Milestones in Biotechnology
- 1953: James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure
of DNA.
- 1973: Stanley Cohen and Herbert Boyer perform the first experiments
in genetic engineering. They develop a
technique to clone segments of DNA molecules.
- 1976: Genentech, the first company devoted to producing genetically
engineered products, is established in San Francisco, California.
- 1979: Genetic engineering is used to synthesize human insulin.
- 1981: At Ohio University, scientists transfer genes from other organisms
into mice.
- 1983: Kary Mullis conceives of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR),
a method of multiplying copies of parts of DNA. This process will become
one of the key tools in genetics.
- 1984: Robert Sinsheimer proposes mapping all of the genes in a human
being. This proposal leads to the development of the Human Genome Project.
- 1989: The Human Genome Project is launched on January 3. James Watson
is the first director.
- 1990: The first gene therapy experiment
is performed on a four-year-old girl with adenosine deaminase deficiency.
The procedure involves inserting genetically altered cells into the veins
of the patient.
- 1995: First bacterial genome, Haemophilus
influenzae, was completely sequenced by The Institute for Genomic Research.
- 1996: Genetic maps of human and mouse completed by teams of U.S. and
international scientists.
- 1996: A yeast known as Saccharomyces cerevisiae is the first
eukaryotic genome to be sequenced, by more than 100 laboratories collaboratively
around the world.
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Resource Book Index: Promises and Perils
