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1859 - Charles Darwin publishes The Origin of Species

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1859 - Charles Darwin publishes The Origin of Species

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Darwin proposed a theory of evolution occurring by the process of natural selection, which he then worked on over the following 20 years. The Origin of Species was the culmination of these efforts and argued that the living things best suited to their environment are more likely to survive, reproduce and pass on their characteristics to future generations. This led to a species gradually changing over time. Whilst his study contained some truth many areas such as the link between animal and human evolution are being shown to be untrue through new discoveries of ancient ancestors

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1866 - Gregor Mendel discovers the basic principles of genetics

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1866 - Gregor Mendel discovers the basic principles of genetics

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•Between 1856 and 1863 Mendel conducted experiments on pea plants, attempting to crossbreed "true" lines in specific combinations. He identified seven characteristics: plant height, pod shape and colour, seed shape and colour, and flower position and colour.

•He found that when a yellow pea plant and a green pea plant were bred together their offspring was always yellow. However, in the next generation of plants, the green peas returned in a ratio of 3:1.

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1869 - Friedrich Miescher identifies "nuclein"

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1869 - Friedrich Miescher identifies "nuclein"

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•Miescher's original plan had been to isolate and characterise the protein components of white blood cells. To do this, he had made arrangements for a local surgical clinic to send him pus-saturated bandages, which he planned to wash out before filtering the white blood cells and extracting their various proteins.

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•In 1900, Mendel's theories, which had found a regular statistical pattern for features like height and colour, were rediscovered. In the frenzy of research that followed, one line of thought branched off into social theory and developed into eugenics.

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1900 – Mendel's theories are rediscovered by researchers

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1900 – Mendel's theories are rediscovered by researchers

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•The Dutch botanist and geneticist Hugo de Vries, German botanist and geneticist Carl Erich Correns and Austrian botanist Erich Tschermak von Seysenegg all independently rediscovered Mendel's work and reported results of hybridization experiments similar to his findings. In Britain, biologist William Bateson became a leading champion of Mendel's theories and gathered around him an enthusiastic group of followers. Known as ‘Mendelians’, the supporters initially clashed with Darwinians (supporters of Charles Darwin's theories). At the time, evolution was believed to be based on the selection of small, blending variations whereas Mendel's variations clearly did not blend.

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1902 - Sir Archibald Edward Garrod is the first to associate Mendel's theories with a human disease

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1902 - Sir Archibald Edward Garrod is the first to associate Mendel's theories with a human disease

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Whilst studying the human disorder alkaptonuria, he collected family history information from his patients. Through discussions with Mendelian advocate William Bateson, he concluded that alkaptonuria was a recessive disorder and, in 1902, he published The Incidence of Alkaptonuria: A Study in Chemical Individuality. This was the first published account of recessive inheritance in humans.

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1944 - Oswald Avery identifies DNA as the 'transforming principle'

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1944 - Oswald Avery identifies DNA as the 'transforming principle'

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The man who made the breakthrough was Oswald Avery, an immunochemist at the Hospital of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research. Avery had worked for many years with the bacterium responsible for pneumonia, pneumococcus, and had discovered that if a live but harmless form of pneumococcus was mixed with an inert but lethal form, the harmless bacteria would soon become deadly.

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1950 - Erwin Chargaff discovers that DNA composition is species specific

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1950 - Erwin Chargaff discovers that DNA composition is species specific

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In 1944, scientist Erwin Chargaff had read Oswald Avery's scientific paper, which identified DNA as the substance responsible for heredity. The paper had a huge impact on Chargaff and changed the future course of his career. He later recollected, “Avery gave us the first text of a new language, or rather he showed us where to look for it. I resolved to search for this text. Consequently, I decided to relinquish all that we had been working on or to bring it to a quick conclusion”.

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1952 - Rosalind Franklin photographs crystallized DNA fibres

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1952 - Rosalind Franklin photographs crystallized DNA fibres

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After achieving a doctorate in physical chemistry from Cambridge University in 1945, she spent three years at the Laboratoire Central des Services Chimiques de L'Etat in Paris, learning the X-Ray diffraction techniques that would make her name. Then, in 1951, she returned to London to work as a research associate in John Randall's laboratory at King's College.

