User:Rich Farmbrough/Jagged 85/Timeline of biology and organic chemistry

Timeline of biology and organic chemistry

The following text fragments were added by Jagged_85 and at least the unerlined text is still there at approx 2014-04-24 19:37:51.

* c. 450 B.C. - [[Sushruta]] writes the ''[[Sushruta Samhita]]'', describing over 120 surgical instruments and 300 surgical procedures, classifies human surgery in 8 categories, and introduces cosmetic and [[plastic surgery]].<ref>[http://www.atributetohinduism.com/Hindu_Culture2.htm A Tribute to Hinduism] states Sushruta lived in the 5th century B.C.</ref>
* c. 450 B.C. - [[Xenophanes]] examined [[fossil]]s and speculated on the [[evolution]] of [[life]].
* c. 350 B.C. - [[Aristotle]] attempted a comprehensive [[Categorization|classification]] of animals. His written works include ''Historion Animalium'', a general biology of animals, ''De Partibus Animalium'', a comparative [[anatomy]] and [[physiology]] of animals, and ''De Generatione Animalium'', on developmental biology.
* c. 300 B.C. - [[Theophrastus|Theophrastos (or Theophrastus)]] begins the systematic study of [[botany]].
* c. 300 B.C. - [[Herophilos]] dissects the human body.
* c. 800 - [[Al-Jahiz]] describes the [[The Origin of Species#Struggle for existence, and natural selection|struggle for existence]],<ref>Conway Zirkle (1941), Natural Selection before the "Origin of Species", ''Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society'' '''84''' (1): 71-123.</ref><ref>Mehmet Bayrakdar, "Al-Jahiz And the Rise of Biological Evolutionism", ''The Islamic Quarterly'', Third Quarter, 1983, [[London]].</ref> introduces the idea of a [[food chain]],<ref>Frank N. Egerton, "A History of the Ecological Sciences, Part 6: Arabic Language Science - Origins and Zoological", ''Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America'', April 2002: 142-146 [143]</ref> and adheres to [[environmental determinism]].<ref>Lawrence I. Conrad (1982), "Taun and Waba: Conceptions of Plague and Pestilence in Early Islam", ''Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient'' '''25''' (3), pp. 268-307 [278].</ref>
* c. 1010 - [[Avicenna]] (Abu Ali al Hussein ibn Abdallah ibn Sina) published ''[[The Canon of Medicine]]'' (''Kitab al-Qanun fi al-tibb''), in which he introduces [[clinical trial]]s and [[clinical pharmacology]],<ref name=Brater-449>D. Craig Brater and Walter J. Daly (2000), "Clinical pharmacology in the Middle Ages: Principles that presage the 21st century", ''Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics'' '''67''' (5), p. 447-450 [449].</ref> and which remains an authoritative text in European medical education up until the 17th century.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/eb/topic-92902/The-Canon-of-Medicine The Canon of Medicine (work by Avicenna)], [[Encyclopædia Britannica]]</ref><ref>Amber Haque (2004), "Psychology from Islamic Perspective: Contributions of Early Muslim Scholars and Challenges to Contemporary Muslim Psychologists", ''Journal of Religion and Health'' '''43''' (4), p. 357-377 [375].</ref>
* c. 1150 - [[Ibn Zuhr|Avenzoar]] adheres to experimental [[dissection]] and [[autopsy]], which he carries out to prove that the skin disease [[scabies]] is caused by a [[parasite]], a discovery which upsets the theory of humorism;<ref name=Hutchinson>[http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/Islamic+medicine Islamic medicine], ''[[Hutchinson Encyclopedia]]''.</ref> and he also introduces experimental [[surgery]],<ref name=Rabie2006>Rabie E. Abdel-Halim (2006), "Contributions of Muhadhdhab Al-Deen Al-Baghdadi to the progress of medicine and urology", ''Saudi Medical Journal'' '''27''' (11): 1631-1641.</ref> where [[animal testing]] is used to experiment with surgical techniques prior to using them on humans.<ref name=Rabie2005>Rabie E. Abdel-Halim (2005), "Contributions of Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar) to the progress of surgery: A study and translations from his book Al-Taisir", ''Saudi Medical Journal 2005; Vol. 26 (9): 1333-1339''.</ref>
