Biotechnology Timeline

Biotechnology Timeline8000-4000 B.C.E.	Humans domesticate crops 	and livestock.	Potatoes first cultivated 	for food.Biotechnology Timeline2000 B.C.E.Biotechnology used to leaven bread and ferment beer, using yeast (Egypt).	 Production of cheese, fermentation 	 of wine begins (Sumeria, China, 	 Egypt).Biotechnology Timeline500 B.C.E.First antibiotic: Moldy soybean curds(tofu) used to treat boils (China).Biotechnology Timeline100 C.E. 	First insecticide: 	powdered 	chrysanthemums 	(China)Biotechnology Timeline1797	First vaccination	Edward Jenner takes pus 	from a cowpox lesion,	inserts it 	into an incision 	on a boy's arm.Biotechnology Timeline1830-1833 	1830 Proteins are discovered.	1833 First enzyme is	discovered and isolated.Model of a 5-peptide protein.Biotechnology Timeline1857 Louis Pasteur proposes that microbes cause fermentation. He later conducts experiments that support the germ theory of disease.Biotechnology Timeline1859	Charles Darwin publishes 	the theory of evolution	by natural selection. Biotechnology Timeline1865Gregor Mendel discoversthe laws of inheritance by studying flowers in his garden.The science of genetics begins.Biotechnology Timeline1915Phages — virusesthat only infect bacteria — are discovered.Biotechnology Timeline1927Herman Muller discovers that radiation causes defects in chromosomes.Biotechnology Timeline1928Sir Alexander Fleming discoversthe antibiotic penicillin by chancewhen he realizes that Penicillium mold kills bacteria. He shared the 1945 Nobel Prize in Medicine with Ernst Boris Chain and Sir Howard Walter Florey.Biotechnology Timeline1944	DNA is proven to carry 	genetic information	by Oswald Avery, 	Colin MacLeod and 	Maclyn McCarty. DNA model made out of LEGOs.Biotechnology Timeline1953James Watson and Francis Crick describethe double helical structure of DNA. They shared the 1962 Nobel Prize inMedicine or Physiology with Maurice Wilkins.Biotechnology Timeline1955The amino acid sequence of insulin is discovered byFrederick Sanger.	1982 Human insulin 	produced in genetically 	modified bacteria is the first 	biotech drug approved by the 	FDA.3D model of insulinBiotechnology Timeline1958● DNA is made in a test tube for the first time.● Sickle cell disease isshown to occur due to a change in one amino acid.Biotechnology Timeline1966The genetic code for DNA is cracked.Three scientists shared the 1968 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicinefor the discovery.	 Marshall Nirenberg Robert Holley Har Gobind Khorana Biotechnology Timeline1971● The first complete synthesis of a gene occurs.● Discovery of restriction enzymes that cut and splice genetic material very specifically occurs. This opens the way for gene cloning.Biotechnology Timeline 1973Stanley Cohen and Herbert Boyer perfect genetic engineering techniques to cut and paste DNA using restriction enzymes.(1977 sees the first expression of a human gene in bacteria.)Stanley Cohen Herbert Boyer and a recombinant bacteriumCohen won a Nobel Prize in 1986 for an unrelated discovery!Biotechnology Timeline1975Georges Kohler and Cesar Milstein develop the technology to produce monoclonal antibodies — highly specific, purified antibodies derived from only one clone of cells that recognize only one antigen. They shared the 1984 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Neils Jerne.Biotechnology Timeline1981	The first transgenic animals 	are produced by 	transferring genes from 	other animals into mice.The first patent for a genetically modified organism is granted — for bacteria that can break down crude oil.Biotechnology Timeline1983The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique, which makes unlimited copies of genes and gene fragments, is conceived. Kary Mullis, who was born in Lenoir, N.C., wins the 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery. He became interested in science as a child when he received a chemistry set for Christmas.Biotechnology Timeline1986First recombinant vaccine is approved for human use: hepatitis B.	First anti-cancer drug is produced 	through biotech: interferon.Biotechnology Timeline1987	First approval for field tests 	of a genetically 	modified food plant: 	virus-	resistant tomatoes.1994 Genetically modified tomatoes are sold in the U.S. for the first time.Biotechnology Timeline1990The Human Genome Project — an international effort to maps all of the genes in the human genome — is launched.2002 The draft version of the human genome is published.Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D.Director, Human Genome ProjectBiotechnology Timeline1997Scientists report the birth of Dolly, the first animal cloned from an adult cell. Dolly (1996-2003) as an adult Dolly and her surrogate motherBiotechnology Timeline1998Human embryonic stem cell lines are established.They offer hope to manybecause they may be able to replace diseased or dysfunctional cells. Biotechnology Timeline2003The SARS (severe acute respiratorysyndrome) virus is sequenced three weeks after its discovery.SARS, which began in China, spreads quickly — and spreads fear throughout the Far East and the world. The last reported cases occurred in 2004 and resulted from laboratory-acquired infections.Biotechnology Timeline2004	The first cloned 	pet — a kitten — is 	delivered to its 	owner. 	She is called CopyCat (or Cc for short).Biotechnology Timeline2006A recombinant vaccine against human papillomavirus(HPV) receives FDA approval. The virus causes genital warts and can cause cervical cancer.