Biology Important dates

1731

• Many people of the Bishnoi community sacrificed their lives to save trees in Jodhpur.

1770

• Priestley's experiment with the Bell Jar, mice, mint plant, and candle.

1774

• Discovery of oxygen by Joseph Priestley.

1829

• Theodore Schwann contributes to Cell Theory.

1838

• Matthias Schleiden contributes to Cell Theory.

1850s

• Before industrialization, there were more white-winged moths.

1854

• Julius von Sachs proved that glucose is formed in photosynthesis and stored as starch.

1855

• "Omnis cellula e cellula" (Every cell from a cell) by Rudolf Virchow, completing the cell theory.

1856-1863

• Mendel works on garden peas.

1860

• Hydroponics technique developed by Julius von Sachs.

1865

• Mendel publishes his work on the inheritance of characters.

1866

• Down's Syndrome discovered by Langdon Down.

1869

• DNA as an acidic substance first identified by Friedrich Miescher and termed "Nuclein".

1891

• Fossils of Java man discovered in Java.

• Henking discovered the X-body (X-chromosome) in insects (XO-type sex determination).

1892

• Discovery of Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV) by D.J. Ivanowsky.

1898

• M.W. Beijerinck demonstrated the infectious nature of TMV.

• Discovery of the Golgi body by Camillo Golgi.

1900

• Rediscovery of Mendel's work by Hugo de Vries, Karl Correns, and Erich von Tschermak.

1902

• Chromosomal theory of inheritance given by Sutton and Boveri.

1905

• Law of limiting factors for plants given by Blackman.

1920

• After industrialization, there were more black moths.

1928

• Frederick Griffith's transformation experiment on Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria.

1933-1944

• Avery, MacLeod, and McCarty used the transformation principle from Griffith's experiment and concluded that DNA is the genetic material.

1938

• Coelacanth, a lobe-finned fish, caught in South Africa; considered an ancestor of amphibians.

1947

• At the time of India's independence, the population was approximately 350 million.

1950

• Invention of the electron microscope.

• Start of tissue culture.

1951

• Family planning initiative started in India.

1952

• Hershey and Chase experiment proving DNA as the genetic material.

1953

• Discovery of ribosomes by George Palade.

• S.L. Miller's experiment on the origin of life.

• Double helical structure of DNA proposed by Watson and Crick.

1958

• Meselson and Stahl experiment proving the semiconservative nature of DNA replication.

• Taylor's study on Vicia faba plant using radioactive thymidine proving semiconservative DNA replication.

1960

• Green Revolution in India.

1963

• Restriction endonucleases isolated from E. coli.

• Introduction of high-yield, disease-resistant wheat varieties Sonalika and Kalyan Sona in India.

1966

• Introduction of semi-dwarf varieties of rice in India.

1969

• R.H. Whittaker proposed the Five-Kingdom classification.

1971

• Discovery of viroids by T.O. Diener.

• Government of India legalized Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP).

1972

• Fluid mosaic model of the plasma membrane by Singer and Nicolson.

• First recombinant DNA developed by Stanley Cohen and Herbert Boyer.

• National Committee for Environmental Planning and Coordination established.

• Wildlife Protection Act enacted in India.

1974

• Water Act enacted.

• Chipko movement begins.

1980

• Joint Forest Management (JFM) introduced.

1981

• Air Act enacted.

• First reported case of AIDS.

• India's intrinsic growth rate (r = 0.0205).

1983

• Eli Lilly, an American company, produces human insulin using E. coli.

1984

• Bhopal gas tragedy.

• Ministry of Environment and Forests established in India.

1986

• Environment Protection Act (EPA) enacted.

1987

• Noise included in air pollution.

• Montreal Protocol signed in Canada.

1988

• National Forest Policy formulated.

1989

• Montreal Protocol becomes effective.

1990

• Delhi ranked 4th among the 41 most polluted cities.

• First clinical gene therapy given to a 14-year-old girl with ADA deficiency.

• Human Genome Project (HGP) launched.