* 1200 - [[Abd-el-latif]] observes and examines a large number of [[skeleton]]s during a [[famine]] in [[Egypt]] and he discovers that Galen was incorrect regarding the formation of the [[bone]]s of the lower [[jaw]] and [[sacrum]].<ref name=Emilie>Emilie Savage-Smith (1996), "Medicine", in Roshdi Rashed, ed., ''[[Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Science]]'', Vol. 3, p. 903-962 [951-952]. [[Routledge]], London and New York.</ref>
* c. 1200 - [[Ibn al-Baitar]] writes his ''Kitab al-Jami fi al-Adwiya al-Mufrada'', a [[Botany|botanical]] and [[Pharmacy|pharmaceutical]] encyclopedia describing 1,400 [[plant]]s, [[food]]s, and [[drug]]s, 300 of which are his own original discoveries; a later [[Latin]] translation of his work is useful to European biologists and pharmacists in the 18th and 19th centuries.<ref>Diane Boulanger (2002), "The Islamic Contribution to Science, Mathematics and Technology", ''OISE Papers'', in ''STSE Education'', Vol. 3.</ref>
* 1242 - [[Ibn al-Nafis]] publishes his ''Commentary on Anatomy in Avicenna's Canon'', in which he discovers the [[pulmonary circulation]]<ref name=Dabbagh>S. A. Al-Dabbagh (1978). "Ibn Al-Nafis and the pulmonary circulation", ''[[The Lancet]]'' '''1''', p. 1148.</ref> and [[coronary circulation]],<ref>Husain F. Nagamia (2003), "Ibn al-Nafīs: A Biographical Sketch of the Discoverer of Pulmonary and Coronary Circulation", ''Journal of the International Society for the History of Islamic Medicine'' '''1''', p. 22–28.</ref><ref>Matthijs Oudkerk (2004), ''Coronary Radiology'', "Preface", [[Springer Science+Business Media]], ISBN 3540436405.</ref> which form the basis of the [[circulatory system]].<ref>Chairman's Reflections (2004), "Traditional Medicine Among Gulf Arabs, Part II: Blood-letting", ''Heart Views'' '''5''' (2), p. 74-85 [80].</ref>
* 1543 - [[Andreas Vesalius]] publishes the anatomy treatise ''[[De humani corporis fabrica]]''.
A '''[[timeline]]''' of significant events in '''[[biology]] and [[organic chemistry]]'''
* c. 450 B.C. - [[Sushruta]] writes the ''[[Sushruta Samhita]]'', describing over 120 surgical instruments and 300 surgical procedures, classifies human surgery in 8 categories, and introduces cosmetic and [[plastic surgery]].<ref>[http://www.atributetohinduism.com/Hindu_Culture2.htm A Tribute to Hinduism] states Sushruta lived in the 5th century B.C.</ref>
* c. 450 B.C. - [[Xenophanes]] examined [[fossil]]s and speculated on the [[evolution]] of [[life]].
* c. 350 B.C. - [[Aristotle]] attempted a comprehensive [[Categorization|classification]] of animals. His written works include ''Historion Animalium'', a general biology of animals, ''De Partibus Animalium'', a comparative [[anatomy]] and [[physiology]] of animals, and ''De Generatione Animalium'', on developmental biology.
* c. 300 B.C. - [[Theophrastus|Theophrastos (or Theophrastus)]] begins the systematic study of [[botany]].
* c. 300 B.C. - [[Herophilos]] dissects the human body.
* c. 300 B.C. - [[Alcmaeon of Croton]] distinguished [[vein]]s from [[artery|arteries]] and discovered the [[optic nerve]].
* c. 100 B.C. - [[Diocles]] wrote the oldest known anatomy book and was the first to use the term ''anatomy''.
* c. 50-70 A.D. - ''Historia Naturalis'' by [[Pliny the Elder]] (Gaius Plinius Secundus) was published in 37 volumes.
* 130-200 - Claudius [[Galen]] wrote numerous treatises on human anatomy.
