Timeline DNA
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140 Million BP
Older [DNA] samples have been extracted from amber--which dates back
140 million years.
(WSUAN, Fall/95, p.5)
100000BC In 2008 DNA evidence indicated that much
of the human population had descended from a small band of migrants
that left Africa for the Middle East about this time.
(SFC, 2/22/08, p.A4)
48000BC-30000BC In 2010 scientists reported that
genetic material, pulled from a pinky finger bone found in a
Siberian cave dating to this period, showed a new and unknown type
of pre-human living about this time alongside modern humans and
Neanderthals.
(Reuters, 3/24/10)(SFC, 3/25/10, p.A4)(Econ,
3/27/10, p.87)
30000BC In 2010 scientists reported that genetic
material pulled from a pinky finger bone found in a Siberian cave
shows a new and unknown type of pre-human lived about this time
alongside modern humans and Neanderthals.
(Reuters, 3/24/10)
c1000 AD In Yemen in the Hadramawt region a dam
burst about this time near the village of Senna and the people of
the valley fled. In 1997 researchers using DNA studies found that
the Lemba, a Bantu speaking people of southern Africa carry markers
distinctive of the cohanim, Jewish priests believed to be descended
from Aaron. Lemba oral tradition held that they came to Africa from
Senna. Dr. Tudor Parfitt authored "Journey to the Vanished City," a
description of his work on the Lemba.
(SFEC, 5/9/99, p.A24)
c1200-1500 In 2005 researchers using
mitochondrial DNA estimated that 3-6 individuals founded the Mlabri
hunter gatherers of Northern Thailand about this time.
(Econ, 4/16/05, p.71)
1802 James Callender, an
English-born journalist, published a report in the Richmond, Va.,
Recorder about Thomas Jefferson and his relationship with the slave
Sally Hemmings [Hemings]. Annette Gordon-Reed later published:
"Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings, an American Controversy." DNA
tests of descendants was planned in 1998 to test for family
relationships. The tests indicated that Jefferson fathered at least
one child with Hemmings, her youngest son Eston Hemmings in 1808.
Dr. Eugene Foster, author of the DNA report, later said the DNA
tests showed that any one of 8 Jefferson males could have fathered
Eston.
(WSJ, 9/23/97, p.A1)(SFC, 4/29/98, p.A6)(SFEC,
11/1/98, p.A1,7)(WSJ, 11/2/98, p.B11)(WSJ, 2/26/99, p.W15)(SFC,
1/27/00, p.A3)
1808 May 21, Eston Hemmings was
born to slave Sally Hemmings, who was owned by Thomas Jefferson.
Genetic tests in 1998 showed that DNA from Jefferson's descendants
was consistent with DNA from descendants of Hemmings. Some argued
that Randolph Jefferson, brother of Thomas, was Eston's father.
(USAT, 1/7/99, p.3A)
1880 Nov 11, In Australia Ned
Kelly (b.1855), outlaw, was hanged. Kelly was hanged at the Old
Melbourne Gaol but documents show his remains and those of 32 other
executed prisoners were exhumed and reburied at Pentridge Prison in
1929. In 2011 his headless remains were identified using a DNA
sample taken from Melbourne teacher Leigh Olver, Kelly's sister
Ellen's great-grandson.
(WSJ, 9/21/00, p.A8)(SSFC, 1/14/01, BR p.6)(AP,
3/9/08)(AFP, 9/1/11)
1882 Apr 3, Outlaw Jesse James
(34) was shot in the back and killed at his home in St. Joseph, Mo.,
by Robert Ford, a cousin and member of his own gang for a $5,000
reward. Jesse and Frank James, the bank robbing James brothers, were
born as Woodson and Alexander. In 1995 the body of Jesse James was
exhumed for DNA testing. The test proved that it was James, who was
killed in 1882. In 2000 Desmond Barry authored the novel "The
Chivalry of Crime" based on the story of Jesse James. In 2000 the
body of a man, J. Frank Dalton (d.1951), who claimed to be Jesse
James was exhumed for DNA analysis.
(AP, 4/3/97)(SFC,12/26/97, p.C22)(SFEC, 4/23/00,
BR p.5)(SFC, 5/31/00, p.A4)(HNQ, 6/21/00)(HN, 4/3/02)
1916 Jun 8, Francis Crick,
co-discoverer of the structure of DNA (Nobel 1962), was born.
(HN, 6/8/98)(MC, 6/8/02)
1928 Apr 6, James Watson,
[co-]discovered structure of DNA, was born.
(HN, 4/6/98)
1950 In London Maurice Wilkins
and Rosalind Franklin (d.1958) produced pictures of X-ray
diffraction in aligned fibers of DNA. The lab for X-ray
crystallography was set up by physicist John Randall. Data from
these pictures led Watson and Crick to understand the structure of
DNA. In 1975 Anne Sayre (d.1998) published "Rosalind Franklin and
DNA."
(Wired, 2/98, p.135)(SFC, 3/19/98, p.C4)
1952 Sep 20, Scientists
confirmed that DNA holds hereditary data.
(HN, 9/20/98)
1953 Feb 28, Francis Crick
(d.2004) and James Watson discovered the structure of DNA-molecule.
Watson and Crick managed to describe the structure of DNA as a
double helix consisting of two long strings coiled around one
another. About 100,000 genes, short sections of DNA, tell the cells
how to build proteins, the building blocks of life. Rosalind
Franklin made the 1st x-ray image that revealed the double helix
structure of DNA. In 2002 Brenda Maddox authored "Rosalind Franklin:
The Dark Lady of DNA." In 2003 Watson co-authored "DNA: The Secret
of Life." [see Sep 20, Apr 25, 1953]
(V.D.-H.K.p.330)(TL, 1988, p.114)(Wired, 1/97,
p.161)(SSFC, 11/10/02, p.M2)(WSJ, 3/28/03, p.W8) (AP, 2/28/04)
1953 Apr 25, The magazine
Nature published an article by biologists Francis Crick and James
Watson, describing the "double helix" of DNA.
(HN, 4/25/01)
1954 Jul 4, Marilyn Sheppard
(31 and pregnant) was killed at her home near Cleveland and her
husband, Dr. Sam Sheppard (d.1970), was later accused, tried and
jailed for the murder. Sam was released from jail in 1964. His story
inspired the TV series "The Fugitive" and a film in 1993. DNA
evidence in 1997 indicated a third person was involved. Cleveland’s
chief prosecutor ruled in 1998 that the DNA samples were too old. A
civil trial in Cleveland in 2000 rejected the claim of Sam Reese
Sheppard that his father was innocent. [see Dec 21]
(SFC, 2/5/97, p.A6)(SFC, 3/5/98, p.A3)(SFC,
3/6/98, p.A3)(SFC, 4/13/00, p.A2)
1955 Frederick Sanger sequenced
the 1st protein, human insulin. He later developed methods for
sequencing DNA.
