GENETIC

ENGINEERING
Opening the book of life
or pandoras 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