* c. 800 - [[Al-Jahiz]] describes the [[The Origin of Species#Struggle for existence, and natural selection|struggle for existence]],<ref>Conway Zirkle (1941), Natural Selection before the "Origin of Species", ''Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society'' '''84''' (1): 71-123.</ref><ref>Mehmet Bayrakdar, "Al-Jahiz And the Rise of Biological Evolutionism", ''The Islamic Quarterly'', Third Quarter, 1983, [[London]].</ref> introduces the idea of a [[food chain]],<ref>Frank N. Egerton, "A History of the Ecological Sciences, Part 6: Arabic Language Science - Origins and Zoological", ''Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America'', April 2002: 142-146 [143]</ref> and adheres to [[environmental determinism]].<ref>Lawrence I. Conrad (1982), "Taun and Waba: Conceptions of Plague and Pestilence in Early Islam", ''Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient'' '''25''' (3), pp. 268-307 [278].</ref>
* c. 850 - [[Al-Dinawari]] is considered the founder of Arabic [[botany]] for his ''Book of Plants'', in which he describes at least 637 plants and discussed [[plant evolution]] from its birth to its death, describing the phases of [[plant growth]] and the production of flowers and fruit.<ref name=Fahd-815>{{citation|last=Fahd|first=Toufic|contribution=Botany and agriculture|pages=815}}, in {{Harvard reference |last1=Morelon |first1=Régis |last2=Rashed |first2=Roshdi |year=1996 |title=[[Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Science]] |volume=3 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=0415124107}}</ref>
* c. 900 - [[Muhammad ibn Zakarīya Rāzi|Rhazes]] (865-925) discredits the Galenic theory of [[humorism]] using an [[experiment]].<ref name=Stolyarov>G. Stolyarov II (2002), "Rhazes: The Thinking Western Physician", ''The Rational Argumentator'', Issue VI.</ref>
* c. 1010 - [[Avicenna]] (Abu Ali al Hussein ibn Abdallah ibn Sina) published ''[[The Canon of Medicine]]'' (''Kitab al-Qanun fi al-tibb''), in which he introduces [[clinical trial]]s and [[clinical pharmacology]],<ref name=Brater-449>D. Craig Brater and Walter J. Daly (2000), "Clinical pharmacology in the Middle Ages: Principles that presage the 21st century", ''Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics'' '''67''' (5), p. 447-450 [449].</ref> and which remains an authoritative text in European medical education up until the 17th century.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/eb/topic-92902/The-Canon-of-Medicine The Canon of Medicine (work by Avicenna)], [[Encyclopædia Britannica]]</ref><ref>Amber Haque (2004), "Psychology from Islamic Perspective: Contributions of Early Muslim Scholars and Challenges to Contemporary Muslim Psychologists", ''Journal of Religion and Health'' '''43''' (4), p. 357-377 [375].</ref>
* c. 1150 - [[Ibn Zuhr|Avenzoar]] adheres to experimental [[dissection]] and [[autopsy]], which he carries out to prove that the skin disease [[scabies]] is caused by a [[parasite]], a discovery which upsets the theory of humorism;<ref name=Hutchinson>[http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/Islamic+medicine Islamic medicine], ''[[Hutchinson Encyclopedia]]''.</ref> and he also introduces experimental [[surgery]],<ref name=Rabie2006>Rabie E. Abdel-Halim (2006), "Contributions of Muhadhdhab Al-Deen Al-Baghdadi to the progress of medicine and urology", ''Saudi Medical Journal'' '''27''' (11): 1631-1641.</ref> where [[animal testing]] is used to experiment with surgical techniques prior to using them on humans.<ref name=Rabie2005>Rabie E. Abdel-Halim (2005), "Contributions of Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar) to the progress of surgery: A study and translations from his book Al-Taisir", ''Saudi Medical Journal 2005; Vol. 26 (9): 1333-1339''.</ref>
* 1200 - [[Abd-el-latif]] observes and examines a large number of [[skeleton]]s during a [[famine]] in [[Egypt]] and he discovers that Galen was incorrect regarding the formation of the [[bone]]s of the lower [[jaw]] and [[sacrum]].<ref name=Emilie>Emilie Savage-Smith (1996), "Medicine", in Roshdi Rashed, ed., ''[[Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Science]]'', Vol. 3, p. 903-962 [951-952]. [[Routledge]], London and New York.</ref>