(WSJ, 4/5/01, p.B1)
1957 Rosalind Franklin (37),
scientist, died. She made the 1st x-ray image that revealed the
double helix structure of DNA (1953). In 2002 Brenda Maddox authored
"Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA."
(SSFC, 11/10/02, p.M2)
1962 Oct 18, Dr. James D.
Watson of the United States and Dr. Francis Crick and Dr. Maurice
Wilkins of Britain, were named winners of the Nobel Prize for
Medicine and Physiology for their work in determining the
double-helix molecular structure of DNA.
(AP, 10/18/02)(SFC, 3/19/98, p.C4)
1966 Researchers showed how
proteins are made from DNA instructions.
(WSJ, 4/5/01, p.B1)
1967 Jan 18, Albert DeSalvo,
who claimed to be the "Boston Strangler," was convicted in
Cambridge, Mass., of armed robbery, assault and sex offenses.
Sentenced to life, DeSalvo was killed by a fellow inmate in 1973.
DeSalvo had confessed to being the Boston Strangler and killing 13
women. He was never convicted of murder. A portrait of him with
police interviews was made in 1996 for TV show Biography. In 1999
DNA evidence was sought to confirm DeSalvo's claims.
(SFC, 6/6/96, E9)(AP, 1/18/98)(SFC, 7/10/99,
p.A4)
1967 Dec 14, DNA was created in
a test tube.
(MC, 12/14/01)
1968 James Watson (b.1928),
American molecular biologist and Nobel Prize winner, published "The
Double Helix."
(SFC, 3/19/98, p.C4)(SFEM, 7/30/00,
p.9)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_D._Watson)
1968 Dr. Allejandro Zaffaroni,
native of Montevideo, Uruguay, founded ALZA Corp. The company has
grown to be one of the largest medical device companies in the US
specializing in drug delivery technologies. He later helped to
launch Affymax, a drug discovery company, and Affymetrix, which did
DNA research on semiconductor chips.
(BJSJ, 10/30/95, p.8)
1968 Linda Harmon (14) was
raped, beaten and stabbed to death in SF. In 2003 DNA evidence
identified William Speer (61), a convicted sexual predator, as the
murderer.
(SFC, 12/24/03, p.A13)
1969 Sep, Susan Nason (8) of
Foster City, Ca., was bludgeoned to death. Her body was found 2
months later near Crystal Springs. In Dec 1989 Nason's neighbor and
schoolmate, Eileen Franklin-Lipsker, told police that she suddenly
remembered seeing her father batter her friend and hide the body. In
1990 George Franklin was convicted in the first case to use
recovered-memory testimony. Franklin was released after 6 1/2 years
when a federal judge ruled a mistrial. DNA evidence showed Franklin
was not responsible.
(SFC, 2/4/00, p.A21)(SSFC, 2/8/04, p.A28)
1969 Benjamin Volcani
(1915-1999), Palestine-born microbiologist, was the fist to show
that silicon is essential for DNA synthesis in diatoms. He was also
the first to find microorganisms in the Dead Sea in 1936.
(SFC, 2/12/99,
p.D4)(www.eilatgordinlevitan.com/kurenets/k_pages/volcani.html)
1971 Sep 11, The body of a
woman was found in the Delta-Mendota Canal near Westley, Ca. she had
been stabbed 65 times. In 2008 DNA evidence identified her as Mary
Alice Willey (23) of San Francisco.
(SFC, 10/7/08, p.B2)
1972 May 11, US pilot First Lt.
Michael Joseph Blassie was shot down by anti-aircraft fire after
having logged 137 combat missions. His remains were entombed on
Memorial Day, 1984, at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington. In
1998 his remains were exhumed and identified by DNA testing.
(SFC, 1/20/98, p.A2)(SFC, 6/30/98, p.A1)
1973 Nov 25, Albert DeSalvo,
Boston strangler, was stabbed to death in prison. DeSalvo, the
self-admitted Boston strangler, had been tried and convicted on
unrelated assaults. 13 women were killed in Boston between
1962-1964. DNA evidence was sought in 1999. Susan Kelly wrote a book
in 1995 on the Boston Strangler.
(SFC, 7/10/99,
p.A3)(www.us.imdb.com/name/nm1108915/)
1973 Stanley Cohen, Stanford
geneticist, and Herbert Boyer of UCSF co-discovered the basic
process of gene-splicing. They spliced the DNA of one bacteria into
another and cultivated a new organism. The discovery was patented by
Stanford and UCSF and resulted in 25 year earnings of more than $200
million. Recombinant DNA technology soon led to Genetically Modified
Organisms (GMOs) in food products.
(SFC, 1/19/98, p.A10)(WSJ, 12/24/04, p.W6)
1974 Oct 28, Missionaries Mark
Fischer (19) of Milwaukee, Wis., and Gary Darley (20) of Simi
Valley, Calif., disappeared in Austin, Texas. Their bodies were
never found. Robert Elmer Kleasen, taxidermist, was convicted for
their murder and sentenced to death in 1975, but was released after
2 years due to a faulty search warrant. He moved to Britain and in
2001 was convicted again based on DNA evidence, but died in 2003
while awaiting possible extradition.
(AP, 4/21/03)
1976 Jan, In SF Robert Swanson
(28), a Silicon Valley venture capitalist, first met with Herb
Boyer, a molecular biologist and co-discoverer of recombinant DNA.
The 10 minute appointment extended to a few hours and the 2 men
proceeded to found Genentech.
(SFC, 5/28/96, p.B1)(SFC, 1/19/98, p.A10)(WSJ,
12/14/99, p.A22)
1976 "The Selfish Gene" by
Richard Dawkins was published. Here he launched the archetypal
"meme," defined as a unit of cultural transmission. It described how
ideas mimic the behavior of genes and propagate by leaping from
brain to brain. In 2009 Fern Elsdon-Baker authored “The Selfish
Genius: How Richard Dawkins Rewrote Darwin’s Legacy.”
(NH, 5/96, p.13)(Wired, 2/98, p.118)(Econ,
7/25/09, p.81)
1977-1993 In Missouri a serial killer committed at
least 12 murders during this period. In 2004 Kansas City police used
DNA technology to charge Lorenzo Gilyard with 12 murders.
