Genetic Engineering :Discovering of Genes
Changes in living things have
always happened naturally.
When did science jump in
and start mixing things up?
Natural selection is nature’s own brand of genetic engineering. Environments are constantly changing.
The living things that are best able to adapt to these changes do well. They survive and pass on their
genetic information to the next generation. This natural way of the world is also known as survival
of the fittest. A scientist named Charles Darwin made these ideas well known.
Long before Darwin, farmers were using genetcs, Farmers chose seeds from only the best plants.
Only the strangest or largest animals were chosen for breeding. This process is known as selective
breeding. Selective breeding is an early form of genetic engineering.
Pass the Peas
For thousands of years, people understood that they got certain traits from their parents. Until Gregor Mendel, people believed that a child’s traits were a simple combination of traits from both of his
or her parents. Mendel proved this wrong. In his experiments, he crossed smooth, yellow pea plants with wrinkly, green pea plants. The first set of offspring was yellow and smooth. In the second generation,
however, some green and wrinkly peas grew. In this manner, Mendel proved that certain traits are dominant while others nare recessive. His experiments paved the way for modern genetics. I
Fast Forward
The results of Mendel’s experiments were published in 1866. Yet it wasn’t until 1900 that researchers understood how important his findings were. Many more years passed before the beginning of what we call modem genetics.
1909—Wilhelm Johannsen uses the word gene for the first time
1913—William Bateson uses the word genetics for the first time
1953—James Watson and Francis Crick discover the structure of
deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA the chemical code that carries
genetc information
1967—copies of mice are produced by Japanese and American
scientist 0s, using DNA
1973—DNA is cut into pieces, rejoined with other DNA, and put
back into bacteria
1982—DNA is transferred from one type of fruit fly to another;
the first genetically engineered drug is approved for sale
1 986—the first field test of genetically engineered plants is undertaken
1987—a gene from a bacterial cell is put into a tomato plant,
making it resistant to caterpillars
1988—genetically engineered mice are produced for cancer research
1990—Human Genome Project. an attempt to map out all the DNA in humans, officially begins
1992—the first genetically engineered food product is approved for consumers— a tomato genetically engineered to stay firmer longer
I 996—Scottish scientists successfully make a copy of a sheep from the cells of an adult animal
2000—130 countries agree to identify all
genetically engineered crops on product
labels
2003—Human Genome Project is completed
2005—chimpanzee genome studied
2006—an attempt to map cancer begins
2009— a new technique is announced for
studying the human genome
Changes in living things have
always happened naturally.
When did science jump in
and start mixing things up?
Natural selection is nature’s own brand of genetic engineering. Environments are constantly changing.
The living things that are best able to adapt to these changes do well. They survive and pass on their
genetic information to the next generation. This natural way of the world is also known as survival
of the fittest. A scientist named Charles Darwin made these ideas well known.
Long before Darwin, farmers were using genetcs, Farmers chose seeds from only the best plants.
Only the strangest or largest animals were chosen for breeding. This process is known as selective
breeding. Selective breeding is an early form of genetic engineering.
Pass the Peas
For thousands of years, people understood that they got certain traits from their parents. Until Gregor Mendel, people believed that a child’s traits were a simple combination of traits from both of his
or her parents. Mendel proved this wrong. In his experiments, he crossed smooth, yellow pea plants with wrinkly, green pea plants. The first set of offspring was yellow and smooth. In the second generation,
however, some green and wrinkly peas grew. In this manner, Mendel proved that certain traits are dominant while others nare recessive. His experiments paved the way for modern genetics. I
Fast Forward
The results of Mendel’s experiments were published in 1866. Yet it wasn’t until 1900 that researchers understood how important his findings were. Many more years passed before the beginning of what we call modem genetics.
1909—Wilhelm Johannsen uses the word gene for the first time
1913—William Bateson uses the word genetics for the first time
1953—James Watson and Francis Crick discover the structure of
deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA the chemical code that carries
genetc information
1967—copies of mice are produced by Japanese and American
scientist 0s, using DNA
1973—DNA is cut into pieces, rejoined with other DNA, and put
back into bacteria
1982—DNA is transferred from one type of fruit fly to another;the first genetically engineered drug is approved for sale
1 986—the first field test of genetically engineered plants is undertaken
1987—a gene from a bacterial cell is put into a tomato plant,
making it resistant to caterpillars
1988—genetically engineered mice are produced for cancer research
1990—Human Genome Project. an attempt to map out all the DNA in humans, officially begins
1992—the first genetically engineered food product is approved for consumers— a tomato genetically engineered to stay firmer longer
I 996—Scottish scientists successfully make a copy of a sheep from the cells of an adult animal
2000—130 countries agree to identify all
genetically engineered crops on product
labels
2003—Human Genome Project is completed
2005—chimpanzee genome studied
2006—an attempt to map cancer begins
2009— a new technique is announced for
studying the human genome
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