|
Discoverer(s)
|
Year published
|
Brief title
|
Subject area
|
Details/implications
|
|
Darwin and Wallace (separately)
|
1859
|
The origin of species (Darwin)
|
Evolution by natural selection
|
Synthesis of ideas on continuous variation within species; origin
of new species
|
|
Mendel
|
1866
|
Particulate nature of inheritance
|
Transmission genetics
|
Hybridization experiments on peas; 7 traits
|
|
Sutton and Boveri (separately)
|
1902
|
Hereditary nature of chromosomes
|
Cytogenetics
|
Study of meiosis and chromosome assortment
|
|
Hardy
|
1908
|
Mendelian proportions in populations
|
Population genetics
|
Probability predicts ratios of gametes and phenotypes in population
|
|
Morgan
|
1910
|
Sex limited inheritance
|
Transmission genetics/ cytogenetics
|
Drosophila
|
|
Muller
|
1927
|
Mutation
|
Multiple
|
X-ray transmutation of Drosophila genes
|
|
Creighton & McClintock
|
1931
|
Crossing over
|
Transmission genetics/
cytogenetics
|
Cytology and genetics correlated in Zea mays
|
|
Beadle & Tatum
|
1941
|
One gene:one enzyme
|
Biochemical genetics
|
Vitamin requiring strains of Neurospora fungus related to
genetic locus of enzyme function, and consequent loss of biosynthetic
capability
|
|
Avery, MacLeod, and McCarty
|
1944
|
Transforming principle was DNA
|
Molecular genetics
|
Smooth (virulent) trait in heat-killed Diplococcus is transferred
despite enzyme action
|
|
McClintock
|
1950
|
Mutable loci in maize
|
Transmission genetics
|
Transposable or "jumping" genes
|
|
Watson and Crick
|
1953
|
The double helix
|
Molecular genetics
|
Elucidated DNA structure, based on X-ray diffraction and nucleotide
ratios; provides complementary surfaces
|
|
Crick
|
1957
|
tRNA
|
Molecular genetics
|
Hypothetical model of the adapter molecule
|
|
Kornberg et al.
|
1957
|
DNA polymerase I
|
Molecular biology
|
Requirements for in vitro DNA synthesis
|
|
Meselson & Stahl
|
1958
|
Semiconservative replication
|
Molecular biology
|
Sedimentation centrifugation of heavy-N-labelled E. coli
DNA
|
|
Jacob, Monod, and Pardee
|
1961
|
Operon
|
Molecular genetics
|
Hypothetical model
|
|
Crick, Brenner, et al.
|
1961
|
Frameshift mutations
|
Molecular biology
|
Early elucidation of the genetic code
|
|
Nirenberg & Matthaei
|
1961
|
Cracked the code
|
Molecular biology
|
Used nucleic acid homopolymers to translate specific amino acids
|
|
Sakai et al.
|
1985
|
PCR
|
Molecular biology
|
In vitro nucleic acid amplification using flanking oligonucleotide
primers
|
