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History of Genetic Engineering and the Rise of Genome Editing Tools-Timeline
*** (unless kept under wrap years prior to public disclosure or in scientific circles)
1971: Gene Splicing Experiment Paves the Way for Recombinant DNA (rDNA)
Paul Berg became the first scientist to ever accomplish creating recombinant DNA from more than one species, which came to be known as the “cut-and-splice” method. He cut the DNA from two viruses creating “sticky ends;” the DNA was then incubated, the ends would anneal on their own, and the addition of DNA ligase would seal it.
This proved the validity of the theory that it was possible for any two DNA molecules to be covalently joined together. This achievement was considered a fundamental step in the field of genetic engineering, and was the biggest stepping stone toward the creation of recombinant DNA.
Paul Berg was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1980 (shared with Walter Gilbert and Frederick Sanger) for "his fundamental studies of the biochemistry of nucleic acids, with particular regard to recombinant DNA."
1974 Miss use of Gene Splicing & Concern of Scientists about "Eugenics or “superbug” infectious diseases"….
++Added 1975—Alleged Isolated HTLV-1 not yet named pursecur to HIV (Not Openly recognized by the scientific community)
++Added 1977 to 1978—Alleged Man Made HIV virus created. Newly man-made HIV virus was then tested on convicts who
volunteered for the experiment in return for their release from prison. Failing to show any early symptoms of disease, the prisoners were released after six months. Some were homosexual, and went to New York, where the disease was first attested in 1979. (Not Openly recognized by the scientific community)
++Added 1979—Alleged First HIV Disease Infected Male in New York, USA (Not Openly recognized by the scientific community)
1980s: Bringing Vaccines & Treatments to Humans
The 1980s turned many genetic experiments into real-world products and ideas, changing the landscape of what was to come in the 1990s. Focusing on vaccines and treatments, the 80s was a period that clearly displayed science’s dedication to solving many human problems using our own DNA.
1981: The First Transgenic Animal
A transgenic animal is any animal that has had a gene from a foreign organism deliberately inserted in its genome. Today, generating transgenic animals for scientific experiments is quite common using modern genome editing methods, but this process first began with a research team led by Thomas Wagner at Ohio University in 1981. Wagner and his team transferred the gene of a rabbit into mouse genome by using a method now standard in genetics known as “DNA microinjection.” Their experiment paved the way for the revolutionary transgenic animal experiments in the years to follow.
June 2011- The potential risk of insertional oncogenesis was realized in the trial, infants with X-SCID were cured by retrovirus-mediated ex-vivo gene transfer, and the trial was credited as the first unequivocal success for gene therapy.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3182074/
2013 Introduction of CRISPR-Cas microbial adaptive immune system and its ongoing development into a genome editing tool represents the work of many scientists from around the world. This timeline presents a concise history of the seminal contributions and the scientists who pushed this field forward~~starting in 1993? Introduction of CRISPR in 2013. CRISPR, a powerful gene-editing toolkit, is advancing the field of programmable biology by leaps and bounds. It allows researchers to reconfigure genes and create new versions of things. Altering the genetic code of plants and animals & recombining DNA and RNA molecules to produce New forms…it also becomes possible to alter a pathogen’s DNA to make it more virulent and more contagious. CRISPR-cas9 gene-editing tool, which is a wildly powerful piece of technology that basically acts as genetic scissors, letting scientists snip out individual genes .
2017-2019—Chinese scientist He Jiankui , used the CRISPR-cas9 gene-editing tool, which is a wildly powerful piece of technology that basically acts as genetic scissors, letting scientists snip out individual genes (in this case CCR5 gene linked to HIV infections), on HIV-positive couples in order to modify the genetic makeup of the child in an attempt to make them immune to the HIV virus. He & other scientist began their work in 2017.
Chinese using CRISPR-cas9 gene-editing tool, working on HIV virus positive adults to produce a DNA altered HIV immune child. 2017-2019.
https://www.broadinstitute.org/what-broad/areas-focus/project-spotlight/crispr-timeline
https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Urgent_Action/AIDS_Contract.html
https://www.synthego.com/learn/genome-engineering-history
https://www.mic.com/p/crispr-genetically-modified-babies-scientist-gets-three-years-in-jail-19640156