In 1973, in a collaboration between Stanley Cohen at Stanford and Herbert Boyer at the University of California, San Francisco, the researchers cut a piece of DNA containing an antibiotic-resistance gene out of one bacterial plasmid with a restriction enzyme, spliced it into another plasmid, and inserted it into Escherichia coli, where it was copied. This was the first genetically engineered organism. It raised fears about biohazards, which led to the Asilomar conference of 1975, but it also started the biotechnology industry: Boyer co-founded Genentech in 1976, and recombinant bacteria went on to produce insulin, growth hormone and many drugs.
Before and after
- 1973Founding of Islamic Development Bank
- 1973Establishment of Hortobágy National Park
- 1973Establishment of Kilimanjaro National Park
- 1973The Endangered Species Act and CITES
- 1973Cohen and Boyer create the first recombinant DNA organism
- 1973The Vindolanda writing tablets are found
- 8 January 1973Founding of Grupo Televisa
- 8 January 1973Launch of Luna 21
- 22 January 1973Death of Lyndon B. Johnson
More in Science & technology
- 25 April 1953Watson and Crick publish the structure of DNA
- 1973Mobile phone
- 20 November 1985Creation of Microsoft Windows
- 1996Discovery of copernicium
- August 2003Discovery of moscovium
- 2006Discovery of nihonium
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.