1968

American biochemist Stanley Cohen (1922–) uses plasmids to transfer antibiotic resistance to bacterial cells.

1970

American biochemist Herb Boyer (1936–) discovers that certain bacteria can “restrict” some bacteriophages by producing enzymes (restriction enzymes).

1972

American biochemist Paul Berg (1926–) splices together DNA from the SV 40 virus and E. coli, making recombinant DNA; shares 1980 Nobel Prize with American molecular biologist Walter Gilbert (1932–) and British biochemist Fred Sanger (1918–2013; he has won the Nobel twice, also in 1958).

1974

American biochemist Stanley Cohen (1922–), then research technician Annie Chang, and American biochemist Herb Boyer (1936–) splice frog DNA into E. coli, producing the first recombinant organism.

1975

DNA sequencing developed by American molecular biologist Walter Gilbert (1932–), American molecular geneticist Allan Maxam (1952–), and British biochemist Fred Sanger (1918–2013).

1978

Human insulin cloned in E. coli by a biotech company called Genentech.

1986

America biochemist Kary Banks Mullis (1944–) develops the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), in which DNA polymerase can copy a DNA segment many times in a short period of time.

1989

Human Genome Project (HGP) begins; it is complete by 2003.

1990

Researchers at National Institutes of Health (NIH) use gene therapy to treat a human patient.

1994

Introduction of the first transgenic food, the Flavr Savr tomato; it is engineered for a longer shelf life.

1996

Dolly the Finn Dorset lamb—the first mammal—is cloned by English embryologist Ian Wilmut (1944–).

1997

First human artificial chromosome is developed.

2000

Completion of the first working draft (90 percent complete) of the Human Genome Project.

2003

Glofish—a fish that fluoresces and is the first genetically modified pet—are marketed and sold in the U.S.

2004

By now, the rat, mouse, and human genomes are the first mammals to be sequenced— and all have roughly the same number of genes—between 25,000 and 30,000.

2005

The International Rice Genome Sequencing Project publishes its “Map-based sequence of the rice genome,” covering 95 percent of the genome of the world’s most important staple crop.

2007

Human artificial chromosomes were created and patented, and companies appear to use this new technology.

2008

A study suggests that some RNAi drugs work by activating the immune system rather than by silencing genes.

2010

The first synthetic bacterial cell is created.

2010

The Neanderthal Genome Project points to genetic evidence that interbreeding did likely take place between Neanderthals and “modern” humans—and that a small but significant portion of this Neanderthal mix is present in modern non-African populations.

2011

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia lifts a lower-court injunction— thus allowing further research on the controversial use of embryonic stem cells.