(WSJ, 4/20/04, p.A1)
1978 Dec 31, Peter Seeburg, one
of 3 Univ. of California scientists who had identified the DNA for
human growth hormone earlier in the year, returned to UCSF in a
"midnight raid" and remove genetic material. Seeburg had left the
university in late 1978 to join Genentech giving up rights to his
materials, for which UCSF had filed a patent. In 1990 UCSF filed a
patent infringement suit against Genentech.
(SFC, 5/21/99,
p.B2)(www.mindfully.org/GE/Biotech-Born-Thief-1978.htm)
1979 Jul 28, Rachel Moncrief
(50) was stabbed to death at Camino Camper in Santa Clara, Ca. In
2011 DNA evidence on a marijuana cigarette linked David Dixon (61)
of Richmond, Ca., to the murder.
(SFC, 8/19/11, p.C1)
1979 Dec 5, Teresa De Simone
(22) was found strangled in her car outside the pub where she worked
in Southampton, 80 miles (130 kilometers) southwest of London. Sean
Hodgson initially confessed to the killing, but he later recanted
and pleaded not guilty. His lawyers argued he was a pathological
liar and any confession he made was false. In 2009 Hodgson was
released from prison based on DNA evidence.
(AP, 3/18/09)(http://tinyurl.com/c5jz3y)
1980 Jul, UCLA physician Martin
J. Cline inserted recombinant DNA into two patients with the blood
disease thalassemia, one in Israel and one in Italy. In doing so, he
violated the US recombinant DNA guidelines and human subjects
regulations.
{Biotech, California, USA}
(http://tinyurl.com/2svhm5)
1981 Jun 23, The body of
Catherine Schilling (21), a Georgetown law student, was found raped
and murdered in Rock Creek Park. She was shot in the head five times
after taking a shortcut home through the park after working late at
her job as a paralegal at a DC law firm. In September 1982, a D.C.
jury convicted Donald Eugene Gates of killing and raping Schilling.
In 2009 Gates (58) was released from prison based on DNA evidence.
(http://tinyurl.com/y8smuur)(SFC, 12/15/09, p.A9)
1980s Molecular regulators
known as Hox genes, short for homeobox, were discovered. The small
DNA segment of about 180 chemical letters if virtually identical in
all animals from worms to primates and determines the shape and size
of an organism.
(CW, Fall ‘03, p.46)
1982 Bernard Webster (19) was
identified as a rapist in Towson, Md. He denied the charges and was
freed after 20 years in jail following DNA tests that proved him
innocent.
(SFC, 11/7/02, p.A7)
1983 Jun 4, In Chino Hills,
Ca., Douglas and Peggy Ryen and their 10-year old daughter, Jessica,
were killed in the master bedroom of their home. Christopher Hughes
(11), a neighbor, was also killed. Joshua Ryen (8) survived despite
serious wounds. Kevin Cooper, who escaped from Chino prison on June
2, was arrested 47 days later and was convicted for the murders in
1985 and faced execution. Cooper claimed he was innocent and called
for DNA testing of the evidence in 2000. In 2003 an execution date
of Feb 10, 2004, was set for Cooper. Cooper won a last minute
reprieve on Feb 9 pending a re-examination of the case.
(SFEC, 7/23/00, p.B3)(SFC, 12/18/03, p.A21)(SFC,
2/11/04, p.A4)
1983 Nov 26, Angela Bugay of
Antioch, Ca., 5-years-old, was found in a shallow grave in Concord,
Ca. She had been kidnapped a week earlier. Larry Graham, who dated
Angela’s mother, was later arrested as a suspect and prosecutors in
1995 received a court order to draw his blood for DNA evidence. In
1996 police matched the DNA of Graham, with samples recovered from
the girl’s body and arrested him on charges of murder. Use of the
DNA evidence was cleared in 1998. Graham was convicted Aug 20, 2002,
and sentenced to death Oct 22. Graham (58) was found dead in his
cell on June 16, 2009, of apparent suicide.
(SFC, 4/26/96, p.A-19)(SFC, 5/20/98, p.A19)(SFC,
3/18/99, p.A19)(SFC, 4/15/02, p.A1)(SFC, 8/21/02, p.A15)(SFC,
10/23/02, p.A16)(SFC, 6/17/09, p.B6)
1983 Dennis Maher was convicted
in Boston of raping 3 women and spent the next 19 years in prison.
In 2003 DNA evidence proved his innocence.
(SFC, 4/4/03, p.A3)
1983-1992 DNA Plant Technology Corp. later
admitted to having worked on a secret research project over this
period, at the behest of an unnamed US tobacco company, to increase
the nicotine content of tobacco plants.
(SFC, 1/8/98, p.A1)
1984 Apr 6, In SF Joan Baldwin
(43) was killed and mutilated at an Earl Scheib paint shop at 555
Bryant St. In 2006 police arrested parolee Dwight Culton (57) based
on DNA evidence. On may 4, 2011, Culton was convicted of the murder.
(SFC, 11/22/06, p.B4)(SFC, 5/5/11, p.C3)
1984 May 28, President Reagan
led a state funeral at Arlington National Cemetery at the Tomb of
the Unknowns for an unidentified American soldier killed in the
Vietnam War. The remains were unearthed in 1998 for DNA testing and
possible identification. They were later identified as those of Air
Force First Lieutenant Michael J. Blassie, and were sent to St.
Louis for hometown burial.
(AP, 5/28/97)(WSJ, 5/15/98, p.A1)(AP, 5/28/01)
1984 Jun 4, DNA was
successfully cloned from a quagga, an animal extinct since 1883.
(www.tecsoc.org/pubs/history/2003/jun4.htm)
1984 Sep 10, British scientist
Alec Jeffreys and colleagues discovered that x-ray images of bits of
DNA showed patterns unique to individuals. Jeffries, a geneticist at
Leicester Univ., and his research team found that DNA sequences,
specific to individuals, could be identified as visible bands. He
dubbed his findings DNA fingerprinting. This led to the use of DNA
to solve thousands of crimes.
(Econ, 3/13/04, TQ p.34)(SSFC, 9/13/09, p.A17,20)
1985 Dr. Alec Jeffries,
geneticist at Leicester Univ., used DNA fingerprinting for the 1st
time to prove a maternity and paternity case.
(Econ, 3/13/04, TQ p.33)
1985 Wayne Dumond, while
waiting trial for rape, was castrated with fishing line by 2 men in
stocking masks. He had been sentenced to a prison term for the rape
and kidnap of a 17-year old girl. While in prison St. Francis County
Sheriff, Coolidge Conlee, removed Dumond's testicles from his home
and preserved them in formaldehyde and displayed them on his desk.
Later DNA evidence showed that Dumond’s semen did not match that
found on the victim’s pants and Governor Huckabee of Arkansas said
he should be freed.
