Group # 1

Timeline of the History of Genetics

The Beginning of Genetics

1600 – 1860
This was the era when everything was just starting, simple discoveries were being made that
will eventually lead to what we now call ‘genetics’.
1600 William Harvey — He explained that fertilization by the male has a necessary feature of the
procreative processes in higher animals. He also studied reproduction and development and
proposed the theory of epigenesis
1859 Charles Darwin — “The Origin of species”

The Pinnacle of Genetics

1860 – 1905
Pinnacle means ‘the best or most important part of something’, and this era is what we deemed
as so because here is where discoveries of the most important elements of genetics happened.
1869 Frederick Miesner — He discovered DNA
1882 Walther Fleming — He discovered chromatin and the process of mitosis
1888 Theodor Boveri — He discovered that chromosomes are organized, and are individuals
during cell division; Sperm and egg cells contribute same number of chromosomes:
Boveri–Sutton chromosome theory (also known as the “chromosome theory of
inheritance”): unifying theory of genetics which identifies chromosomes as the carriers of genetic
material.
1905 William Bateson — He coined the term “genetics”

Chromosome Era
1905 – 1920
This was the era where chromosomes were widely studied and new discoveries about it arised.

1908 Reginald Punnett — He is thecreator of the Punnett square: used by biologists to predict
the probability of possible genotypes of offspring
1910 Alfred Sturtevant — He constructed the first genetic map of a chromosome
1911 Thomas Morgan — ‘Chromosome Theory of Hereditary’

Discovery of DNA
1920 – 1962
This was the era where various studies about DNA were made.

1927 Hermann Joseph Muller — He discovered the effects of x-ray radiation to DNA (x-ray
mutagenesis)
1930 Ronald Fisher — He published “The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection” without states
that population size can speed up evolution.
1931 Barbara McClintock — She discovered jumping genes, crossing over phenomenon and
genetic recombination
1935 Hans Spemann — He is the father of cloning who theorized that cloning would be possible
with differentiated cells.
1944 Oswald Theodore Avery — He discovered that DNA is a material for genetic transfer
1950 Erwin Chargaff — “Chargaff’s rules” which states that # of guanine = # of cytosine units in
natural DNA and # of adenosine = # of thymine in natural DNA
1951 Petrus Johannes Waardenburg — He studied about Waardenburg Syndrome (wide
nosebridge & deafness)
1951 Linus Pauling — He worked out the structure of proteins
1952 Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase — They discovered that genes are made up of DNA
1953 Rosalind Franklin — Has a role in the discovery of the structure of the DNA and applicated
X-ray diffraction of DNA fibers
1953 Francis Crick and James Watson — He discovered the three dimensional double helix
structure of DNA
1956 Joe Hin Tjio — He proved that the human chromosome number is 46, not 48
1958 Frederick Sanger — He developed Sanger sequencing, a method of DNA sequencing.
He studied sequencing insulin, and then sequencing RNA, BEFORE he started
sequencing DNA, he is well known for his studies on the amino acid sequence of insulin
1960 Seymor Benzer — He was a pioneer of neurogenetics
1962 John Gurdon — He found that mature cells can be reprogrammed to be pluripotent
 Flourishing of the DNA Era
1963 – 1980
We named this era as so because this is the part of the DNA Era wherein the knowledge gained
from the previous era was being put into application in various ways, discovering new
innovations and information.
1963 Phil Hanawalt — He discovered DNA repair replication
1967 Hamilton O. Smith — He discovered Hind II; type of restriction enzyme. He also discovered
restriction enzymes and their application to problems of molecular genetics
1972 Herbert Boyer — He created transgenic bacteria by inserting human insulin to E. coli
1972 Paul Berg — His pioneering work involving recombinant DNA, the process of inserting DNA
from another species into a molecule
1975 Alec Jeffreys — He discovered DNA fingerprinting; pioneer in forensic science.

The Modern Era

1981 – Present
This era, aptly named so, is the current era wherein different and new technology is being used
and innovated and enhanced as tools for new discoveries in the field of Genetics.
1982 John Abelson — He elucidated the term "RNA splicing"
1984 John Craig Venter — He developed, expressed sequencing tags & sequenced the entire
human genome
1986 Kary Mullis — He developed the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
1989 Mario Capecchi — He was the one behind ‘knockout mice’
1997 Ian Wilmut — He was the lead researcher of the team that gave the world "Dolly the Sheep",
a genetic replica of the original animal
1998 James Thomson — A pioneer in the field of stem cell research, his team was the first to
isolate and grown human embryonic stem cells
2006 Craig Mello and Andrew Fire — He discovered RNA interference
2015 Anton Wutz — He discovered “Xist RNA”, a molecule responsible for inactivation of a female
X chromosome