A Summary of the DNA Testing History

Also known as Deoxyribonuleuc Acid test, the history of the DNA testing is very interesting. From the first, the scientists who were interested in find a cure for the hereditary diseases that the cure for these diseases was in the study of the genetics. The DNA testing is an off-shoot of this study. There are many main milestones of the DNA testing history which are as follows –

History of DNA testing

1. The history of the DNA testing started with Gregor Mendel who was an Austrian monk. Today he is known as the father of the genetics. He discovered in 1865 with the study upon the peas in his garden that the genes are inherited from the parents, one from each side.
2. In 1869, Freidrich Miescher found that the nucleus of each cell in the body which he named as the nuclein molecule. Afterwards, the nuclein molecule was named as DNA or Deoxyribonuleuc Acid.
3. Phobeus Lenvene, who was a biochemist, was specialized in studying the function and structure of the nucleic acid. In 1909, Phobeus Lenvene discovered ribose which is a sugar and is present in genetic material. After 1929, he discovered various things like nucleotides and deoxyribose which includes thymine, cytosine, adenine and guanine. He recognized the significance of the base of phosphate-sugar in the DNA’s structure.
4. In 1928, Fredrick Griffith, who discovered that there was some transforming agent, which is active and influence the development of the hereditary disease in either way. They found that this transforming agent can be the molecule which is genetic in nature.
5. Oswald Avery who was  an American medical researcher and physician continued the work of Fredrick Griffith and continued his transformation experiments further. In 1944, he discovered the DNA was the inheritance molecule which served as the transformation agent in hereditary diseases. It also was the molecular material for the genes and the chromosomes.
6. In 1950, Erwin Chargaff, while doing further experiments found some basic patterns which was present in the 4 bases of the DNA and determined the basic law of the DNA.
7. In 1953, the team of Maurice Wilkins, Rosalind Franklin and Raymond Gosling performed x-ray diffraction analysis and found that the molecule of DNA has molecular rungs like ladder and has helical shape.
8. Finally in 1953, Francis Crick and James Watson took the experiments further and developed the DNA as the double helix model.

Conclusion

DNA testing which is also known by its full form that is Deoxyribonuleuc Acid has its history, which is based in the study of the genetics. The history of DNA testing is long and interesting. When the scientists were studying the genetics closely in hopes of finding the cure for the hereditary diseases, they inadvertently discovered the basics of the DNA testing, which is growing in popularity as an accurate means of identifying the individual’s identity and the relation between the siblings and conclusively establishing the heredity of an individual.

A Summary of the DNA Testing History is a post from: DNA Testing and Paternity Testing Guide