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From discovery to decoding the genome 1953 James Watson and Francis Crick publish their discovery of the double-helix structure of DNA. 1969 A Harvard Medical School team isolates the first gene. 1970 University of Wisconsin researchers synthesize a gene from scratch. 1983 Biochemist Kary Mullis invents the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique, enabling scientists to rapidly reproduce bits of DNA. 1984 A British researcher develops "genetic fingerprinting," which uses DNA to identify individuals. 1990 Launch of the Human Genome Project. May 1995 Researchers at Duke University Medical Center transplant hearts from genetically altered pigs into baboons. All three transgenic hearts survived at least a few hours, proving that cross-species operations are possible.February 1997 Researchers at Scotland's Roslin Institute, led by Ian Wilmut, report that they have cloned a sheep, Dolly, from the cell of an adult ewe. May 1998 Craig Venter announces ambitious plans to decode the entire human genome by 2001. November 1998 Two research teams succeed in growing embryonic stem cells. May 1999 Researchers discover signs of premature aging in Dolly's cells. 2001 The Human Genome Project's target date for a first draft of the human DNA sequence. |
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