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Michigan Life Science History

The following includes select facts from life science history, both global and Michigan state specific, that help explain the origins of the state's life science industry. Please note that these facts are part of a much larger state-specific history database that will be launched in the near future. In the meantime, we encourage you to learn about the scientists behind the discoveries, the entrepreneurs, philanthropists, political leaders, and significant events, institutions and companies that are the foundation of the life science industry in the state of Michigan.

If you are aware of a notable event, person, organization/company or accomplishment that we should include, please e-mail us at: Suggestions@InfoResource.org


1817 -- The University of Michigan was founded.

The University of Michigan (U-M), with campuses in Ann Arbor, Dearborn, and Flint, is one of the top-ranked public universities in the world. It offers over 200 degree programs among 12 undergraduate schools and colleges, and boasts tremendous opportunities for undergraduate research. Total research expenditures at U-M exceed $750 million each year, yielding one of the top research programs in the nation.


1848 -- American Association for the Advancement of Science was founded.

American Association for the Advancement of Science American Association for the Advancement of Science founded in 1848 marked the emergence of a national scientific community in the United States, and was the first organization established to promote the development of science and engineering at the national level and to represent the interests of all its disciplines.

Today, the AAAS serves nearly 300 affiliated societies and academies of science and publishes the peer-reviewed general science journal Science. The non-profit AAAS is open to all and fulfills its mission to "advance science and serve society" through initiatives that include science policy, international programs, science education, and public understanding of science.


1855 -- Agricultural College of the State of Michigan (Michigan State University) was founded.

The Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, renamed Michigan State University (MSU) (1955), founded in 1855, was a prototype for 69 land-grant institutions established under the Morrill Act of 1862, and the first institution of higher learning in the United States to teach scientific agriculture.

MSU has been advancing knowledge and transforming lives through innovative teaching, research, and outreach for 150 years. It is known worldwide as a major public university with global reach and extraordinary impact. It offers more than 200 programs of study, many of them nationally ranked, that attract scholars worldwide who are interested in combining education with practical problem solving.

From the cross-fertilization of corn in the 1870s, the homogenization of milk in the 1930s, and the top-selling anticancer drug, Cisplatin, in the 1960s to development of materials in the 21st century for bridging gaps in broken bones, MSU's research breakthroughs are improving the quality of life for people around the world.


1859 -- Charles Darwin published "The Origin of Species."

Charles Darwin, 1855 In 1859, British naturalist Charles Darwin published "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life" in which he postulated his theory of evolution that explained how the diverse of species on Earth evolved from a simple, singled-celled ancestor.

Darwin's theory of evolutionary selection holds that variation within species occurs randomly and that the survival or extinction of each organism is determined by that organism's ability to adapt to its environment. Darwin's theory of evolution remains the foundation of modern biology.



1865 -- Gregor Mendel, the father of modern genetics, presented his laws of heredity.

Gregor Mendel Gregor Mendel, an Augustinian considered the father of modern genetics, conducted crossbreeding experiments with pea plants between 1856 and 1863. Through this work, he established many of the rules of heredity.

"In 1859 I obtained a very fertile descendant with large, tasty seeds from a first generation hybrid. Since in the following year, its progeny retained the desirable characteristics and were uniform, the variety was cultivated in our vegetable garden, and many plants were raised every year up to 1865. (Gregor Mendel to Carl Nägeli, April 1867).



1886 -- The Upjohn Company Pill & Granule Company founded.

William Erastus Upjohn The Upjohn Company Pill & Granule Company, was founded in 1886 by William Erastus Upjohn in Kalamazoo, MI. Upjohn, one of twelve children born to Dr. Uriah Upjohn, an area pioneer who practiced medicine in Kalamazoo for 52 years, was also one of four siblings who became physicians. After receiving his medical degree from the University of Michigan in 1875, he practiced medicine in Hastings for ten years, and began exploring improved methods of administering medicine. Upjohn's experimentation resulted in the "friable" pill (meaning a pill crushable into powder) that was patented in 1885, and became the basis of the Upjohn Pill and Granule Company, later renamed The Upjohn Company.

