Harvard University: Timeline of key events

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Porter was a Canadian biologist. He is renowned for having developed many of the techniques and experimental approaches that underpinned the founding of cellular biology as a new discipline in biomedical research. Critically he developed the first electron microscope techniques to get high resolution images of cells and tissues. In 1945 he published the first electron microgragh of a complete animal cell. His other major contributions to the field was his development a roller-flask for culturing cells and helping to invent an instrument for getting ultra-thin slices of tissue for microscopy. 1985-09-06T00:00:00+0000Lipmann was an American biochemist who shared the 1953 Nobel Prize for Medicine for the discovery of coenzyme A. He made the discovery in 1947 when examining pigeon liver extracts. Coenzyme A is one of the most important substances involved in cellular metabolism. It helps convert amino acids, fatty acids and haemoglobulins into energy. Lipmann directed the biochemistry research department at Massachusetts General Hospital and was professor of biological chemistry at Harvard Medical school. 1986-07-24T00:00:00+0000C Doyle, JL Strominger, 'Interaction between CD4 and class II MHC molecules mediates cell adhesion', Nature, 330 (1987), 256-9.1987-11-19T00:00:00+0000USPTO patent 4,736,866 awarded for transgenic mouse with activated oncogenes created by Philip Leder and Timonthy A Stewart at Harvard University. The two scientists isolated a gene that causes cancer in many mammals, including humans, and inserted it into fertilised mouse eggs. The aim was to genetically engineer a mouse as a model for furthering cancer research and the testing of new drugs. It was the first animal ever given patent protection in the USA. 1988-04-12T00:00:00+0000CE Rudd, JM Trevillyan, JD Dasgupta, LL Wong, SF Schlossman, 'The CD4 receptor is complexed in detergent lysates to a protein-tyrosine kinase (Pp58) from human T lymphocytes', Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 85 (1988), 5190-94.1988-07-01T00:00:00+0000She was supervised by Jack Szostak. Her doctoral research focused on ribozymes. 1989-01-01T00:00:00+0000JA Doudna, BP Cormack, JW Szostak, 'RNA Structure, Not Sequence, Determines the 5? Splice-Site Specificity of a Group I Intron', PNAS, 86/19 (1989), 7402-06.1989-10-01T00:00:00+0000The application (patent number 5,795,782 ) was a joint one from Harvard University and the University of California. It incorporated two different techniques proposed by David Deamer and Georges Church. 1995-03-17T00:00:00+0000JJ Kasianowicz, E Brandin, D, Branton, D Deamer (Nov 1996) 'Characterization of individual polynucleotide molecules using a membrane channel', Proceedings of National Academy of Science U.S., 93, 13770-73.1996-11-01T00:00:00+0000Wald was an American biologist renowned for his research on how the eye passes images to the brain. He first made his mark in the early 1930s when he discovered that vitamin A was an important component in rhodopsin, a light-sensitive biological pigment found in the rods of the retina. Over the next 30 years he conducted a series of experiments which showed when exposed to light rhodopsin changes its form which triggers signals in a complicated network of optic nerve cells which eventually convert into visual impressions in the brain. In 1967 he was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for 'discoveries concerning the primary physiological and chemical visual processes in the eye.'1997-04-12T00:00:00+0000The technique involved using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) which made microchips much simpler and cheaper to fabricate and accessible to molecular chemists. It was first published in X Xia, G Whitesides (16 March 1998) 'Soft lithography', Annual Review Material Science, 28, 153-84.1998-01-01T00:00:00+00001998-08-18T00:00:00+0000M Akeson, D Branton, JJ Kasianowicz, E Brandin, DW Deamer (1999) 'Microsecond Time-Scale Discrimination Among Polycytidylic Acid, Polyadenylic Acid, and Polyuridylic Acid as Homopolymers or as Segments Within Single RNA Molecules', Biophysical Journal, 77/6, 3227-33. 1999-12-01T00:00:00+0000Bloch was a German-American biochemist who shared the 1964 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for helping to uncover the mechanism and regulation of cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism. This work laid the foundation for understanding the relationship between blood cholesterol levels and atherosclerosis, a disease in which plaque builds up inside the body's arteries. 2000-10-15T00:00:00+0000A team at Harvard Stem Cell Institute reported fusing adult skin cells with embryonic stem cells to reset the culture so that the cells behave like embryonic stem cells. The researchers did the work using pelvic bone cells as the somatic cells and a different human embryonic cell line. Chad A Cowan, Jocelyn Alenza, Douglas A Melton, Kevin Eggan, 'Nuclear reprogramming of somatic cells after fusion with human embryonic stem cells', Science, 309/5739 (2005), 1369-73. 