* c. 1200 - The [[Al-Andalus|Andalusian]]-[[Arab]]ian biologist Abu al-Abbas al-Nabati develops an early [[scientific method]] for botany, introducing [[empirical]] and [[experiment]]al techniques in the testing, description and identification of numerous [[materia medica]], and separating unverified reports from those supported by actual tests and [[observation]]s.<ref>{{Citation |first=Toby |last=Huff |year=2003 |title=The Rise of Early Modern Science: Islam, China, and the West |page=218 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=0521529948 |pages=813-852}}</ref>
* c. 1225 - [[Ibn al-Baitar]], al-Nabati's student, writes his ''Kitab al-Jami fi al-Adwiya al-Mufrada'', a [[Botany|botanical]] and [[Pharmacy|pharmaceutical]] encyclopedia describing 1,400 [[plant]]s, [[food]]s, and [[drug]]s, 300 of which are his own original discoveries; a later [[Latin]] translation of his work is useful to European biologists and pharmacists in the 18th and 19th centuries.<ref>Diane Boulanger (2002), "The Islamic Contribution to Science, Mathematics and Technology", ''OISE Papers'', in ''STSE Education'', Vol. 3.</ref>
* 1242 - [[Ibn al-Nafis]] publishes his ''Commentary on Anatomy in Avicenna's Canon'', in which he discovers the [[pulmonary circulation]]<ref name=Dabbagh>S. A. Al-Dabbagh (1978). "Ibn Al-Nafis and the pulmonary circulation", ''[[The Lancet]]'' '''1''', p. 1148.</ref> and [[coronary circulation]],<ref>Husain F. Nagamia (2003), "Ibn al-Nafīs: A Biographical Sketch of the Discoverer of Pulmonary and Coronary Circulation", ''Journal of the International Society for the History of Islamic Medicine'' '''1''', p. 22–28.</ref><ref>Matthijs Oudkerk (2004), ''Coronary Radiology'', "Preface", [[Springer Science+Business Media]], ISBN 3540436405.</ref> which form the basis of the [[circulatory system]].<ref>Chairman's Reflections (2004), "Traditional Medicine Among Gulf Arabs, Part II: Blood-letting", ''Heart Views'' '''5''' (2), p. 74-85 [80].</ref>
* 1543 - [[Andreas Vesalius]] publishes the anatomy treatise ''[[De humani corporis fabrica]]''.
* [[??]] - [[Jan Baptist van Helmont]] performs his famous tree plant experiment in which he shows that the substance of a plant derives from water and air, the first description of photosynthesis.
* [[1628]] - [[William Harvey]] publishes ''An Anatomical Exercise on the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals''
* [[1651]] - William Harvey concludes that all animals, including mammals, develop from eggs, and spontaneous generation of any animal from mud or excrement was an impossibility.
* [[1658]] - [[Jan Swammerdam]] observes red [[blood]] [[cell (biology)|cells]] under a [[microscope]].
* [[1663]] - [[Robert Hooke]] sees cells in [[cork (material)|cork]] using a microscope.
* [[1668]] - [[Francesco Redi]] disproves spontaneous generation by showing that fly maggots only appear on pieces of meat in jars if the jars are open to the air. Jars covered with cheesecloth contained no flies.
* [[1672]] - [[Marcello Malpighi]] publishes the first description of chick development, including the formation of muscle somites, circulation, and nervous system.
* [[1676]] - [[Anton van Leeuwenhoek]] observes [[protozoa]] and calls them ''[[animalcules]]''.
* [[1683]] - Anton van Leeuwenhoek observes [[bacterium|bacteria]]. Leeuwenhoek's discoveries renew the question of spontaneous generation in microorganisms.
* [[1767]] - [[Kaspar Friedrich Wolff]] argues that the tissues of a developing chick form from nothing and are not simply elaborations of already-present structures in the egg.
* [[1768]] - [[Lazzaro Spallanzani]] again disproves spontaneous generation by showing that no organisms grow in a rich broth if it is first heated (to kill any organisms) and allowed to cool in a stoppered flask. He also shows that fertilization in mammals requires an egg and semen.