The Upjohn Company grew and expanded its operations in Kalamazoo until 1995, when it merged with the United Kingdom based Pharmacia AB and became a global provider of human health care products, animal health products, diagnostics and specialty products. In 1998, Pharmacia & Upjohn relocated its global headquarters from the United Kingdom to the United States. In April 2000, Pharmacia & Upjohn merged with Monsanto and Searle creating Pharmacia, a leader in the pharmaceutical industry. In 2003, Pharmacia merged with Pfizer Inc. forming a company with a research and development budget of $7.1 billion (2003) that is now one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies.


1887 -- Marine Hospital Service Hygienic Laboratory (National Institutes of Health) was founded.

Joseph Kinyoun The National Institutes of Health (NIH) traces its roots to 1887, when a one-room laboratory was created within the Marine Hospital Service (MHS), predecessor agency to the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS). The MHS was established in 1798 to provide for the medical care of merchant seamen -- charged by Congress with examining passengers on arriving ships for clinical signs of infectious diseases, such as cholera and yellow fever, to prevent epidemics.

During the 1870s and 1880s, scientists in Europe presented compelling evidence that microscopic organisms were the causes of several infectious diseases, and MHS officials closely followed these developments. In 1887, Joseph Kinyoun, a MHS physician trained in the new bacteriological methods, set up a one-room laboratory in the Marine Hospital at Stapleton, Staten Island, New York. Kinyoun called this facility a "laboratory of hygiene" in imitation of German facilities, and within a few months, he identified the cholera bacillus and used his Zeiss microscope to demonstrate it to his colleagues as confirmation of their clinical diagnoses (Photo: courtesy of the NIH Almanac).


1897 -- The Dow Chemical Company was founded.

Dow Chemical Company The Dow Chemical Company, was incorporated May 18, 1897 in Midland, MI based on Dr. Herbert Henry Dow's manufacturing and selling of bleach on a commercial scale. In 1930, Dr. Dow was awarded the Perkin Medal for Chemical Achievements, and on October 15 he died, and was succeeded by his son Willard H. Dow as president of the company. In 1936, The Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation was established by Grace Dow in memory of her husband Herbert, founder of the Company. The Trust is to be used "for religious, charitable, scientific, literary, or educational purposes for public benefit of the inhabitants of the City of Midland and of the people of the State of Michigan."

Through the twentieth century Dow diversified into a wide range of products and processes ranging from bromine and bleach to polystyrene and epoxy resins. In 1948, Willard H. Dow died was succeeded by Leland Doan as president, and annual sales passed $200 million. In 1999, Dow and Union Carbide Corporation merged and Union Carbide became a subsidiary valued at $11.6 billion. On a consolidated basis, Dow Chemical became the world's 2nd largest chemical company with annual revenues exceeding $24 billion and operations in 168 countries.

Today, Dow is a diversified chemical company that harnesses the power of science and technology to improve living daily. The Company offers a broad range of innovative products and services to customers in more than 175 countries, helping them to provide everything from fresh water, food and pharmaceuticals to paints, packaging and personal care products. Built on a commitment to its principles of sustainability, Dow has annual sales of $46 billion and employs 42,000 people worldwide.


1901 -- Western Michigan College (Western Michigan University) was founded.

The Western Michigan University (WMU), located in Kalamazoo and founded in 1903, grew rapidly from a regional teachers college to an internationally regarded institution of higher education. Originally Western Michigan College became Western Michigan University in 1957, when the state designated it as the fourth public university Michigan.

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching places WMU among the 76 public institutions in the nation designated as research universities with high research activity. WMU's commitment to the discovery and dissemination of new knowledge and insight has resulted in initiatives that reward faculty and student research, scholarship and creative activity. WMU is awarded $30-$40 million annually in externally funded research on topics ranging from nuclear physics and mathematics education to developing technology that enables citizens with special needs to realize their full potential.

In 2003, the Biosciences Research and Commercialization Center (BRCC) at WMU was created by the Michigan Legislature, and is positioned to access the wealth of scientific talent and pharmaceutical commercialization expertise that is part of Kalamazoo’s heritage. Long-time home to such industry giants as the Upjohn Co., Richard-Allan Scientific, Stryker Corp. and Pfizer Inc., Kalamazoo offers a forward-looking, entrepreneurial business climate and a growing reputation among venture capitalists seeking to invest in life sciences discoveries and promising business ventures. Our customers are entrepreneurs, scientists, University Technology Transfer offices and corporatate clients.


