Hey guys make note of the extensively researched references list at the bottom, I tried diligently to find a scientific publication when possible, TONS of information available!

The "Race to Crack The Code" of the previous century vastly increased scientific understanding of DNA and RNA and laid the framework that paved the way for the sciences of genetics, biotechnology, biochemistry and molecular biology, opening doors many wished left locked and bolted.

Now for the Good Stuff

Disclaimer: When I say the good stuff, I do not imply that I support genetic modification in anyway. This is where scientists begin to take the last century of research into biological framework and begin to actually explore the possibilities of altering it's properties and as scary as the potentiality is, you've got to admit it's pretty interesting...

Paul Berg 1972 (center)

GMO Timeline

1946

Joshua Lederburg in collaboration with Edward Tatum combined their research on bacterial genetics. Working together over the course of a year experimenting on E. Coli strains they discovered that bacteria undergo a life stage in which they mate and exchange genes, demonstrating that the offspring also have distinct genetic material and increasing understanding of the way bacteria evolve.

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Esherichia Coli, colorized 3814x magnification

1960

Marshall Nirenberg and J. Heinrich Matthaei created a synthetic RNA molecule an introduced into the cell of an E. Coli bacterium, their findings proved that messenger RNA directs protein synthesis

1969

John E. Franz discovers Glyphosate an herbicide non toxic to animals.

1972

Paul Berg published his"Biochemical Method for Inserting New Genetic Information into DNA..." a culmination of decades long research on DNA-RNA transcription and later gene regulation. The paper describes Berg's method for splicing DNA molecules of the SV40(simian virus 40) and the lambda virus, this resulted in the creation of the first recombinant DNA molecule(rDNA) and is the beginning of rDNA technology.

1973

Concerned about possible risks arising from the increasing usage of rDNA Berg convenes a conference to discuss safety measures for conducting research on engineered organism. Meanwhile Stanley N. Cohen, Herbert Boyerand others discover a method to greatly simplify the process of splicing even DNA from different sources using a restriction enzyme called EcoR1. Using this method they combined antibiotic resistant plasmid fragments with E. Coli cells creating the first transgenic organism.

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Typical Lab Mouse

1974

Stanley N. Cohen and Herbert Boyer continue their research and clone the first animal gene by splicing the genes of the African Clawed Frog (Xenopus Laevis) into the an E. Coli bacterium's DNA and subsequently replacing it into the cell where the recombinant DNA was then replicated.
Rudolph Jaenisch created the first transgenic animal by injecting mouse blastocysts with SV40 DNA and then transferring them into the ovaries of female subjects, the resultant offspring were healthy and tested positive for the presence of SV40, they did not however exhibit the ability to transfer the genes to their own offspring. In light of further advancements Berg teamed with National Academy of Sciences presi