2005-08-25T00:00:00+0000A Ventura, et al, 'Restoration of p53 function leads to tumour regression in vivo', Nature, 445 (2007), 661-5; W Xue, et al, 'Senescence and tumour clearance is triggered by p53 restoration in murine liver carcinomas', Nature, 445 (2007), 656–60.2007-01-01T00:00:00+0000A team of scientists led by George Q Daley at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute reported the creation of stem cells for 10 genetic disorders that will enable researchers to watch diseases develop in a lab dish. The researchers used ordinary skin cells and bone marrow from people with a variety of diseases, including Parkinson's, Huntington's and Down syndrome to produce the stem cells. They published their results in I H Park, et al, 'Disease-specific induced pluripotent stem cells', Cell, 134/5 (2008), 877-86.2008-09-05T00:00:00+0000The new device made it possible to investigate the inflammation response in a human lung. D Huh, BD, Matthews, A Mammoto, et al (2010) 'Reconstituting Organ-Level Lung Functions on a Chip', Science, 328, 1662-68.2010-06-10T00:00:00+0000D Huh, BD Matthews, A Mammoto, M Montoya-Zavala, HY Hsin, DE Ingber (25 June 2010) 'Reconstituting organ-?level lung functions on a chip. Science 328, 1662–68. 2010-06-25T00:00:00+0000L Warren, PD Manos, T Ahfeldt, T et al (5 Nov 2010) 'Highly efficient reprogramming to pluripotency and directed differentiation of human cells with synthetic modified mRNA', Cell Stem Cell, 7/5, 618-30.2010-11-05T00:00:00+0000
Date Event People Places Sciences
6 Sep 1985Keith Roberts Porter diedKeith PorterHarvard University, University of ColoradoCell
24 Jul 1986Fritz A Lipmann diedLipmannCornell University, Harvard UniversityNutrition
Nov 1987First evidence provided for the interaction between the surface molecule CD4 and major histocompatibility class IIDoyle, StromingerHarvard UniversityImmunology, Cancer immunotherapy, Oncology
12 Apr 1988OncoMouse patent grantedLeder, StewartHarvard UniversityTransgenic animals, Oncology, Recombinant DNA, Gene editing
Jul 1988Biochemical initiators of T Cell activitation, CD4 and CD8-p56, discoveredRudd, Trevillyan, Dasupta, Wong, SchlossmanDana-Faber Cancer Institute, Harvard University, Tech UniversityImmunology, Cancer immunotherapy, Oncology
1989Doudna completed her doctorateDoudnaHarvard University 
Oct 1989RNA demonstrated to help catalyse the process for synthesising proteinDoudna, Cormack, SzostakHarvard UniversityRNA
17 Mar 1995First patent filed for nanopore sequencingChurch, Deamer, Branton, Balderelli, KasianowiczHarvard University, University of California, National Institute of Standards and TechnologyNanopore sequencing
Nov 1996First paper published highlighting the potential of nanopore sequencingBranton, Brandin, Deamer, KasianowiczHarvard University, University of California Santa Cruz, National Institute of Science and TechnologyNanopore sequencing
12 Apr 1997George Wald diedWaldHarvard University, Physiology
1998Introduction of soft-lithography using polymer moulds enabled the fabrication of cheap microfluidic devices Xia, Whitesides Harvard UniversityOrgan-on-a-chip
18 Aug 1998First patent granted for nanopore sequencing (US patent 5,795,782 ) Church, Deamer, Branton, Balderelli, KasianowiczHarvard University, University of California, National Institute of Standards and TechnologyNanopore sequencing
Dec 1999Term 'nanopore' used for first time in a publicationAkeson, Branton, Kasianowicz, Brandin, Deamer Harvard University, University of California Santa Cruz, National Institute of Science and TechnologyNanopore sequencing, DNA sequencing
15 Oct 2000Konrad Bloch diedBlochHarvard UniversityBiochemistry
25 Aug 2005Harvard scientists reported reprogramming adult skin cells into embryonic stem cells Cowan, Eggan, Melton, AlienzaHarvard Stem Cell InstituteStem cells
2007p53-induced senescence shown to prevent cancerVentura, Kirsch, McLaughlin, Tuveson, Grimm, Lintault, Newman, Reczek, Weissleder, Jacks, Xue, Zender, Miething, Dickins, Hernando, Krizhanovsky, Cordon-Cardo, LoweMassachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard University, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Cold Spring Harbor LaboratoryOncology, p53
5 Sep 2008Scientists created stem cells for 10 disordersDaley, Park, Arora, Huo, Maherall, Ahfedt, Shimamura, Lensch, Cowan, HochedlingerHarvard Stem Cell InstituteStem cells
10 Jun 2010Lung-on-a-chip with alveolar-capillary interface produced to mimic the breathing action of a human lung Dongeun Huh, Benjamin Matthews, Mammoto, Montoya-Zavala, Hsin, IngberHarvard University, Wyss InstituteOrgan-on-a-chip
25 Jun 2010First time the term 'Organ-on-a-chip' is usedHuh, Matthews, Mammoto, Montoya-Zavala, Hsin, IngberHarvard University, Wyss InstituteOrgan-on-a-chip
5 Nov 2010Modified mRNA reported to transform skin cells into pluripotent stem cellsLuigi Warren, Philip Manos, Ahfeldt, Ahfeldt, Yuin-Han Loh, Hu Li, Frank Lau, Wataru Ebina, Pankaj Mandal, Zachary Smith, Meissner, George Daley, Brack, James Collins, Chad Cowan, Schlaeger, RossiHarvard UniversityStem cells, mRNA