1902 -- The Biologics Control Act was established.

Dr. Joseph J. Kinyoun, NIH The Biologics Control Act, established in 1902, had major consequences for the Hygienic Laboratory. It charged the laboratory with regulating the production of vaccines and antitoxins, making it a regulatory agency four years before passage of the 1906 Pure Food and Drugs Act. The danger posed by biological products that had emerged from bacteriologic discoveries resulted from their production in animals and their administration by injection. In 1901, thirteen children in St. Louis died after receiving diphtheria antitoxin contaminated with tetanus spores. This tragedy spurred Congress to pass the Biologics Control Act, and between 1903-1907 standards were established and licenses issued to pharmaceutical firms for making smallpox and rabies vaccines, diphtheria and tetanus antitoxins, and various other antibacterial antisera. (In 1972, responsibility for regulation of biologics was transferred to the Food and Drug Administration).

Marine Hospital Service seal The Marine Hospital Service (MHS), established in 1798, was reorganized in 1912 and renamed the Public Health Service (PHS). The PHS was authorized to conduct research into noncontagious diseases and into the pollution of streams and lakes in the U.S. During World War I, the PHS attended primarily to sanitation of areas around military bases in the U.S., and when the 1918 influenza pandemic struck Washington, physicians from the laboratory were pressed into service treating patients in the District of Columbia because so many local doctors had fallen ill.


1918 -- Spanish Influenza Pandemic.

Spanish Flu, 1918 It is estimated that between 25 and 40 million people died from the the influenza outbreak that began in 1918, swept across America in a week and around the world in three months. In all, between 500,000 and 700,000 Americans --civilians and soldiers-- died from the influenza, more than were lost in World War I, II, and the Korean and Viet Nam wars combined.

On September 27, 1918, the Fargo Forum proudly boasted that the "Spanish Influenza Hasn't Hit Fargo." Within a week, the situation had changed. Fargo reported a hundred cases of influenza on October 4th. One day later, on October 5th, Jamestown reported 1,000 cases. The epidemic began to wane during late November. It continued to be pervasive throughout the state during the winter and spring of 1919. By the late spring of 1919, the disease had behun to disappear from the state.

Additional information about the Spanish influenza pandemic, including audio interviews, photographs, teacher guides and more can be found through the The American Influenza Epidemic of 1918-1919: A Digital Encyclopedia, PBS's The American Experience, and Centers for Disease Control, National Vaccine Program Office.


1930 -- The name of the Hygienic Laboratory was changed to the National Institute of Health.

Dr. Joseph J. Kinyoun, NIH In 1930, the Ransdell Act changed the name of the Hygienic Laboratory to the National Institute of Health (NIH) and authorized the establishment of fellowships for research into basic biological and medical problems. The roots of this act extended to 1918, when chemists who had worked with the Chemical Warfare Service in World War I sought to establish an institute in the private sector to apply fundamental knowledge in chemistry to problems of medicine.


1933 -- Thomas Hunt Morgan was awarded Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his chromosome theory of heredity.

Thomas Hunt Morgan Thomas Hunt Morgan pioneered the new science of genetics through experimental research with the fruit fly (Drosophila), laying the foundations for the future of biology. On the basis of fly-breeding experiments he demonstrated that genes are linked in a series on chromosomes and that they determine indentifiable, hereditary traits.

In 1928, Thomas Hunt Morgan transferred to the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) to organize work in biology, and five years later he was awarded the 1933 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his chromosome theory of heredity. (Photo: © The Nobel Foundation)



1937 -- The National Cancer Institute was created.

National 
    Cancer Institue

In 1937, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) was created with sponsorship from every Senator in Congress, and was authorized to award grants to nonfederal scientists for research on cancer and to fund fellowships at NCI for young researchers.

Today, the NCI, part of the National Institutes of Health, is the federal government's principal agency for cancer research and training.


1944 -- Public Health Service Act was established.

Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center The 1944 Public Health Service Act defined the shape of medical research in the post-war world. The entire NIH budget expanded from $8 million in 1947 to more than $1 billion in 1966, now fondly remembered as "the golden years" of NIH expansion. The 1944 PHS Act authorized NIH to conduct clinical research, and after the war Congress provided funding to build a research hospital, now called the Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland. The Center which opened in 1953 with 540 beds was designed to bring research laboratories into close proximity with hospital wards in order to promote productive collaboration between laboratory scientists and clinicians.

The NIH today, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the primary Federal agency for conducting and supporting medical research and is composed of 27 Institutes and Centers, providing leadership and financial support to researchers in every state and throughout the world.


1947 -- Transistor was invented at AT&T's Bell Laboratories.

John Bardeen William Shockley Walter Brattain The transistor, the invention that marked the dawn of the information age, was invented by John Bardeen, William Shockley and Walter Brattain at AT&T's Bell Laboratories. Bardeen, Shockley and Brattain were awarded the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery of the transistor effect.

Transistors have become an invisible technology that is part of almost every electronic device. Every major information age innovation was made possible by the transistor and its application can be found all around us.

Brattain received his B.S. degree from Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA and a M.A. degree from the University of Oregon. (Photos: © The Nobel Foundation)


1953 -- Double helix structure of DNA was revealed.

James D. Watson Francis Crick Maurice Wilkins The double helix structure of DNA, the hereditary molecule is revealed by two scientists, James D. Watson and Francis Crick. This is one of the key discoveries of the century. Watson and Crick shared the 1962 Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine with Maurice Wilkins for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nuclear acids and its significance for information transfer in living material.

Rosalind Franklin, whose work contributed to the discovery, died before this date and the rules do not allow a Nobel Prize to be awarded posthumously. (Photos: © The Nobel Foundation)


1958 -- Integrated circuit was invented.

Photo of Jack Kilby, inventor of the integrated circuit. Jack Kilby, an engineer at Texas Instruments shows only a transistor and other components on a slice of germanium. This invention (7/16-by-1/16-inches in size), called an integrated circuit, revolutionized the electronics industry. Kilby was awarded the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics for his invention of the integrated circuit. (Photo: Jack Kilby courtesy of Texas Instruments)

Jack Kilby went on to pioneer military, industrial, and commercial applications of microchip technology. He headed teams that built both the first military system and the first computer incorporating integrated circuits. He later co-invented both the hand-held calculator and the thermal printer that was used in portable data terminals. Mr. Kilby officially retired from TI in 1983, but he maintained a significant involvement with the company throughout his life.


1961 -- President John F. Kennedy expanded the U.S. Space Program

President John F. Kennedy expands U.S. Space Program Listen to President John F. Kennedy's speech in his historic message to a joint session of the Congress, on May 25, 1961 declared, "...I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth." This goal was achieved when astronaut Neil A. Armstrong became the first human to set foot upon the Moon at 10:56 p.m. EDT, July 20, 1969. Shown in the background are, (left) Vice President Lyndon Johnson, and (right) Speaker of the House Sam T. Rayburn. The expansion of the U.S. Space Program resulted in the development of a wide range of technology with enormous benefit to human and animal kind. (Photo: courtesy National Aeronautics & Space Administration)


1969 -- Man walked on the moon.

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the Moon. In July of 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, American astronauts, made history by becoming the first men to walk on the moon. Listen to Neil Armstrong's first words as he steps onto the lunar surface (66 kb .wav file). Photo: Courtesy of the National Aeronautics & Space Administration)

An important benefit of the Apollo Lunar Program and other NASA programs is the ever-growing pipeline of technology that improves human and veterinary healthcare diagnostics and therapeutics.


1969 -- Victor McKusick published "Mendelian Inheritance in Man".

Victor McKusick Victor McKusick, widely acknowledged as the father of medical genetics, spent his career studying the genetic basis of diseases and disorders with the belief that such an understanding could lead to new methods of diagnosis and treatment. He studied, identified, and mapped genes responsible for inherited conditions such as Marfan syndrome and dwarfism (specifically in Amish communities). In 1969, he proposed the idea of mapping the human genome, over 30 years before the Human Genome Project was established.