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1953 - James Watson and Francis Crick discover the double helix structure of DNA

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1953 - James Watson and Francis Crick discover the double helix structure of DNA

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In 1951, James Watson visited Cambridge University and happened to meet Francis Crick. Despite an age difference of 12 years, the pair immediately hit it off and Watson remained at the university to study the structure of DNA at Cavendish Laboratory.

Using available X-ray data and model building, they were able to solve the puzzle that had baffled scientists for decades. They published the now-famous paper in Nature in April, 1953 and in 1962 they were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine along with Maurice Wilkins.

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1959 - An additional copy of chromosome 21 linked to Down's syndrome

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1959 - An additional copy of chromosome 21 linked to Down's syndrome

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Today, scientists routinely use our growing understanding of genetics for disease diagnosis and prognosis. However, it took decades for cytogenetics (the study of chromosomes) to be recognised as a medical discipline.

Cytogenetics first had a major impact on disease diagnosis in 1959, when an additional copy of chromosome 21 was linked to Down's syndrome. In the late 1960s and early 70s, stains such as Giemsa were introduced, which bind to chromosomes in a non-uniform fashion, creating bands of light and dark areas. The invention transformed the discipline, making it possible to identify individual chromosomes, as well as sections within chromosomes, and formed the basis of early clinical genetic diagnosis.

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1965 - Marshall Nirenberg is the first person to sequence the bases in each codon

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1965 - Marshall Nirenberg is the first person to sequence the bases in each codon

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In 1957, Marshall Nirenberg arrived at the National Institute of Health as a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. DeWitt Stetten, Jr.'s laboratory. He decided to focus his research on nucleic acids and protein synthesis in the hope of cracking 'life's code'.

The following few years were taken up with experiments, as Nirenberg tried to show that RNA could trigger protein synthesis. By 1960, Nirenberg and his post-doctoral fellow, Heinrich Matthaei were well on the way to solving the coding problem.

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1977 - Frederick Sanger develops rapid DNA sequencing techniques

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1977 - Frederick Sanger develops rapid DNA sequencing techniques

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By the early 1970s, molecular biologists had made incredible advances. They could now decipher the genetic code and spell out the sequence of amino acids in proteins. However, further developments in the field were being held back by the inability to easily read the precise nucleotide sequences of DNA.

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1983 - Huntington's disease is the first mapped genetic disease

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1983 - Huntington's disease is the first mapped genetic disease

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HD is a rare, progressive neurodegenerative disease which usually manifests itself between 30 and 45 years of age . It's characterised by a loss of motor control, jerky movements, psychiatric symptoms, dementia, altered personality and a decline in cognitive function. As the disease is adult onset, many people have already had children before they are diagnosed and have passed the mutant gene onto the next generation.

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1990 - The first gene found to be associated with increased susceptibility to familial breast and ovarian cancer is identified

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1990 - The first gene found to be associated with increased susceptibility to familial breast and ovarian cancer is identified

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In 1990, the first gene to be associated with increased susceptibility to familial breast and ovarian cancer was identified. Scientists had performed DNA linkage studies on large families who showed characteristics related to hereditary breast ovarian cancer (HBOC) syndrome.

They named the gene they identified, which was located on chromosome 17, BRCA1. However, it was clear that not all breast cancer families were linked to BRCA1, and, with continued research, a second gene BRCA2 was located on chromosome 13.

Everyone has 2 copies of both BRCA1 and BRCA2, which are tumour suppressor genes. If a person has 1 altered copy of either gene it can lead to an accumulation of mutations, which can then lead to tumour formation.

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In 1988, The National Research Council recommended a program to map the human genome. The Human Genome Project officially started in 1990, with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) publishing a plan for the first five years of the anticipated 15 year project.

Many organisations had a long-standing interest in mapping the human genome for the sake of advancing medicine, but also for purposes such as the detection of mutations that nuclear radiation might cause.

The project's goals included: mapping the human genome and determining all 3.2 billion letters in it, mapping and sequencing the genomes of other organisms, if it would be useful to the study of biology, developing technology for the purpose of analysing DNA and studying the social, ethical and legal implications of genome research.