6 Sep 1985

Keith Roberts Porter died

24 Jul 1986

Fritz A Lipmann died

Nov 1987

First evidence provided for the interaction between the surface molecule CD4 and major histocompatibility class II

12 Apr 1988

OncoMouse patent granted

Jul 1988

Biochemical initiators of T Cell activitation, CD4 and CD8-p56, discovered

1989

Doudna completed her doctorate

Oct 1989

RNA demonstrated to help catalyse the process for synthesising protein

17 Mar 1995

First patent filed for nanopore sequencing

Nov 1996

First paper published highlighting the potential of nanopore sequencing

12 Apr 1997

George Wald died

1998

Introduction of soft-lithography using polymer moulds enabled the fabrication of cheap microfluidic devices

18 Aug 1998

First patent granted for nanopore sequencing (US patent 5,795,782 )

Dec 1999

Term 'nanopore' used for first time in a publication

15 Oct 2000

Konrad Bloch died

25 Aug 2005

Harvard scientists reported reprogramming adult skin cells into embryonic stem cells

2007

p53-induced senescence shown to prevent cancer

5 Sep 2008

Scientists created stem cells for 10 disorders

10 Jun 2010

Lung-on-a-chip with alveolar-capillary interface produced to mimic the breathing action of a human lung

25 Jun 2010

First time the term 'Organ-on-a-chip' is used

5 Nov 2010

Modified mRNA reported to transform skin cells into pluripotent stem cells

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