McKusick, a graduate of Johns Hopkins (M.D. 1946), spent his entire career there and founded the Division of Medical Genetics in 1957, the first research center and clinic of its kind. In 1969 he published the 1st edition of his book "Mendelian Inheritance of Man", one of the most comprehensive collections of inherited disease genes. In 2002, McKusick received the highest scientific honor in the U.S., the National Medal of Science.


1971 -- NASDAQ Stock Market was founded.

NASDAQ Stock Market was founded as the world's first electronic stock market by the National Association of Securities Dealers. The NASDAQ system, created by the Bunker Ramos Corp. allowed the financial community, for the first time, to determine which market offered the best price on a given security.


1971 -- President Nixon declared war on cancer creating the Cancer Centers Program of the National Cancer Institute.

On Dec. 23, 1971, the National Cancer Act of 1971, enacted by President Richard Nixon as part of the nation’s war on cancer, established the Cancer Centers Program of the National Cancer Institute. The National Cancer Act, "The War on Cancer," gave the NCI unique autonomy at NIH with special budgetary authority. The annual budget of NCI, called the bypass budget, be submitted directly to the president, bypassing traditional approval by the NIH or the Department of HHS required of other NIH institutes.


1973 -- Recombinant DNA was perfected.

Stanley Cohen The modern era of biotechnology begins when Stanley Cohen of Stanford University and Herbert Boyer of the University of California at San Francisco successfully recombined ends of bacterial DNA after splicing a toad gene in between. They called their accomplishment recombinant DNA, but the media preferred the term genetic engineering. (Photo: Courtesy Stanley Cohen)

Boyer and Cohen's achievement was an advancement upon the techniques developed by Paul Berg, in 1972, for inserting viral DNA into bacterial DNA. Cohen's research at Stanford was with plasmids—the nonchromosomal, circular units of DNA found in, and exchanged by, bacteria, while Boyer's was restriction enzymes produced by bacteria to counter invasion by bacteriophages.


1974 -- Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) was enacted.

Jacob Javits Pete Williams John N. Erlenborn, the ranking Republican on the House Committee, was responsible for bringing the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to a floor vote, and is one of the ERISA’s "Founding Fathers." Together with Senator Jacob Javits (R-NY), Senator Pete Williams (D-NJ) and Congressman John Dent (D-PA), Erlenborn crafted provisions and participated in negotiations that were instrumental to the enactment of ERISA which was - and remains - the single most important legislation governing employee benefit plans in the United States creating a growing source of new capital. (Photos: Jacob Javits and Pete Williams courtesy U.S. Senate Historical Office).


1975 -- Monoclonal antibodies were produced.

Niels Jerne Georges Köhler César Milstein In 1975, Georges Köhler and César Milstein, showed how monoclonal antibodies can be generated by isolating individual fused myeloma cells.

The 1984 Nobel Laureate in Medicine was awarded jointly to: Niels Jerne, Georges Köhler and César Milstein for theories concerning the specificity in development and control of the immune system and the discovery of the principle for production of monoclonal antibodies. (Photos: © The Nobel Foundation).


1976 -- Genentech was founded.

Genentech Genentech was founded by venture capitalist Robert Swanson and biochemist Dr. Herbert Boyer. In the early 1970s, Boyer and geneticist Stanley Cohen at Stanford University pioneered recombinant DNA technology.

Within a few short years Swanson and Boyer invented a new industry - biotechnology. In 1980, Genentech issued its Initial Public Offering (IPO) and raised $35 million with an offering that jumped from $35 a share to a high of $88 after less than an hour on the market. This event was one of the largest stock run-ups ever, and that event set the stage for future biotechnolgy industry offerings.


1977 -- First human gene was cloned.

Walter Gilbert Frederick Sanger Walter Gilbert induced bacteria to synthesize insulin and interferon, and Frederick Sanger published the complete sequence of phage FX174. The 1980 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry was awarded jointly to Frederick Sanger and Walter Gilbert for "for their contributions concerning the determination of base sequences in nucleic acids, and to Paul Berg for his fundamental studies of the biochemistry of nucleic acids, with particular regard to recombinant-DNA.

Gilbert and Sanger independently developed different methods to determine the exact sequence of the nucleotide building blocks in DNA. The investigations of Berg, Gilbert and Sanger have given us a detailed insight into the chemical basis of the genetic machinery in living organisms (Photos: © The Nobel Foundation).