* [[1771]] - [[Joseph Priestley]] demonstrates that plants produce a gas that animals and flames consume. Those two gases are [[carbon dioxide]] and [[oxygen]].
* [[1798]] - [[Thomas Malthus]] discusses human population growth and food production in ''An Essay on the Principle of Population''.
* [[1801]] - [[Jean-Baptiste Lamarck]] begins the detailed study of [[invertebrate]] [[taxonomy]].
* [[1802]] - The term ''biology'' in its modern sense is propounded independently by Gottfried Reinhold Treviranus (''Biologie oder Philosophie der lebenden Natur'') and Lamarck (''Hydrogéologie''). The word had been coined in 1800 by Karl Friedrich Burdach.
* [[1809]] - Lamarck proposes a modern [[theory of evolution]] based on the inheritance of acquired characteristics.
* [[1817]] - [[Pierre-Joseph Pelletier]] and [[Joseph-Bienaime Caventou]] isolate [[chlorophyll]].
* [[1820]] - [[Christian Friedrich Nasse]] formulates Nasse's law: [[hemophilia]] occurs only in males and is passed on by unaffected females.
* [[1824]] - J. L Prevost and J. B. Dumas showed that the sperm in semen were not parasites, as previously thought, but, instead, the agents of fertilization.
* [[1826]] - [[Karl von Baer]] shows that the [[Egg (biology)|egg]]s of [[mammal]]s are in the ovaries, ending a 200-year search for the mammalian egg.
* [[1828]] - [[Friedrich Woehler]] synthesizes [[urea]]; first synthesis of an [[organic compound]] from inorganic starting materials.
* [[1836]] - [[Theodor Schwann]] discovers [[pepsin]] in extracts from the [[stomach]] lining; first isolation of an animal [[enzyme]].
* [[1839]] - [[Theodor Schwann]] proposes that all animal tissues are composed of cells. Schwann and Schleinden argued that cells are the elementary particles of life.
* [[1843]] - [[Martin Barry]] reported the fusion of a sperm and an egg for rabbits in a 1-page paper in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London.
* [[1856]] - [[Louis Pasteur]] states that microorganisms produce [[fermentation (biochemistry)|fermentation]].
* [[1858]] - [[Charles Darwin|Charles R. Darwin]] and [[Alfred Russel Wallace|Alfred Wallace]] independently propose a theory of biological evolution ("descent through modification") by means of [[natural selection]]. Only in later editions of his works did Darwin used the term "evolution."
* [[1858]] - [[Rudolf Virchow]] proposes that cells can only arise from pre-existing cells; "Omnis cellula e celulla," all cell from cells. The [[Cell Theory]] states that all organisms are composed of cells (Schleiden and Schwann), and cells can only come from other cells (Virchow).
* [[1865]] - [[Gregor Mendel]] demonstrates in pea plants that inheritance follows [[Mendelian Inheritance|definite rules]]. The Principle of Segregation states that each organism has two genes per trait, which segregate when the organism makes eggs or sperm. The Principle of Independent Assortment states that each gene in a pair is distributed independently during the formation of eggs or sperm. Mendel's trailblazing foundation for the science of genetics went unnoticed, to his lasting disappointment.
* [[1865]] - [[Friedrich August Kekulé von Stradonitz]] realizes that [[benzene]] is composed of [[carbon]] and [[hydrogen]] atoms in a hexagonal ring.
* [[1869]] - [[Friedrich Miescher]] discovers [[nucleic acid]]s in the [[cell nucleus|nuclei]] of cells.
* [[1874]] - [[Jacobus van 't Hoff]] and [[Joseph-Achille Le Bel]] advance a three-dimensional stereochemical representation of organic molecules and propose a tetrahedral carbon atom.
* [[1876]] - [[Oskar Hertwig]] and [[Hermann Fol]] independently describe (in [[sea urchin]] eggs) the entry of sperm into the egg and the subsequent fusion of the egg and sperm nuclei to form a single new nucleus.
* [[1884]] - [[Emil Fischer]] begins his detailed analysis of the compositions and structures of [[sugar]]s.