(SFC, 9/21/96, p.A4)
1985 A Dallas-area woman was
raped and her apartment was burglarized. Thomas Clifford McGowan
(26) was convicted of both crimes in separate trials in 1985 and
1986 and sentenced to life each time. In 2008 McGowan won his
freedom after a DNA testing proved him innocent.
(AP, 4/16/08)
1986 Jan 22, The body of Yvonne
Coleman (15) was found in a park in Inglewood, California. In 2008
DNA evidence linked Michael Hughes (51), already in jail for 4 other
murders, to her murder and 3 others.
(SFC, 7/4/08, p.B6)
1986 Aug 13, In Texas Christine
Morton was found beaten and killed in her Williamson County home.
Her husband Michael Morton was convicted and spent 25 years in
prison before being freed in 2011 after DNA evidence showed another
man was responsible.
(SFC, 10/5/11, p.A7)
1987 Oct 29, Virginia Lowery
(56) was killed in her SF home at 966 Brussels in the Excelsior. In
1998 DNA evidence led police to Robert Nawi, a local laborer with an
extensive criminal record. Nawi (58) was convicted in 2001. Nawi had
been hired by husband and son Bill and David Lowery.
(SFC, 9/22/98, p.A15)(SFC, 8/28/01, p.A12)
1987 Cetus Corp. patented
polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a process that turns small amounts
of DNA into large amounts of DNA. The enzyme Taq, which helped to
automate the process, was patented in 1989. In 1991 Roche purchased
the Cetus patents for PCR and Taq.
(SFC, 1/31/00, p.B1)
1988 Feb 26, Gretchen Burford
(49) was abducted and killed by an attacker who tried to make her
withdraw money from an ATM machine in Mountain View, Ca. In 2005 DNA
evidence identified Texas inmate Tyrone Hamel (39) as the killer.
(SFC, 6/24/05, p.B4)
1989 Apr 19, A female jogger
(28) was raped and beaten in Central Park and 6 teen-agers were
later charged in the near-fatal attack; 5 black and Latino youths
(14-16) were convicted in a case that attracted worldwide headlines.
In 2002 DNA evidence identified Matias Reyes (31) as the rapist.
3,254 other rapes were reported in the park in 1989.
(NG, 5/93, p.16)(AP, 4/19/99)(SFC, 9/6/02, p.A3)
1990 The Human Genome Project
began and planned to sequence all human DNA by 2005. The database
did not just store sequences, but linked them with citations to
enable new discoveries. James Watson served as its 1st head. His
opposition to gene patents helped force him from the position in
1992.
(Wired, 8/96, p.198)(SFEM, 7/30/00, p.10)
1991 Feb 27, In San Francisco
Karen Wong (39) was raped and killed in her flat in the 400 block of
47th Ave. In 2008 DNA evidence identified Otis Hughes (56), a
paroled burglar, as the murderer.
(SFC, 12/11/08, p.B2)
1991 Nov 9, Singer-actor Yves
Montand died near Paris at age 70. His body was exhumed in 1998 for
DNA tests in a paternity suit filed by Aurore Drossard (22).
(SFC, 3/13/98, p.A17)(AP, 11/9/01)
1991 Postal worker Ray Krone
was arrested for the murder of bartender Kim Ancona. Krone was
convicted in 1992 and again in 1996. In 2002 DNA evidence proved his
innocence.
(SFC, 11/19/04, p.A2)
1991 In Japan Toshikazu Sugaya,
a kindergarten bus driver, was arrested in the murder of a
4-year-old girl in Tochigi, north of Tokyo, a year earlier. A local
court sentenced him to life imprisonment in 1993, and Japan's top
court rejected his appeal in 2000. In 2010 a court officially
declared him innocent in the murder and offered a rare apology for a
forced confession and wrongful conviction that kept him behind bars
for more than 17 years. Sugaya (63), was serving a life sentence
when new DNA tests last year showed his innocence.
(AP, 3/26/10)
1992 Oct 27, In Oil City,
Pennsylvania, Shauna Howe (11) was kidnapped while walking home from
a pre-Halloween party. Her battered body was found 3 days later. For
every year afterward, the City Council voted to allow
trick-or-treating in the afternoon only. In 2004 a witness came
forward and police turned to DNA evidence. Two brothers were
arrested and convicted of murder and sexual assault. A third man
pleaded guilty to murder. In 2008 the city council voted to allow
Halloween back to night hours.
(AP, 10/30/08)
1993 Apr 26, In Britain a woman
named Nora was raped in the town of Bridgewater. In 2006 kinship DNA
evidence led to the arrest of Geoffrey Godfrey, who was sentenced to
6 years.
(WSJ, 2/23/08, p.A1)
1993 Jul 7, Mia Zapata (27), a
rising punk-rock star, was last seen alive in Seattle. In 2003 Jesus
C. Mezquia was arrested in Florida on DNA evidence.
(SSFC, 1/12/03, p.A6)
1993 The Nobel Prize in
Chemistry was awarded to Kary B. Mullis for developing the
polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for identifying fragments of DNA.
(SFC, 7/18/00, p.A8)
1994 Aug 22, DNA testing linked
OJ Simpson to the murder of Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman.
(MC, 8/22/02)
1995 Apr 4, It was reported
that Nuclear Matrix Proteins that act as a type of scaffolding for
DNA were being used as markers for cancer. They were also thought to
help turn genes off and on.
(WSJ, 4/4/95, B-1)
1995 May, Larry Lee Hillblom,
co-founder and majority shareholder of DHL Corp., disappeared into
the Pacific Ocean in his World War II vintage seaplane. He was
conservatively valued at 500 million and willed most of his estate
to a charitable trust for medical research. $240 million was set
aside for medical research at UCSF. He named the Bank of Saipan as
executor but left behind a number of illegitimate children in the
Philippines and the Mariana Islands who are laying claim to his
estate. In 1998 4 children won $90 million settlements each. Later
it was learned that many of his personal effects in Saipan were
buried to avoid DNA tests for paternity confirmation.
(WSJ, 5/15/96, p.A1,8)(SFEC, 1/11/98, p.A1)(SFEC,
8/16/98, p.A1)(WSJ, 3/20/00, p.A1)
1996 Jan, Scientists reported
in Nature that analysis of protein sequences of rabbit DNA indicate
that the order Lagomorpha (rabbits, hares and allies) are more
closely related to primates than other groups of mammals.
(Pac. Disc., summer, ‘96, p.46)
1996 Spring, Affymetrix Inc.
planned to ship its first product, GeneChip. Building blocks of DNA
proteins would be placed on a glass chip. Initial applications will
be to test the effectiveness of various drugs in research settings.