1980 -- U.S. Supreme Court ruled man-made organism patentable.

Ananda Mohan Chakrabarty. Diamond v. Chakrabarty, the U.S. Supreme Court upholds five-to-four the patentability of genetically altered organisms, opening the door to greater patent protection for any modified life forms.

In 1972, Mohan Chakrabarty, a microbiologist, filed a patent application, assigned to the General Electric Co. for a human-made genetically engineered bacterium capable of breaking down multiple components of crude oil. Because of this property, which is possessed by no naturally occurring bacteria, Chakrabarty's invention was believed to have significant value for the treatment of oil spills. The application asserted 36 claims related to Chakrabarty's invention of "a bacterium from the genus Pseudomonas containing therein at least two stable energy-generating plasmids, each of said plasmids providing a separate hydrocarbon degradative pathway.

Opinions: Chief Justice Warren Burger delivered the opinion of the Court, in which justices Potter Stewart, Harry Blackmun, William Rehnquist, and John Paul Stevens joined. William Brennan filed a dissenting opinion, in which Byron White, Thurgood Marshall, and Lewis Powell joined.


1980 -- Bayh-Dole Act provided for university technology transfer.

Birch Bayh, Senator, Indiana Robert Dole, Senator, Kansas H.R.6933, Public Law: 96-517, December 12, 1980. A bill to amend title 35 of the United States Code. This Act known as the Bayh-Dole Act provided for the legal transfer of research and technology originating from U.S. universities and federal laboratories to private companies for commercialization. Technology transfer offices are now common in universities and federal laboratories and are the technology foundation for numerous biotechnology and medical device companies. (Photos: Birch Bayh and Robert Dole courtesy U.S. Senate Historical Office)


1981 -- Michigan Biotechnology Institute was founded.

Michigan Biotechnology Institute Michigan Biotechnology Institute (MBI International) is a cornerstone in a comprehensive plan to diversify Michigan's economy. In January 1981, the Michigan Governor's office and Legislature created the Michigan High Technology Task Force to develop a strategy to increase the high technology component of the state's economy.

The Task Force, composed of the state's business and academic leaders, identified several areas of promising technology to diversify Michigan's economy. One identified targeted sector was biotechnology and the Michigan Biotechnology Institute was created. During the planning phase from 1982-86, a Board of Trustees was formed, a President (Dr. Mark D. Stowers) was hired and an initial $22 million funding for operations raised. From 1987-1991, MBI constructed a state-of-the-art facility in Lansing adjacent to Michigan State University, and began filling its product pipeline with technology to produce chemicals from carbohydrates - a technology package donation valued at $15.3 million from Corn Products Corporation International. In 1995, the Institute was renamed MBI International to reflect MBI's transition from a regional to a global firm. Today, MBI has coupled biology and chemistry to develop new agricultural chemicals, food ingredients, drug intermediates, polymers and structural materials.


1983 -- Orphan Drug Act was created.

U.S. FDA The Orphan Drug Act encouraged the research and development of drugs for rare or "orphan" diseases defined as a disease or condition that affects fewer than 200,000 Americans.

The Orphan Drug Act provided for financial incentives to help companies recover the cost of developing much needed therapies for small patient populations. The FDA estimates that more than 11 million patients in the U.S. and millions more around the world, have benefited from this legislation.


1984 -- Alec Jeffreys and technician Vicky Wilson discovered minisatellites leading to the development of genetic fingerprinting.

Sir Alec Jeffreys In 1984, geneticist Sir Alec Jeffreys, and technician Vicky Wilson at the University of Leicester in England discovered minisatellites leading to the development of genetic fingerprinting. The new technology was first used in 1985 to resolve a disputed immigration case that confirmed the identity of a British boy whose family was from Ghana.

In 1988, Colin Pitchfork was convicted of murdering two girls in 1983 and 1986 in Narborough, Leicestershire, England after his DNA samples matched semen samples taken from the two dead girls. Jeffreys' work in this case convicted the killer, but also exonerated Richard Buckland, a suspect who otherwise might have spent his life in prison. In 1994, Jeffreys' was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to genetics.


1990 -- Human Genome Project was established.

