition by the pharmaceutical industry that biological drugs are a viable class of therapeutic agents that can compete with traditional chemical drugs. The effective results have not only transformed the treatment for patients but have led to other successful anti TNF treatments and encouraged much further work using antibodies for treatment. 105. Europe 106. CDN Award