(SJBJ, Jan. '96, p.41)
1996 Jul 5, A cloned lamb,
named Dolly (d.2003) after Dolly Pardon, was born in Edinburgh
Scotland. The event was not announced until Feb 23, 1997 when it was
made public that researchers under Dr. Ian Wilmut at Edinburgh,
Scotland, created a clone lamb from adult sheep DNA. In 2001 it was
reported that Dolly suffered from arthritis, a sign of premature
aging.
(SFEC, 2/23/96, p.C1)(SFC, 1/5/02, p.A2)(SFC,
2/15/03, p.A2)
1996 Jul, In France Caroline
Dickinson, a 13-year-old British girl, was raped and strangled at a
youth hostel in the town of Pleine-Fougeres. In 1997 a DNA test was
planned to be performed on volunteers of the 170 young men in the
town who fit an age profile of the murderer.
(SFC, 10/11/97, p.A8)
1996 Oct 29, In Alameda, Ca.,
Manuel Garcia (59) was found dead of trauma and stab wounds. 12 days
later Diane Ely (54) was found beaten and stabbed to death in
Alameda. In 2011 police with DNA evidence charged Eugene Albert
Protsman (56), a convicted killer already serving a life sentence,
with the murders.
(SFC, 9/28/11, p.C2)
1997 Feb 23, It was announced
that researchers under Dr. Ian Wilmut at Edinburgh, Scotland,
created a clone lamb from adult sheep DNA. The lamb was born in Jul,
1996, and named Dolly after Dolly Pardon. Dolly was put down Feb.
14, 2003, after a short life marred by premature aging and disease.
(SFEC, 2/23/97, p.C1)(AP, 2/23/98)
1997 Jul 10, The DNA from the
arm bone of Neanderthal man found in 1856 was found to represent a
separate human species. Scientists in London said DNA from a
Neanderthal skeleton supported a theory that all humanity descended
from an "African Eve" 100,000 to 200,000 years ago.
(SFC, 7/11/97, p.A1)(AP, 7/10/98)
1997 Aug 15, Scientists at
Geron corp. reported that an "immortality gene" had been cloned. The
key gene carries the code for a key section of the enzyme
telomerase, that rebuilds the telomere of DNA. It could lead to new
cancer-prevention drugs and even be used to slow the process of
aging.
(SFC, 8/15/97, p.A1,17)(SFC, 8/16/97, p.D1)
1997 Sep 17, Dr. Sam Sheppard's
body (subject of the TV show "The Fugitive") was exhumed for DNA
test.
(MC, 9/17/01)
1998 Mar 21, Christina Nytsch
(11) was found raped and murdered in woods 8 miles from her home in
Struecklingen. In April Police began collecting saliva from 18,000
local men to test for a DNA match. Police found a match and arrested
a suspect in Elisabethfehn in May, 1998. The man, a father of 3
children, confessed to another rape of an 11-year-old girl in Jan,
1996.
(SFC, 4/10/98, p.A18)(SFEC, 5/31/98, p.A24)
1998 Jun 10, It was reported
that scientists had decoded the DNA sequence for Mycobacterium
tuberculosis.
(SFC, 6/11/98, p.A2)
1998 Jul 17, Scientists
reported in the journal Science that the syphilis genome, 1.1
million base pairs of DNA, had been mapped.
(SFC, 7/17/98, p.A7)
1998 Jul 27, In Chicago two
boys, aged 7 and 8, reportedly killed an 11-year-old girl, Ryan
Harris, with a thrown rock that caused the girl to fall and hit her
head. The boys dragged her to a wooded area and began to play with
her body and later lied to police. The boys faced the juvenile
equivalent of first degree murder. Later evidence of semen caused
prosecutors to drop murder charges against the boys. In Sep police
arrested another suspect whose DNA matched that found on Ryan. The
charges on the 2 boys were dropped Sept 4 and Floyd Durr was
indicted for the murder of Ryan Harris in 1999.
(SFC, 8/11/98, p.A3)(SFC, 9/5/98, p.A3)(SFC,
9/23/98, p.A6)(USAT, 3/24/99, p.6A)
1998 Sep 10, In Utah Anna
Palmer (10) was stabbed to death in Salt Lake City. In 2010 DNA
evidence linked Matthew John Breck to her murder. Breck, serving
time in Idaho for a 2001 conviction of sodomy with a minor, was
extradited to Utah.
(SSFC, 7/11/10,
p.A6)(http://missing87975.yuku.com/sreply/11770)
1999 May 5, SF Superior Court
Judge Robert Dondero ruled that a key DNA test, Short Tandem
Repeats, was unproven and inadmissible in 5 cases before him.
(SFC, 5/7/99, p.A1)
1999 May 6, Scientists reported
that the salmonella bacteria becomes disabled when stripped of a
gene that produces the DNA adenine methylase (Dam). The research was
seen as a potent new source for vaccines.
(SFC, 5/7/99, p.A1,17)
1999 May 27, It was reported
that Dolly, the 3-year-old sheep, cloned from a 6-year-old ewe, has
cells that that are 9 years old. Her DNA showed signs of wear more
typical of an older animal.
(SFC, 5/27/99, p.A1)(WSJ, 5/27/99, p.A1)
1999 Jul 9, In SF Mark Barton
was ambushed and shot to death as he left for work from his Potrero
Ave. home. His girlfriend (21) was raped, thrown in a closet and
shot. In 2003 police arrested Ivory Morton based on DNA evidence.
(SFC, 3/28/03, p.A6)
1999 Dec 2, Tim Cole (b.1960),
an army veteran convicted of a 1985 rape, died in a Texas prison
from complications of asthma. In 2008 Cole was cleared by DNA
evidence. In 2010 Texas Gov. Rick Perry pardoned Cole in the state’s
first posthumous pardon.
(SFC, 3/2/10,
p.A4)(www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100249923)
2000 Apr 6, A private company
mapping the human genetic blueprint announced it had decoded all of
the DNA pieces that make up the genetic pattern of a single human
being.
(AP, 4/6/01)
2000 Mar 15, The unknown East
Side rapist was indicted under DNA evidence in a John Doe indictment
for 7 rapes between 1994-1998 to prevent the 5 year stature of
limitations from expiring 3 of the cases.
(SFC, 3/16/00, p.A12)
2000 Jun 1, With about half an
hour to spare, Texas Governor George W. Bush blocked the scheduled
execution of convicted killer Ricky McGinn so that possibly
exculpatory DNA evidence could be reviewed. The DNA tests failed to
establish McGinn’s innocence, and he was put to death by injection
the following September.