Human Genome Project Logo The U.S. Human Genome Project was established -- a 13-year effort coordinated by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health. The main goals of the Human Genome Project were to provide a complete and accurate sequence of the 3 billion DNA base pairs that make up the human genome and to find all of the estimated 20,000 to 25,000 human genes. The project, originally planned to last 15 years, was expected to be completed by 2003 due to rapid technological advances.


1993 -- Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) was founded.

Biotechnology Industry Organization Biotechnology Industry Organization is the world's largest organization to serve and represent the biotechnology industry. BIO's leadership and service-oriented guidance have helped advance the industry and bring the benefits of biotechnology to people everywhere.


1993 -- Kary B. Mullis was awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Kary B. Mullis Kary B. Mullis of La Jolla, CA and a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley (Ph.D.) was awarded the 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for contributions to the developments of methods within DNA-based chemistry, specifically for his invention of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. (Photo: © The Nobel Foundation)

PCR allows scientists to quickly replicate small strands of DNA, greatly simplifying the sequencing and cloning of genes. First presented in 1985, PCR has become one of the most widespread methods of analyzing DNA. Notably, PCR requires the heat-stable enzyme Taq (Thermus Aquaticus) which originated from hot springs located in Yellowstone National Park.


1996 -- The Van Andel Institute (VAI) was established.

Van Andel Institute The Van Andel Institute (VAI), founded by Jay and Betty Van Andel, envisioned an institute that would have an impact world-wide in enriching and enhancing lives through biomedical research and education. Since its grand opening in 2000, VAI has supported Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) and Van Andel Education Institute (VAEI) in fulfilling and sustaining this vision.

Jay Van Andel co-founded Amway Corporation in 1959. In 1992, President George Bush appointed Jay to serve as the United States Ambassador and Commissioner General to the Genoa Expo '92 in Genoa, Italy. He has also served as Chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a Director of the Gerald R. Ford Foundation, a member of the U.S.O. World of Governors, and North American Chairman of the Netherlands American Bicentennial Commission.

VARI conducts biomedical research, with a focus on cancer and Parkinson disease and with an emphasis on translating scientific research results into clinical applications. VAEI strengthens science education and prepares and motivates individuals to pursue science or science-related professions.


1999 -- The Life Sciences Institute was established.

The Life Sciences Institute at the University of Michigan was established in 1999 to create an interdisciplinary environment for research, complete with a $100 million six-story, 230,000-square-foot (0.021 square kilometers or 2.137 hectares) state-of-the-art laboratory building with wet lab facility to house approximately 30 LSI faculty, their students, and associates and visiting fellows.


2001 -- Human Genome Project draft sequence was published.

Human Genome Project Logo The February 16 issue of Science and February 15 issue of Nature contained the working draft of the human genome sequence (U.S. Human Genome Project). Nature papers included initial analysis of the descriptions of the sequence generated by the publicly sponsored Human Genome Project, while Science publications focused on the draft sequence reported by the private company, Celera Genomics.


2007 -- The National Institutes of Health established the Human Microbiome Project.

Human Microbiome Project On Dec. 19, 2007, the Human Microbiome Project (HMP), a $150 million initiative, was established by the National Institutes of Health with the mission of generating resources that would enable the comprehensive characterization of the human microbiome and analysis of its role in human health and disease.

The HMP is the collection of all the microorganisms living in association with the human body, including eukaryotes, archaea, bacteria and viruses. Bacteria in an average human body number ten times more than human cells, for a total of about 1000 more genes than are present in the human genome.



Learn about the history of the life science industry in other states:

Plus the provinces of:

  • Alberta
  • British Columbia


Other Life Science History Resources

  • Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research
  • American Association for the Advancement of Science
  • Chemical Heritage Foundation
  • Food & Drug Administration
  • Gotham Prize for Cancer Research
  • International Balzan Foundation
  • International Museum of Surgical Science
  • Lasker Foundation
  • National Academy of Sciences
  • National Health Museum
  • National Institutes of Health History, Office of
  • National Medal of Science
  • Prix Galien USA
  • The Nobel Foundation
  • The World Food Prize


If you are aware of a notable event or person at your company or organization that should be included in Michigan Life Science History, please e-mail us at: suggestions@inforesource.org.


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