The history of genetic engineering can be traced back to the prehistoric times when man used

selective breeding and cross breeding to develop better species of food grains and livestock. The
mule is one example. It is a cross between a male donkey and a female horse, which was developed
by the process of interspecies breeding and has been in existence for thousands of years now.
Darwin's famous book, The Origin of Species tells us a lot about what all the people of the time
knew about breeding. Today, genetic engineering is advancing at such a rate that there will soon
come a time when nothing would be impossible for man. Let's have a look at the genetic
engineering history timeline to know about the milestones achieved in this field.

History of Genetic Engineering in Animals

History of Genetic Engineering in Animals
Here we shall have a look at the major events in the field of genetic engineering that contributed to the
development of new species of animals as well as advancements in the field of medicine. We would begin
with the 19th century and would gradually proceed to the present.
1859
The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin was published and it gave an account of the knowledge people
had about selective breeding.
1865
Gregor Mendel laid the foundation of modern genetics with his pathbreaking experiment of crossbreeding
pea plants (Pisum sativum) with different characteristics and his observations served as the basis for the
principles of genetics.
1866
Ernst Haeckel discovered that the genetic material of a cell resides in its nucleus.
1890
First animal, a rabbit, was created by the process of in-vitro fertilization (IVF).
1900
Mendel's principles of genetics were rediscovered by Hugo de Vries, Erich von Tschermak and Carl
Correns.
1902
The chromosome theory of inheritance was proposed by Walter Sutton & Theodor Boveri.
While studying the symptoms of a disease known as alkaptonuria, Archibald Garrod learned that defects
in enzymes and enzyme secretion are caused by defective genes.
1910
T. H. Morgan proved that genetic material is present within the chromosome.
1931
The phenomenon of physical recombination of DNA was discovered.
1941
The role of enzymes in the growth of an organism was established by George Beadle and E. L. Tatum.
1944
By carrying out experiments on bacteria, Oswald Avery established the role of DNA in genetics.
1953
James Watson and Francis Crick proposed the double helix structure of DNA for the first time.
Artificial insemination was carried out for the first time in humans.
1958
Semiconservative nature of DNA replication was established.
1966
Unraveling of the genetic code was done by Marshall Nirenberg and Har Gobind Khorana.
1968
Discovery of endonucleases or DNA "cutting" enzymes was done by Stewart Linn and Werner Arber.
1973
The first experiment on recombinant DNA cloning was performed by Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen.
1976
Prenatal genetic diagnosis with the help of DNA, was discovered.
1977
Sequence of bases in DNA was discovered by Walter Gilbert and Frederick Sanger.
1978
The world's first test tube baby, Louise Brown was born on 25th July, 1978 through in vitro fertilization
(IVF). It was a landmark achievement in the field of genetic engineering in humans.
1979
Method of producing insulin using genetic engineering, was discovered.
1980
The first genetically modified mouse was developed.
1983
Polymerase chain reaction in DNA was discovered by Kary Mullis.
1984
Birth of a human baby took place from frozen embryo.
1986
Embryo cells from sheep were cloned.
1987
Transgenic mice were developed that were born with human genes.
1990
Launching of the Human Genome Project to map the entire human genome, was done by James Watson
and others.
1991
Gene therapy was first tried and tested on humans.
1995
Heart of a genetically modified pig that contained human genes, was transplanted into baboons.
1997
Dolly, the first cloned animal, was a sheep born from a mammary cell of an adult sheep as nucleus donor
and an enucleated ovum as recipient.
1998
Lee Bo-yon of Kyunghee University in South Korea claimed to have successfully developed the first
human clone. However, he was banned from going ahead with the experiment.
2000
On the 26th June, 2000, the leaders of the publicly sponsored Human Genome Project (HGP) and the
company, Celera Genomics, announced the completion of the first draft of the human genome.
2001
Birth of the world's first genetically modified human babies, took place.
The first ever human clone was successfully developed at the Advanced Cell Technologies, USA.
2004
First 'true' human clones were developed at the Seoul National University in South Korea.

History of Genetic Engineering in Agriculture

1900
Using Gregor Mendel's principles of genetics, scientists in Europe developed a process termed as "classic
selection", which was a type of cross breeding, to improve the characteristics of plant species.
1952
First in-vitro or test-tube plants were developed.
1973
Ti plasmid, which is used for genetically engineering plants, was first developed.
1983
First transgenic plant (tobacco) was developed.
1987
The first field tests of genetically engineered crops (tobacco and tomato) were conducted in the United
States.
1988
The first transgenic corn was developed.
1990
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first genetically modified food.
1994
Transgenic tomatoes were released in the market for the first time.
This was all about the history of genetic engineering. The researchers in this field are coming up with
something new almost everyday. So, what we see as the latest development today, will be a part of history
tomorrow!