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1995 - Haemophilus Influenzae is the first bacterium genome sequenced

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1995 - Haemophilus Influenzae is the first bacterium genome sequenced

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In 1995, to demonstrate the new strategy of "shotgun" sequencing, J. Craig Venter and colleagues published the first completely sequenced genome of a self-replicating, free-living organism - Haemophilus Influenzae.

Known as H.flu, Haemophilus Influenzae is a bacterium that can cause meningitis and ear and respiratory infections in children. Prior to this breakthrough, scientists had only managed to sequence the genome of a few viruses, which are around ten times shorter than that of H.flu.

The project took around a year and was a remarkable achievement. Its success proved that the random shotgun technique could be applied to whole genomes quickly and accurately, paving the way for future discoveries.

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Dolly was created by scientists working at the Roslin Institute in Scotland, from the udder cell of a six-year-old Finn Dorset white sheep. By altering the growth medium, the scientists found a way to 'reprogram' the cell, which was then injected into an unfertilised egg that had had its nucleus removed. The egg was then cultured to reach the embryo stage, before being implanted into a surrogate mother.

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In 1996, the leaders of the Human Genome Project met in Bermuda and agreed that genome sequence data should be made freely available in the public domain within 24 hours of generation.

Known as the 'Bermuda Principles', the agreement was designed to ensure that sequence information led as rapidly as possible to advances in healthcare and research.

In order to co-ordinate the process, it was also agreed that large-scale sequencing centres would inform the Human Genome Organisation (HUGO) of any intentions to sequence particular regions of the genome. HUGO would then place this information on their website and direct visitors to the specific centres for more detailed information regarding the current status of sequencing.

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1999 - First human chromosome is decoded

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1999 - First human chromosome is decoded

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In 1999, an international team of researchers reached a major milestone when they unravelled for the first time the full genetic code of a human chromosome. The chromosome in question was chromosome 22, which contained 33.5 million "letters," or chemical components.

At the time, the sequence was the longest continuous stretch of DNA ever deciphered and assembled. However, it was only the first deciphered chapter of the human genetic instruction book - the rest was still to come.

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2000 – Genetic code of the fruit fly is decoded

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2000 – Genetic code of the fruit fly is decoded

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In March 2000, scientists from a number of laboratories successfully decoded the genetic makeup of the fruit fly. The collaborative effort had major implications for the sequencing of the human genome, as fly cell biology and development has much in common with mammals.

During their research, the scientists discovered that every fruit fly cell contains 13,601 genes, making it by far the most complex organism decoded at the time. However, by contrast, human cells contain 70,000 genes. Whilst the Human Genome Project still had a long way to go to achieve its ultimate objective, this was an important milestone along the way.

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2002 – Mouse is the first mammal to have its genome decoded

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2002 – Mouse is the first mammal to have its genome decoded

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In 2002, scientists took their next big step and decoded the genome of the first mammal – the mouse. The achievement allowed them to compare, for the first time, the human genome with that of another mammal.

Amazingly, it emerged that 90% of the mouse's genome could be aligned with the corresponding regions on the human genome. Both the mouse and human genome also contained around 30,000 protein-coding genes. These discoveries highlighted for the first time just how closely mammalian species were genetically related.

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2003 – The Human Genome Project is completed

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2003 – The Human Genome Project is completed

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History was made in 2003 when the Human Genome Project was finally completed. The international research project could be described as the greatest journey ever made – albeit an inwards one.

Scientists had achieved a high-quality sequence of the entire human genome. In 2001, the Human Genome Project had published a 'rough draft' of the human genome, which included a 90% sequence of all three billion base pairs.

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2013 – DNA Worldwide and Eurofins Forensic discover identical twins have differences in their genetic makeup

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2013 – DNA Worldwide and Eurofins Forensic discover identical twins have differences in their genetic makeup

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In 2013, DNA Worldwide and their laboratory partners Eurofins Forensic were the first in the world to prove that twins have differences in their genetic make-up.

Before this discovery, it was believed that monozygotic twins are 100% genetically identical, and that DNA testing could not be used in criminal or paternity cases involving identical twins, as it was impossible to tell them apart.

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Throughout 2014 the world's scientists have continued to develop their understanding of DNA. Researchers announced in May that they had successfully created an organism with an expanded artificial genetic code. This success could eventually lead to the creation of organisms that can produce medicines or industrial products organically.