* [[1892]] - [[Hans Driesch]] separates the individual cells of a 2-cell sea urchin embryo and shows that each cell develops into a complete individual, thus disproving the theory of preformation and showing that each cell is "totipotent," containing all the hereditary information necessary to form an individual.
* [[1898]] - [[Martinus Beijerinck]] used filtering experiments to show that [[tobacco mosaic disease]] is caused by something smaller than a bacterium, which he names a [[virus (biology)|virus]].
* [[1900]] - Two biologists independently rediscovered Mendel's paper on heredity.
* [[1902]] - [[Walter Sutton]] and [[Theodor Boveri]], independently propose that the chromosomes carry the hereditary information.
* [[1905]] - [[William Bateson]] coins the term "[[genetics]]" to describe the study of biological inheritance.
* [[1906]] - [[Mikhail Tsvet]] discovers the [[chromatography]] technique for organic compound separation.
* [[1907]] - [[Ivan Pavlov]] demonstrates conditioned responses with salivating [[dog]]s.
* [[1907]] - Emil Fischer artificially synthesizes [[peptide]] [[amino acid]] chains and thereby shows that amino acids in [[protein]]s are connected by amino group-acid group bonds.
* [[1909]] - [[Wilhelm Johannsen]] coined the word "gene."
* [[1911]] - [[Thomas Hunt Morgan]] proposes that genes are arranged in a line on the [[chromosome]]s.
* [[1926]] - [[James Sumner]] shows that the [[urease]] enzyme is a protein.
* [[1928]] - [[Otto Diels]] and [[Kurt Alder]] discover the [[Diels-Alder cycloaddition reaction]] for forming ring molecules.
* [[1928]] - [[Alexander Fleming]] discovers the first antibiotic, [[penicillin]]
* [[1929]] - [[Phoebus Levene]] discovers the sugar [[deoxyribose]] in nucleic acids.
* [[1929]] - [[Edward Doisy]] and [[Adolf Butenandt]] independently discover [[estrone]].
* [[1930]] - [[John Howard Northrop]] shows that the [[pepsin]] enzyme is a protein.
* [[1931]] - [[Adolf Butenandt]] discovers [[androsterone]].
* [[1932]] - [[Hans Adolf Krebs]] discovers the [[urea cycle]].
* [[1933]] - [[Tadeus Reichstein]] artificially synthesizes [[vitamin C]]; first [[vitamin]] synthesis.
* [[1935]] - [[Rudolf Schoenheimer]] uses [[deuterium]] as a tracer to examine the [[fat]] storage system of [[rat]]s.
* [[1935]] - [[Wendell Stanley]] [[crystal]]lizes the [[tobacco mosaic virus]].
* [[1935]] - [[Konrad Lorenz]] describes the [[imprinting]] behavior of young [[bird]]s.
* [[1937]] - [[Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin]] discovers the three-dimensional structure of [[cholesterol]].
* [[1937]] - [[Hans Adolf Krebs]] discovers the [[Citric acid cycle|tricarboxylic acid cycle]].
* [[1937]] - In Genetics and the Origin of Species, [[Theodosius Dobzhansky]] applies the chromosome theory and population genetics to natural populations in the first mature work of neo-Darwinism, also called the [[modern synthesis]], a term coined by [[Julian Huxley]].
* [[1938]] - A living [[coelacanth]] is found off the coast of southern [[Africa]].
* [[1940]] - [[Donald Griffin]] and [[Robert Galambos]] announce their discovery of [[sonar]] [[Animal echolocation|echolocation]] by [[bat]]s.
* [[1942]] - [[Max Delbruck]] and [[Salvador Luria]] demonstrate that bacterial resistance to virus infection is caused by random mutation and not adaptive change.
* [[1944]] - [[Oswald Avery]] shows that [[DNA]] carries the hereditary information in [[pneumococci|pneumococcus]] bacteria.
* [[1944]] - [[Robert Burns Woodward]] and [[William von Eggers Doering]] synthesize [[quinine]].
* [[1945]] - [[Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin]] discovers the three-dimensional structure of [[penicillin]].
* [[1948]] - [[Erwin Chargaff]] shows that in DNA the number of [[guanine]] units equals the number of [[cytosine]] units and the number of [[adenine]] units equals the number of [[thymine]] units.