(AP, 6/1/01)
2000 Jun 26, Public and private
gene researchers, Celera Genomics and the National Human Genome
Research Institute, announced at the White House that they had
roughly mapped the human genome. Craig Venter, head of Celera,
acquired private funding in 1998 and began decoding in September
1999. In 2007 Venter authored “A Life Decoded: My Genome: My Life.”
A truly complete sequence was not published until 2003. In 2010
Victor McElheny authored “Drawing the map of Life: Inside the Human
Genome Project.”
(SFC, 6/27/00, p.A1)(AP, 6/26/01)(WSJ, 10/27/07,
p.W6)(Econ, 6/19/10, SR p.3)(Econ, 7/31/10, p.69)
2000 Dec 7, In Texas Claude
Howard Jones was executed for the Nov 14, 1989, slaying of Allen
Hilzendager in Point Blank. Jones was the 40th execution this year
and the 239th since 1982. Jones was executed based on a single hair
as evidence from the liquor store killing. DNA analysis later found
the strand of hair did not belong to Jones.
(SFC, 12/8/00, p.D4)(SFC, 11/12/10,
p.A9)(http://tinyurl.com/33p23qm)
2001 Feb 11, It was reported
that scientists had found the human genome to consist of 30,000
genes and that only some 300 were unique to humans as when compared
to mice.
(SSFC, 2/11/01, p.A1)
2001 Sep 28, In Australia a
leech dropped off Peter Cannon as he and an accomplice tied a woman
(71) to a chair in her remote home in the Tasmanian woods and stole
several hundred dollars in cash. Australian officials extracted
blood from the leech. In 2009 DNA evidence led the police to Cannon,
who admitted to robbing the elderly woman.
(AP, 10/20/09)
2001 Nov 22, Stanford and UCSF
researchers reported a long list of genes responsible for multiple
schlerosis (MS).
(SFC, 11/23/01, p.A1)
2001 Dec 4, Edwin Huffine, US
forensic scientist, launched a new DNA ID software program developed
with a team of Bosnian experts at the Sarajevo-based Int’l.
Commission for Missing Persons (ICMP). The program used kinship
analysis.
(SFC, 12/4/01, p.A3)
2001 Dec 4, In South Africa
Marike de Klerk (64), former wife of former Pres. F.W. de Klerk, was
found stabbed and strangled in her luxury apartment near Cape Town.
Police arrested Luyanda Mboniswa (21), a security guard, on Dec 5.
The guard confessed Dec 7. In 2003 DNA evidence linked him to the
murder.
(SFC, 12/6/01, p.A6)(SFC, 12/7/01, p.A6)(SFC,
12/8/01, p.A7)(AP, 4/8/03)
2001 The US National Institutes
of Health began its Mammalian Gene Collection (MGC) project to
isolate each of the estimated 30,000 human genes along with a full
set of mouse genes.
(SFC, 4/23/01, p.B1)
2001 Dwayne Jackson was
arrested on kidnapping and robbery charges in Nevada. He spent 4
years in prison until his release in 2006. In November, 2010, an
error regarding DNA evidence indicated that the wrong man had been
sent to prison.
(SFC, 7/8/11, p.A6)
2002 Jan 6, Christa Worthington
(46), fashion writer, was found dead at her home in Truro on Cape
Cod, Mass. Her 2-year-old daughter was next to her, covered in blood
but unharmed. In 2005 DNA evidence identified Christopher Mccowen, a
local trash collector, as the murderer.
(SFC, 4/16/05, p.A5)
2002 Dec 19, After a prosecutor
cited new DNA evidence, a judge in New York threw out the
convictions of five young men in a 1989 attack on a Central Park
jogger who had been raped and left for dead.
(AP, 12/19/03)
2003 Aug 13, Chinese
researchers reported that they had created hybrid embryos of human
and rabbit DNA as a source for stem cells.
(SFC, 8/14/03, p.A3)
2003 Nov 6, Gene scientists
published a map in Nature that shows how DNA controls protein
interactions in the fruit fly.
(WSJ, 11/7/03, p.A1)
2003 Nov 13, The US Energy Dept
reported that Dr. Craig Venter and colleagues had assembled a
bacteriophage containing 5,386 DNA base pairs.
(SFC, 11/14/03, p.A7)
2004 May 16, It was reported
that a Scottish bus firm had begun issuing DNA “spit kits” help
drivers verify assault charges on passengers spitting at drivers.
(SSFC, 5/16/04, p.A2)
2004 Apr 17, The body of
University of North Dakota student Dru Sjodin (22) was found in a
ravine northwest of Crookston, Minn. She was last seen Nov 22 at the
Grand Forks, ND, mall, where she worked. Alfonso Rodriquez was
arrested in Dec. and investigators matched DNA in blood in his car
to Sjodin.
(AP, 4/18/04)(SSFC, 4/18/04, p.A13)
2004 Jul 28, Francis Crick
(88), British Nobel laureate who with American James Watson
discovered the double-helix structure of DNA, died of colon cancer
in San Diego, Ca.
(AP, 7/29/04)
2004 Aug 11, Britain granted
its 1st license for human embryonic cloning research.
(WSJ, 8/12/04, p.A1)
2004 Sep, Scientists announced
that they had deciphered the genome of the black cottonwood tree,
the 1st arboreal genome to be unraveled.
(Econ, 1/8/05, p.70)
2004 Oct 20, Scientists of the
Human Genome Project reported a new estimate of human genes at 20k
to 25k.
(SFC, 10/21/04, p.A12)
2004 Dec 23, The FDA said it
approved the Ampli-Chip Cytochrome P450 Genotyping test made by
Roche. The test was cleared for use with the Affymetrix GeneChip
Microarray.
(WSJ, 12/24/04, p.A9)
2005 Jan 12, It was reported
that researchers had synthesized a DNA molecule of 14,500 chemical
units with 21 genes used by a harmless laboratory bacterium.
(SFC, 1/12/05, p.A2)
2005 Feb 17, Gene scientists
published the 1st map of a common DNA variations.
(WSJ, 2/18/05, p.A1)
2005 Mar, Scientists reported
that they have finished sequencing the X chromosome. Scientists also
reported the replication of a new artificial base pair,
3-fluoro-benzene (3FB).
(Econ, 3/19/05, p.84)
2005 Apr 13, National
Geographic and IBM Corp. announced a project to collect DNA samples
from people around the globe to trace the routes of human migration.
(SFC, 4/13/05, p.A1)
2005 Apr 26, Clarence Williams
(58), suspected of raping at least 25 women in 3 states, was
arrested in NYC following DNA tests that linked him to a 1973 rape
case.
