SBI4U1
NAME: I AM RIGHT
A Brief History of Genetics
In the century leading up to 1953, a long process occurred that resulted in the identification of DNA as the hereditary material in cells and in
the clarification of its structure. This chart shows how a series of scientists built upon, and extended the work of, their predecessors during this
period.
DATE
1865
1869
1902
SCIENTIST(S)
Gregor Mendel
Fredrich
Miescher
Walter Sutton
CONTRIBUTION
Discovered
1. the inheritance of each trait is determined by "factors" that are passed on to
descendents unchanged
2. an individual inherits one such unit from each parent for each trait
3. that a trait may not show up in an individual but can still be passed on to the
next generation
The "nuclein" he extracted from the nucleus was acidic and was rich in phosphorus and
nitrogen
coined the term "genes"
1902
Sir Archibald
Garrod
“one gene-one enzyme” hypothesis; determined Alkaptonuria (black
urine) was genetically inherited and was due to a missing or defective
enzyme
1910
Thomas Hunt
Morgan
proved genes are carried on chromosomes, demonstrated the existence of sexlinked genes
Fred Griffith
demonstrated that a molecule, which could be extracted from dead bacteria, could
transform live bacteria and transfer hereditary information to the bacteria. If this material
could be identified, the chemical nature of the hereditary material would be known.
He discovered transformation
1928
1929
•identified the sugars in DNA (deoxyribose in “thymus”) & (ribose “yeast”)
Phoebus Levene •identified the nitrogenous bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine in
“thymus” nucleic acid and uracil in “yeast” nucleic acid.
1930s
1944
1950
1952
Hammerling
Avery,
MacLeod and
McCarty
Erwin Chargaff
Alfred Hershey
and Martha
Chase
showed that it was very likely that the hereditary material resided in the nucleus.
identified DNA as the molecule that transforms bacteria.
provided the first evidence indicating that bases might be paired in DNA.
confirmed that DNA was the hereditary material—this time using bacteriophage.
Experiment involved finding radioactivity inside bacteria infected with bacteriophage
having DNA labelled with 32P.
DNA IS NOW ACCEPTED AS THE GENETIC MATERIAL!!!
195153
1953
1957
1958
1959
1961
1966
1976
Rosalind
Franklin
Watson and
Crick
Arthur Kornberg
Meselson and
Stahl
Jocob and
Monod
Nirenberg
Nirenberg
Herberg Boyer
and Robert
Swanson
And the race is on to determine the structure of DNA
generated X-ray diffraction data that suggested that DNA was a helical molecule.
produced the double helix model with inward-pointing paired hydrogen-bonded bases, which explained
Chargaff's data and conformed with the dimensions of Franklin's image.
•discovers and isolates DNA polymerase, which becomes the first enzyme used to make DNA in a test
tube.
•Also proves that the strands are anti-parallel and that replication proceeds only in one direction
(5’to3’)a
Their experiment determined the mechanism of DNA replication
establish the existence of genetic regulation and name the regulating units the repressor and operon
built a strand of mRNA comprised only of the base uracil. Thus, he discovered that UUU is the codon
for pheylalanine, which was the first step in cracking the genetic code
showed that a sequence of three nucleotide bases (a codon) determines each of 20 amino acid
found Genentech Inc., the first biotechnology company dedicated to developing and marketing products
based on genetic engineering technology
SBI4U1
NAME: _________________________
A Brief History of Genetics
In the century leading up to 1953, a long process occurred that resulted in the identification of DNA as the hereditary material in cells and in
the clarification of its structure. This chart shows how a series of scientists built upon, and extended the work of, their predecessors during this
period.
DATE
SCIENTIST(S)
CONTRIBUTION
1865
Discovered
1. the inheritance of each trait is determined by "factors" that are passed on to
descendents unchanged
2. an individual inherits one such unit from each parent for each trait
3. that a trait may not show up in an individual but can still be passed on to the
next generation
1869
The "nuclein" he extracted from the nucleus was acidic and was rich in phosphorus and
nitrogen
1902
coined the term "genes"
1902
“one gene-one enzyme” hypothesis; determined Alkaptonuria (black
urine) was genetically inherited and was due to a missing or defective
enzyme
1910
proved genes are carried on chromosomes, demonstrated the existence of sexlinked genes
1928
demonstrated that a molecule, which could be extracted from dead bacteria, could
transform live bacteria and transfer hereditary information to the bacteria. If this material
could be identified, the chemical nature of the hereditary material would be known.
He discovered transformation
1929
•identified the sugars in DNA (deoxyribose in “thymus”) & (ribose “yeast”)
•identified the nitrogenous bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine in
“thymus” nucleic acid and uracil in “yeast” nucleic acid.
1930s
showed that it was very likely that the hereditary material resided in the nucleus.
1944
identified DNA as the molecule that transforms bacteria.
1950
provided the first evidence indicating that bases might be paired in DNA.
1952
confirmed that DNA was the hereditary material—this time using bacteriophage.
Experiment involved finding radioactivity inside bacteria infected with bacteriophage
having DNA labelled with 32P.
DNA IS NOW ACCEPTED AS THE GENETIC MATERIAL!!!
195153
1953
1957
And the race is on to determine the structure of DNA
generated X-ray diffraction data that suggested that DNA was a helical molecule.
produced the double helix model with inward-pointing paired hydrogen-bonded bases, which explained
Chargaff's data and conformed with the dimensions of Franklin's image.
•discovers and isolates DNA polymerase, which becomes the first enzyme used to make DNA in a test
tube.
•Also proves that the strands are anti-parallel and that replication proceeds only in one direction
(5’to3’)a
1958
Their experiment determined the mechanism of DNA replication
1959
establish the existence of genetic regulation and name the regulating units the repressor and operon
1961
built a strand of mRNA comprised only of the base uracil. Thus, he discovered that UUU is the codon
for pheylalanine, which was the first step in cracking the genetic code
1966
showed that a sequence of three nucleotide bases (a codon) determines each of 20 amino acid
1976
found Genentech Inc., the first biotechnology company dedicated to developing and marketing products
based on genetic engineering technology