* [[1951]] - [[Robert Woodward]] synthesizes [[cholesterol]] and [[cortisone]].
* [[1952]] - American developmental biologists Robert Briggs and Thomas King clone the first vertebrate by transplanting nuclei from leopard frogs embryos into enucleated eggs. More differentiated cells were the less able they are to direct development in the enucleated egg.
* [[1952]] - [[Alfred Hershey]] and [[Martha Chase]] show that DNA is the genetic material in [[bacteriophage]] viruses.
* [[1952]] - [[Fred Sanger]], [[Hans Tuppy]], and [[Ted Thompson]] complete their chromatographic analysis of the [[insulin]] amino acid sequence.
* [[1952]] - [[Rosalind Franklin]] concludes that [[DNA]] is a double helix with a diameter of 2 nm and the sugar-phosphate backbones on the outside of the helix, based on x ray diffraction studies. She suspects the two sugar-phosphate backbones have a peculiar relationship to each other.
* [[1953]] - After examining Franklin's unpublished data, [[James D. Watson]] and [[Francis Crick]] publish a double-helix structure for [[DNA]], with one sugar-phosphate backbone running in the opposite direction to the other. They further suggest a mechanism by which the molecule can replicate itself and serve to transmit genetic information. Their paper, combined with the [[Hershey]]-[[Chase]] experiment and [[Chargaff]]'s data on nucleotides, finally persuades biologists that DNA is the genetic material, not protein.
* [[1953]] - [[Max Perutz]] and [[John Kendrew]] determine the structure of [[hemoglobin]] using X-ray diffraction studies.
* [[1953]] - [[Stanley Miller]] shows that amino acids can be formed when simulated [[lightning]] is passed through vessels containing [[water]], [[methane]], [[ammonia]], and [[hydrogen]]
* [[1954]] - [[Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin]] discovers the three-dimensional structure of [[vitamin B-12]].
* [[1955]] - [[Marianne Grunberg-Manago]] and [[Severo Ochoa]] discover the first nucleic-acid-synthesizing enzyme (polynucleotide phosphorylase), which links nucleotides together into polynucleotides.
* [[1955]] - [[Arthur Kornberg]] discovers [[DNA polymerase]] enzymes.
* [[1958]] - [[Matthew Stanley Meselson]] and [[Franklin W. Stahl]] prove that DNA replication is [[semiconservative]] in the [[Meselson-Stahl experiment]]
* [[1959]] - [[Severo Ochoa]] and [[Arthur Kornberg]] receive a Nobel Prize for their work.
* [[1959]] - [[Max Perutz]] describes the structure of [[hemoglobin]], the oxygen-carrying protein in blood.
* [[1960]] - [[John Kendrew]] describes the structure of [[myoglobin]], the oxygen-carrying protein in muscle.
* [[1960]] - Four separate researchers (S. Weiss, J. Hurwitz, Audrey Stevens and J. Bonner) discover bacterial RNA polymerase, which polymerizes nucleotides under the direction of DNA.
* [[1960]] - [[Juan Oro]] finds that concentrated solutions of ammonium cyanide in water can produce the nucleotide organic base adenine.
* [[1960]] - [[Robert Woodward]] synthesizes chlorophyll.
* [[1961]] - German plant physiologist [[H. J. Matthaei]] cracks the first codon of the genetic code (the codon for the amino acid phenylalanine) using [[Grunberg-Manago]]'s enzyme system for making polynucleotides.
* [[1962]] - [[Max Perutz]] and [[John Kendrew]] share a Nobel prize for their work on the structure of [[hemoglobin]] and [[myoglobin]].
* [[1965]] - Genetic code fully cracked through trial-and-error experimental work.
* [[1966]] - [[Kimishige Ishizaka]] discovers a new type of immunoglobulin, IgE, that develops allergy and explains the mechanisms of allergy at molecular and cellular levels.
* [[1967]] - [[John Gurden]] uses nuclear transplantation to [[cloning|clone]] an African [[clawed frog]]; first cloning of a [[vertebrate]] using a nucleus from a fully differentiated adult cell.