(SFC, 4/27/05, p.A3)
2005 May 19, South Korea
scientists announced the creation of 11 different stem cell lines
matching the DNA of human patients with a variety of diseases.
(SSFC, 5/29/05, p.A17)
2005 Jul 22, The Italian
government approved a package of anti-terrorism measures that allow
authorities to take DNA samples from suspects and jail those who
provide explosives training.
(AP, 7/22/05)
2006 Nov 15, Researchers, who
sequenced DNA from the leg bone of a Neanderthal man who died 38,000
years ago, said it shows the Neanderthals are truly distant
relatives of modern humans who interbred rarely, if at all, with our
own immediate ancestors. They concluded that Neanderthals and humans
are likely to be 99.5% identical, genetically speaking.
(Reuters, 11/15/06)(Econ, 11/18/06, p.84)
2007 Mar 13, Entrepreneur Marc
Hodosh (34) was named senior director of the Archon Genomics X
Prize. His job was to offer $10 million to the first team of
researchers that can accurately map the genetic codes of 100 people
in 10 days for a cost of $10,000 or less per genome. The competition
was launched in 2006 year by the nonprofit X Prize Foundation of
Santa Monica, Calif., which also has sponsored races to build
commercial spacecraft and fuel-efficient cars.
(http://tinyurl.com/2vfp9b)(Econ, 12/8/07, p.94)
2007 Nov 2, In Italy Meredith
Kercher (21), a British university student, was found dead with her
throat slashed in the bedroom of a house in the central city of
Perugia. A week later 3 suspects in the murder were remanded in
custody by an Italian investigating magistrate. On Nov 19 police in
Perugia identified a 4th suspect as Rudy Hermann Guede, an Ivory
Coast native. Guede was arrested in Germany the next day and DNA
evidence confirmed that he had sex with Kercher the night she was
stabbed. In 2009 roommate Amanda Knox, of Seattle, Wa., was
convicted and sentenced to 26 years in prison. The court also
convicted Knox's co-defendant and former boyfriend, Italian Raffaele
Sollecito, and gave him a 25-year jail term for the murder. Rudy
Hermann Guede, an Ivory Coast citizen, had already been convicted in
the murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
(AP, 11/2/07)(AFP, 11/10/07)(AP, 11/19/07)(AP,
11/22/07)(AP, 12/5/09)
2007 Nov 30, Scientists at Duke
Univ. reported the creation of the first map of genes that are
inherited as “silenced genes.” The Duke map verified 40 and
identified another 156. Humans were first shown to have silenced
genes in 1991. They help explain why some people get sick and others
do not.
(SFC, 11/30/07, p.A7)
2008 Jan 30, Using DNA, the
blueprint of life, US researchers said they have made a
three-dimensional structure from particles of gold in a development
that could lead to a host of custom-designed materials.
(Reuters, 1/30/08)
2008 Feb 5, British scientists
said they have created human embryos containing DNA from two women
and a man in a procedure that researchers hope might be used one day
to produce embryos free of inherited diseases.
(AP, 2/5/08)
2008 Apr 29, James Woodward
(55) walked out of a Dallas court after DNA testing overturned his
conviction over 27 years ago for the murder and rape of his
girlfriend.
(Reuters, 4/30/08)
2008 May 21, Pres. Bush signed
legislation to protect people from losing their jobs or health
insurance when genetic testing reveals they are susceptible to
costly diseases. The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act was
designed to prohibit the improper use of genetic information in
health insurance and employment.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_Information_Nondiscrimination_Act)(WSJ,
5/22/08, p.D6)
2008 May 26, Dutch scientists
claimed they have completed the first sequencing of an individual
woman's DNA.
(AP, 5/26/08)
2008 Dec 4, Europe's top human
rights court ruled that storing DNA from people with no criminal
record is in breach of their rights, a landmark decision that could
force Britain to destroy the samples of nearly 1 million people on
its database.
(AP, 12/4/08)
2009 Feb 12, Researchers in
Germany said they have completed the first draft of the Neanderthal
genome, 3 billion genetic building blocks that will shed new light
on the ancient hominid as well as the origins of humans, its closest
relation. Lead scientist Svante Paabo established in 1997 that
Neanderthals were cousins rather than ancestors of modern humans.
(AP, 2/12/09)
2009 Feb 15, French specialists
unveiled a new weapon against cancer, a molecular "decoy" that
mimics DNA damage and prompts cancerous cells to kill themselves.
(AFP, 2/16/09)
2009 Feb, Scientists published
a study showing that genetically modified material did contaminate
native corn in the crop's birthplace in southern Mexico. Elena
Alvarez Buylla, author of the article published in the February
edition of Molecular Ecology, said the difficult atmosphere
surrounding the original debate persists.
(AP, 3/5/09)
2009 Apr 2, In Connecticut a
judge, citing DNA evidence, dropped murder charges against Miguel
Roman, who served 20 years of a 60-year sentence after being
convicted of the 1988 slaying of Carmen Lopez (17), his pregnant
girlfriend. The same DNA tests that exonerated Roman implicated led
police in December to charge another man, Pedro Miranda of New
Britain. He is accused in the killings of Lopez, 16-year-old Rosa
Valentin in 1986 and 13-year-old Mayra Cruz in 1987. Miranda (51)
faced the possibility of the death penalty if convicted.
(SFC, 4/3/09, p.A6)
2009 May 7, Britain promised it
would remove the DNA records of hundreds of thousands from its vast
national registry of genetic information, but said it will still
keep the details of some innocent people for up to 12 years.
(AP, 5/7/09)
2009 Jun 18, The US Supreme
Court ruled 5-4 that William Osborne, a prisoner convicted in Alaska
in 1994, has no constitutional right to DNA testing to prove his
innocence. In April 2008, a three-judge panel of US Court of Appeals
for the Ninth Circuit had held that Osborne should be allowed to
obtain new DNA tests. The court said that it is up to the
states and Congress to decide such rights.
(SFC, 6/19/09, p.A7)(Econ, 8/1/09,
p.25)(http://tinyurl.com/mkmte2)
2009 Sep 5, Milwaukee police
arrested Walter Ellis (49) after DNA evidence linked him to the
slaying of 9 women, including 8 suspected prostitutes, dating back
to 1986.
(SFC, 9/7/09, p.A6)
2009 Oct 20, Australian
officials said a leech found at a crime scene in 2001 led police to
a man who admitted robbing an elderly woman. The leech dropped off
Peter Cannon as he and an accomplice tied a 71-year-old woman to a
chair in her remote home in the Tasmanian woods on Sept. 28, 2001.
