April 25, international DNA Day, marks the 60th anniversary of
the landmark publications in Nature announcing the structure of
the DNA helix by James Watson, Francis Crick, Maurice Wilkins,
Rosalind Franklin, and their colleagues. Since then, the
innovations and discoveries made in the field of DNA and
genetics have far exceeded everyone’s expectations. The timeline
below shows some of the important landmarks in the history of
DNA discovery. 1953 The three-dimensional structure of the DNA
molecule was deduced. In 1962 Francis Crick, along with his
colleagues, received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
1958 Arthur Kornberg purified DNA polymerase I from E. coli, the
first enzyme that enabled scientists to make multiple copies of
a DNA molecule in a test tube. 1972 Paul Berg and Herb Boyer
produced the first recombinant DNA molecules (This technique
allowed scientists to take DNA from one organism and transfer it
to another organism’s DNA). 1977 Fred Sanger developed the now
widely-used method for sequ