* [[1968]] - Fred Sanger uses radioactive [[phosphorus]] as a tracer to chromatographically [[decipher]] a 120 base long RNA sequence.
* [[1969]] - [[Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin]] discovers the three-dimensional structure of [[insulin]].
* [[1970]] - [[Hamilton Smith]] and [[Daniel Nathans]] discover DNA [[restriction enzyme]]s.
* [[1970]] - [[Howard Temin]] and [[David Baltimore]] independently discover [[reverse transcriptase]] enzymes.
* [[1972]] - [[Albert Eschenmoser]] and [[Robert Woodward]] synthesize [[Vitamin B12|vitamin B-12]].
* [[1972]] - [[Stephen Jay Gould]] and [[Niles Eldredge]] propose an idea they call "[[punctuated equilibrium]]," which states that the fossil record is an accurate depiction of the pace of evolution, with long periods of "stasis" (little change) punctuated by brief periods of rapid change and species formation (within a lineage).
* [[1972]] - [[SJ Singer]] and [[GL Nicholson]] develop the fluid mosaic model, which deals with the make-up of the membrane of all cells.
* [[1974]] - [[Manfred Eigen]] and [[Manfred Sumper]] show that mixtures of nucleotide monomers and [[RNA replicase]] will give rise to RNA molecules which replicate, mutate, and evolve.
* [[1974]] - [[Leslie Orgel]] shows that RNA can replicate without RNA-replicase and that [[zinc]] aids this replication.
* [[1977]] - [[Jack Corliss|John Corliss]], [[Jack Dymond]], [[Louis Gordon]], [[John Edmond]], [[Richard von Herzen]], [[Robert Ballard]], [[Kenneth Green]], [[David Williams]], [[Arnold Bainbridge]], [[Kathy Crane]], and [[Tjeerd van Andel]] discover chemosynthetically based animal communities located around submarine [[hydrothermal vent]]s on the [[Galapagos Rift]].
* [[1977]] - [[Walter Gilbert]] and [[Allan Maxam]] present a rapid [[DNA sequencing]] technique which uses cloning, base destroying chemicals, and [[gel electrophoresis]].
* [[1977]] - Frederick Sanger and [[Alan Coulson]] present a rapid gene sequencing technique which uses [[dideoxynucleotide]]s and gel electrophoresis.
* [[1978]] - Frederick Sanger presents the 5,386 base sequence for the virus PhiX174; first sequencing of an entire [[genome]].
* [[1982]] - [[Stanley B. Prusiner]] proposes the existence of infectious proteins, or [[prion]]s. His idea is widely derided in the scientific community, but he wins a Nobel Prize in [[1997]].
* [[1983]] - [[Kary Mullis]] invents "PCR" ( [[polymerase chain reaction]]), an automated method for rapidly copying sequences of DNA.
* [[1984]] - [[Alec Jeffreys]] devises a [[genetic fingerprinting]] method.
* [[1985]] - [[Harry Kroto]], [[J.R. Heath]], [[S.C. O'Brien]], [[R.F. Curl]], and [[Richard Smalley]] discover the unusual stability of the [[buckminsterfullerene]] molecule and deduce its structure.
* [[1986]] - [[Alexander Klibanov]] demonstrates that enzymes can function in non-aqueous environments.
* [[1990]] - Napoli, Lemieux and Jorgensen discover [[RNA interference]] (1990) during experiments aimed at the color of [[petunia]]s.
* [[1990]] - [[Wolfgang Krätschmer]], [[Lowell Lamb]], [[Konstantinos Fostiropoulos]], and [[Donald Huffman]] discover that Buckminsterfullerene can be separated from [[soot]] because it is soluble in [[benzene]]. 
* [[1995]] - Publication of the first complete genome of a free-living organism.
* [[1996]] - [[Dolly the sheep|Dolly]] the sheep is first clone of an adult mammal.
* [[2002]] - First virus produced 'from scratch,' an artificial polio virus that paralyzes and kills mice.
==See also==
{{History of biology}}
[[Category:Biology timelines|Biology and organic chemistry]]
[[Category:Chemistry timelines|Organic chemistry and biology]]
[[es:Historia de la biología]]
[[pt:Cronologia de história da biologia]]