1665 - Robert Hooke (London, England) observes a cork and discovers billions of microscopic pores which he names “cells.”
1859 - Charles Darwin publishes The Origin of Species, explaining the process of natural selection and its relation to DNA evolution.
1600
1866 - Gregor Mendel, today considered the father of genetics, discovers the fundamental laws of inheritance through cross breeding pea plants. Mendel’s Laws of Heredity consists of 3 parts: The Law of Segregation, The Law of Independent Assortment, and The Law of Dominance.
1869 - Friedrich Miescher discovers a new molecule called “nuclein”, today known as DNA. Miescher completes most of his research during 1869, but it isn’t until 1871 that he publishes his work.
1953 - James Watson and Francis Crick publish their research on the double helix structure of DNA. They, along with Maurice Wilkins, were awarded a Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine for their work in the year prior.
1944 - Oswald Avery identifies DNA as the “transforming principle” that is responsible for the expression of all of an organism’s characteristics.
1973 - Stanley Cohen and Herbert Boyer successfully insert foreign genes into a a bacteria (using a plasmid vector), thus inventing recombinant DNA technology.
TIMELINE
1976 - The National Institutes of Health (NIH) issues the Guidelines for Recombinant DNA Research. Within the same year, Genentech, the first genetic engineering company, is founded by Herbert Boyer and Robert Swanson. A year later, the company produces human insulin, the first recombinant DNA drug, which enters the market in 1982.
1985 - Kary Mullis invents the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) which allows a tiny amount of DNA to be converted into millions of copies. Since then, this reaction has been commonly used for a variety of genetic tests.
1994 - The Flavr Savr tomato (engineered to be longer lasting) becomes the first commercially available GM food product in the United States.
1994 - Calgene’s genetically modified canola gains approval from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
1995 - Monsanto’s genetically modified squash variety (Yellow Straightneck, Yellow Crookneck, Zucchini) gains approval and is commercialized.
1996 - Superweeds begin to emerge. The majority of these weeds are resistant to glyphosate, a primary component of Monsanto’s GMO herbicide Roundup.
1996 - Monsanto’s first genetically modified corn variety gains approval from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). That same year, Calgene’s Bt cotton also gains approval from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
1997 - The European Union mandates labeling for all foods with detectable GM content in the final product.
1999 - More than 100 million acres of genetically modified seeds are sown worldwide.
1999 - Peter Beyer and Ingo Potrykus release information regarding the breakthrough development of golden rice, a grain containing enhanced amounts of vitamin A. During the same year, the rainbow papaya, created by the University of Hawaii and Cornell University, is approved of by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
2003 - The Helicoverpa zea (corn earworm) begins to convey signs of Bt resistance, a toxin used in many GM crops.
2005 - Monsanto’s Roundup Ready sugar beets gain approval from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). After being challenged in court, some sugar beet crops were still permitted and then completely allowed once again in 2011.
2010 - Pioneer’s GM soybean (modified to produce more monounsaturated fats and less polyunsaturated fats) gains approval from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
2011 - Monsanto’s Roundup Ready alfalfa gains approval (without out any planting restrictions) from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) . It had been approved back in 2005, but was challenged in court and deemed void up until reapproval in 2011.
2012 - Gilles-Eric Séralini, along with several other French scientists, publishes his study showing that rats who were fed genetically modified corn were much more likely to develop tumors than those who were not. Although it created one of the biggest controversies regarding GMOs, his worked was deemed scientifically flawed and was discredited.
2015 - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves new varieties of genetically modified apples and potatoes for human consumption. The USDA approves the apples (created by Okanagan Specialty Fruits) for cultivation and sale --- expected to become commercially available in 2017.