(AP, 10/20/09)
2009 Oct 23, In Canada a judge
in Winnipeg acquitted Kyle Unger (38) of the 1990 murder of Brigitte
Grenier (16). DNA tests in 2005 showed that hair on the victim came
from somebody else. Unger had spent 13 years in jail before he was
granted bail in 2005.
(SFC, 10/24/09, p.A2)
2009 Nov 11, The British Home
Office said DNA of innocent people arrested then cleared without
charge will be held by the government for no more than six years.
(AFP, 11/11/09)
2009 Nov 16, Thai police
arrested Samart Chokechoyma (36) and Kanokwan Wongsaroj (38) on
charges of smuggling African ivory into the country to supply shops
that sell jewelry and trinkets, including to customers in the US.
DNA tests showed that it was of African origin.
(AP, 11/17/09)
2009 Nov 18, Argentina's
Congress, valuing truth over the right to privacy, authorized the
forced extraction of DNA from people who may have been born to
political prisoners slain a quarter-century ago, even when they
don't want to know their birth parents.
(AP, 11/20/09)
2009 Dec 15, Donald Eugene
Gates (58), in prison for 28 years, was freed after DNA evidence
cleared him of charges of rape and murder. His conviction had been
based on the testimony of FBI forensic analyst Michael P. Malone,
whose work came under fire in 1997, and a hair analysis technique
that has been discredited. Gates was given $75 and a bus ticket to
Ohio. Gates had been convicted in 1982 of the 1981 rape and murder
of Catherine Schilling (21), a Georgetown University student, in
Washington's Rock Creek Park. He was sentenced to 20 years to life
in prison.
(SFC, 12/15/09, p.A9)(http://tinyurl.com/y8smuur)
2009 Dec 16, In Paraguay
President Fernando Lugo’s lawyer said Lugo has agreed to take a DNA
test following a judicial request presented by Hortensia Damiana
Moran (40), the third woman to claim he fathered her child.
(AP, 12/16/09)
2010 Jan 1, It was reported
that Australian researchers have cracked the genetic origin of the
deadly cancer that is threatening to wipe out Tasmanian devils,
raising hopes that the animal's future is safe.
(AFP, 1/1/10)
2010 Jan 14, An int’l. team of
scientists reported the sequencing of the genes of 3 species of the
Nasonia wasp. 157 research groups in 6 nations spent over 4 years on
the project, which was expected to help reduce the use of farm
pesticides and help in the development of new drugs against human
disease.
(SFC, 1/15/10, p.C2)
2010 May 5, Raymond Towler (52)
was freed from prison in Ohio after DNA evidence showed that he did
not rape an 11-year-old girl in 1981. Towler had spent almost 30
years in prison.
(SFC, 5/6/10, p.A4)(http://tinyurl.com/2usdrhr)
2010 May 7, Int’l. scientists
reported that Eurasians today carry 1-4% of Neanderthal DNA.
Analysis of the Neanderthal genome indicated that it was 99.5%
identical to modern humans.
(SFC, 5/7/10, p.A1)(Econ, 5/8/10, p.79)
2010 May 19, Nick Clegg,
Britain's new deputy leader, says he'll scrap an unpopular national
identity card program, limit the retention of DNA samples and
tightly regulate the use of closed circuit TV cameras in a sweeping
civil liberties drive.
(AP, 5/19/10)
2010 May 20, US researchers
announced that they have produced a living cell powered by manmade
DNA. They said the world's first synthetic cell, JCV1-syn1.0, is
more a re-creation of existing life, changing one simple type of
bacterium into another, than a built-from-scratch kind.
Genome-mapping pioneer J. Craig Venter said his team's project paves
the way for designing organisms that work differently from the way
nature intended for a wide range of uses.
(AP, 5/21/10)(Econ, 6/19/10, SR p.11)
2010 May 24, Guatemalan
authorities said they will require DNA tests for all babies offered
for adoption following allegations of child theft that led the
government to impose a two-year freeze on international adoptions.
(AP, 5/24/10)
2010 Aug 6, Australian
scientists reported a study revealing that sea sponges share almost
70 percent of human genes.
(AFP, 8/6/10)
2010 Aug 27, British
researchers said they have decoded the genetic sequence of wheat.
(SFC, 8/28/10, p.A2)
2010 Sep 16, Australian
scientists said they had made a breakthrough in the fight to save
the cancer-hit Tasmanian devil by mapping the species' genome for
the first time.
(AFP, 9/16/10)
2010 Oct 7, Researchers at
London’s Kew Gardens said they have discovered that the Paris
japonica has a genetic code 50 times longer than that of a human
being. To date this was the longest genome discovered.
(SFC, 10/8/10, p.A2)
2010 Dec 2, US researchers
reported that a strange bacterium, Halomonadaceae, found in
California's Mono Lake, thrives on arsenic and redefines life as we
know it. They said the bacterium do not merely eat arsenic, but
incorporate the toxic element directly into their DNA.
(Reuters, 12/2/10)
2011 Jan 4, Cornelius Dupree
Jr., a Texas man, was declared innocent after 30 years in prison. He
had at least two chances to make parole and be set free, if only he
would admit he was a sex offender. Dupree refused to do so, doggedly
maintaining his innocence in a 1979 rape and robbery. In the process
he serving more time for a crime he didn't commit than any other
Texas inmate exonerated by DNA evidence.
(AP, 1/4/11)
2011 Feb 22, Mexico’s
government announced that it plans to include voice and DNA samples
in a database of the nation's 620,000 police and public safety
employees as a control measure. Police in Acapulco, where the
Mexican Open tennis tournament is being held, found the bodies of
seven men, some mutilated. In Mazatlan two men were shot to death in
the parking lot of a hotel frequented by foreign tourists. Neither
of the victims were tourists. Authorities in Acapulco found the
bodies of two men and a woman in a stolen taxi.
(AP, 2/22/11)(AP, 2/23/11)
2011 May 12, In Texas a judge
freed a Dallas man who spent 27 years in prison for aggravated
sexual assault before DNA evidence cleared him. Johnny Pinchback
became the 22nd person to be exonerated through DNA testing in
Dallas County since 2001. He was found to have been wrongly
convicted of raping two teenage girls in a Dallas field in 1984.
(AP, 5/12/11)
2011 Jul 29, A US federal court
said that human genes can be patented, reversing a 2010 decision
against patents held by Myriad Genetics. Patents on genes have been
awarded for almost 30 years.
(SFC, 7/30/11, p.D2)
2011 Oct 12, A Texas appeals
court formally exonerated Michael Morton, who spent nearly 25 years
in prison for his wife's 1986 fatal beating, reaffirming a judge's
decision to set him free last week after DNA tests linked the
killing to another man.
(AP, 10/12/11)
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End of file