History of Genetics - The Genomics Era

The Genomics Era

1972: Walter Fiers and his team at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology of the University of Ghent (Ghent, Belgium) were the first to determine the sequence of a gene: the gene for bacteriophage MS2 coat protein.

1976: Walter Fiers and his team determine the complete nucleotide-sequence of bacteriophage MS2-RNA

1977: DNA is sequenced for the first time by Fred Sanger, Walter Gilbert, and Allan Maxam working independently. Sanger's lab sequence the entire genome of bacteriophage Φ-X174.

1983: Kary Banks Mullis discovers the polymerase chain reaction enabling the easy amplification of DNA

1989: The human gene that encodes the CFTR protein was sequenced by Francis Collins and Lap-Chee Tsui. Defects in this gene cause cystic fibrosis.

1995: The genome of Haemophilus influenzae is the first genome of a free living organism to be sequenced

1996: Saccharomyces cerevisiae is the first eukaryote genome sequence to be released

1998: The first genome sequence for a multicellular eukaryote, Caenorhabditis elegans, is released

2001: First draft sequences of the human genome are released simultaneously by the Human Genome Project and Celera Genomics.

2003 (14 April): Successful completion of Human Genome Project with 99% of the genome sequenced to a 99.99% accuracy