Timeline: History of genomics

1871
Friedrich Miescher publishes his paper identifying the presence of ‘nuclein’ (now known as DNA) and associated proteins, in the cell nucleus.
First international rugby union match played between England and Scotland.
1904
Walter Sutton and Theodor Boveri propose the chromosome theory of heredity after finding that chromosomes occur in matched pairs, one inherited from the mother and one from the father.
Theodore Roosevelt is elected President of the USA.
1910
Albrecht Kossel is awarded the first Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the five nucleotide bases, adenine, cytosine, guanine, thymine and uracil.
The first horror movie is shown, a version of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
1950
Erwin Chargaff works out the pairing pattern of the bases A, C, G and T. He finds that concentrations of thymine and adenine, and cytosine and guanine, are always found in equal amounts in samples of DNA. This suggested that A always pairs with T and C always pairs with G.
North Korea forces invade South Korea triggering the Korean War.
1952
The Hershey-Chase experiments are carried out by Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase to demonstrate that DNA, rather than protein, carries our genetic information.
Mother Theresa opens a home for the dying and destitute in Calcutta.
1953
James Watson and Francis Crick, with contributions from Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins, discover the double helix structure of DNA.
The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II takes place at Westminster Abbey in London.
1961
Marshall Nirenberg, Har Gobind Khorana and colleagues, crack the ‘code for life’. They identify how the letters in DNA are read in blocks of three called a “codon”. Each codon specifies an amino acid which is added to the protein during synthesis.
John F. Kennedy becomes President of the USA.
1968
Marshall Nirenberg, Har Gobind Khorana and Robert Holley share the 1968 Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine for Nirenberg and Khorana’s work cracking the genetic code, and Holley’s work sequencing the first tRNA molecule.
American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated in Memphis.
1977
Frederick Sanger develops a DNA sequencing technique which he and his team” use to sequence the first full genome – that of a virus called phiX174.
American rock singer Elvis Presley dies.
1980
Fred Sanger shares the Nobel Prize for Chemistry with Wally Gilbert and Paul Berg, for pioneering DNA sequencing methods.
British singer and songwriter John Lennon is shot dead in New York.
1983
The location of the gene responsible for Huntington’s disease is identified by James Gusella and his team” at Massachusetts General Hospital, USA.
The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is developed – a technique used for amplifying DNA – by Dr Kary Mullis at the Cetus Corporation in California, USA.
Seatbelt use for drivers and front seat passengers becomes compulsory in the UK.
1985
Alec Jeffreys develops a method for DNA profiling. A DNA profile is produced by counting the number of short repeating sequences of DNA sequence found at ten specific regions of the genome.
At the age of 17, Boris Becker becomes the youngest-ever winner of the men’s singles title at Wimbledon.
1990
Human Genome Project is launched. The project aims to sequence all 3 billion letters of a human genome in 15 years.
Nelson Mandela is released from prison in South Africa.
1992
American and British team”s of scientists reveal technique for testing embryos, while still in the womb, for genetic diseases such as cystic fibrosis and haemophilia.
Euro Disney opens near Paris in France.
1993
The Sanger Centre near Cambridge is opened by Fred Sanger.
The film Jurassic Park is a box office hit across the world.
1995
The first bacterium genome sequence is completed (Haemophilus influenza).
Tom Hanks wins the Oscar for best actor for the film Forrest Gump.
1996
An international team” complete sequencing the genome of yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
The first cloned animal, Dolly the Sheep, is born at the Roslin Institute, part of the University of Edinburgh.
Rapper Tupac Shakur is shot dead in Las Vegas.
1998
John Sulston (Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge) and Bob Waterston (Washington University, St. Louis) publish the genome of the nematode worm, C. elegans.
Search engine Google is founded.
1999
Chromosome 22 is the first human chromosome to be sequenced as part of the Human Genome Project.
Ensembl genome browser launched.
The Euro is introduced as a currency in Europe.
2000
The full genome sequence of the model organism Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly) is completed.
University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) launches the UCSC Genome Browser.
The Summer Olympics are held in Sydney, Australia.
2001
First draft of the human genome sequence released.
Al-Qaeda terrorists attack the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers in New York.
2002
The mouse is the first mammal to have its full genome sequence completed. The project is carried out by the International Mouse Genome Sequencing Consortium. The mouse genome is 14 per cent smaller than the human genome, but over 95 per cent of the mouse genome is similar to ours.
The International HapMap Project is launched, which aims to produce a ‘catalogue’ of common human genetic variations and where they are found in the genome.
The genome of the parasite Plasmodium falciparum, which causes malaria in humans, is completed.
Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, dies aged 101 years.
2003
Human Genome Project is completed and confirms humans have approximately 20,000–25,000 genes. The human genome is sequenced to 99.99 per cent accuracy, 2 years ahead of schedule.
The ENCODE project is launched by the National Human Genome Research Institute and aims to identify and characterise all the genes in the human genome.
Saddam Hussein, former President of Iraq, is captured by American troops in a small town 140 km northwest of Baghdad.
2004
The ‘high-quality’ draft of the rat genome is published. The genome is smaller than the human genome but larger than the mouse genome.
The first same-sex marriage in the USA is performed in Massachusetts.
2005
HapMap (Map of Human Genetic Variation) report published in Nature.
The chimpanzee genome is completed.
Hurricane Katrina strikes the Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama coastal areas in the USA.
2007
A new DNA sequencing technology is introduced that increases DNA sequencing output 70 fold, in one year!
Apple introduces the iPhone.
2008
1,000 Genomes Project launched – the first project that aims to sequence the whole genomes of a large number of people (2,500).
Next-generation sequencing platforms result in dramatic drop in sequencing costs.
Barack Obama is elected as first black president of the USA.
2009
The first comprehensive analysis of cancer genomes is published, including lung cancer and malignant melanoma.
A US Airways flight safely makes an emergency landing on the Hudson River shortly after take-off from LaGuardia Airport in New York City.
2010
Wellcome Trust launches UK10K which aims to compare the genomes of 4,000 healthy people with those of 6,000 people living with a disease of suspected genetic cause.
1,000 Genomes Project publishes pilot paper in Nature.
Neanderthal genome published in Nature.
A magnitude 7 earthquake hits Haiti and devastates the country.
2012
ENCODE study publishes 30 research papers describing the active regions of the human genome including confirmation that the human genome contains 20,687 protein-coding genes.
Cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground at Isola de Giglio, Italy.
2013
The U.S. Supreme Court rules that naturally occurring DNA cannot be patented.
The Zebrafish genome is completed.
Andy Murray becomes the first British tennis player since 1936 to win the men’s singles title at Wimbledon.
2018
The 100K genomes project is completed, sequencing 100,000 genomes from patients affected by a rare disease or cancer.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are married at Windsor Castle.
2020
Following the pandemic outbreak of COVID-19, the genome of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is sequenced.
Jo Biden wins the US presidential election.