1980 FURCHGOTT, Robert Francis (1916 – 2009)
The obligatory role of endothelial cells in the relaxation of arterial smooth muscle by acetylcholine.
In 1978 Furchgott discovered a substance in endothelial cells that relaxes blood vessels, calling it endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF). By 1986, he had worked out EDRF's nature and mechanism of action, and de…
GMN 14246 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16565
1980 ROTHMAN, James Edward (1950 – ); FRIES, Erik
Transport of vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein in a cell-free extract.
See also: Fries & Rothman, "Transient activity of Golgi-like membranes as donors of vescular stomatitis viral glycoprotein in vitro," J. Cell. Biol., 90, 1981, 697-704. "Rothman's research[15] details how vesicles—tin…
GMN 14255 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16575
1980 SCHEKMAN, Randy Wayne (1948 – ); NOVICK, Peter; FIELD, C.
The identification of 23 complementation groups required for post-translational events in the yeast secretory pathway.
See also: Novick, P., Ferro, S. and Schekman, R. "Order of events in the yeast secretory pathway," Cell, 25, 1981, 461-469. In 1979 Schekman devised a genetic selection for temperature-conditional secretion-defective …
GMN 14256 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16576
1981 EVANS, Sir Martin John (1941 – ); KAUFFMAN, Matthew H. (1942 – 2013)
Establishment in culture of pluripotential cells from mouse embryos.
Evans and Kauffman were the first to identify, isolate and successfully culture embryonic stem cells using mouse blastocysts. This discovery opened the doors to the creation of “murine genetic models” -- mice that hav…
GMN 13285 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/15551
1981 FRANK, Joachim (1940 – ); VERSCHOOR, Adriana; BOUBLIK, Miloslav (1929 – 1994)
Computer averaging of electron micrographs of the 405 ribosomal subunit.
Frank and colleagues developed a method that allows sorting of particle images into classes based on their orientation, as well as their structural features. Specifically Frank developed mathematical tools used for im…
GMN 14183 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16498
1981 YONATH, Ada E. (1939 – ); APPELT, Krzysztof; DIJK, Jan; ET AL
The crystallization of ribsomal proteins from the 50 S subunit of the Escherichia coli and Bacillus stearothermophilus ribosome.
The authors crystallized fragments of the 50S subunit of a thermophile bacterium’s ribosome to 3 angstroms resolution. Order of authorship in the original publication: Appelt, Dyck, et al., Yonath. Digital facsimile f…
GMN 14224 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16541
1982 PRUSINER, Stanley Benjamin (1942 – )
Novel proteinaceous infectious particles cause Scrapie.
In 1997 Prusiner was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for his discovery of Prions - a new biological principle of infection." In his 1982 paper Prusiner proposed a completely novel explanation for th…
GMN 10140 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/12329
1982 CECH, Thomas Robert (1947 – ); KRUGER, Kelly; GRABOWSKI, Paula; ET AL
Self-splicing RNA: Autoexcision and autocyclization of the ribosomal RNA intervening sequence of tetrahymena.
Discovery of ribozymes (ribonucleic acid enzymes). Cech discovered that RNA itself could cut strands of RNA, suggesting that life might have started as RNA. "In the 1970s, Cech had been studying the splicing of RNA in…
GMN 13932 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16227
1982 ALLISON, James Patrick (1948 – ); MCINTYRE, B. W.; BLOCH, D.
Tumor-specific antigen of murine T-lymphoma defined with monoclonal antibody.
In 1982 Allison discovered the T-cell receptor. Order of authorship in the original publication: Allison, Bloch, McIntyre.
GMN 14266 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16587
1983 MONTAGNIER, Luc Antoine (1932 – ); BARRÉ-SINOUSSI, Françoise (1947 – ); ET AL
Isolation of a T-lymphotropic retrovirus from a patient at risk for acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).
Isolation of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1). In 2008 Barré-Sinoussi and Montagnier shared half of the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine "for their discovery of human immunodeficiency virus." The other h…
GMN 6996 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/9162
1983 MARSHALL, Barry James (1951 – ); WARREN, John Robin (1937 – )
Unidentified curved bacilli on gastric epithelium in active chronic gastritis.
In 2005 Marshall and Warren shared the Nobel prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discovery of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori and its role in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease." See also their follow-up pape…
GMN 8475 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/10652
1983 CAMPBELL, William Cecil (1930 – ); FISHER, M. H.; STAPLEY, E. O.; ET AL
Ivermectin: A potent new antiparasitic agent.
Abstract "Ivermectin is the 22,23-dihydro derivative of avermectin B1, a macrocyclic lactone produced by an actinomycete, Streptomyces avermitilis. It is active at extremely low dosage against a wide variety of nemato…
GMN 12632 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/14873
1983 LEFKOWITZ, Robert Joseph (1943 – ); STILES, Gary L.; STRASSER, Ruth H.; CARON, Marc G. (1946 – 2022)
Mammalian beta-adrenergic receptors. Structural differences in beta 1 and beta 2 subtypes revealed by peptide maps.
Lefkowitz and colleagues showed that there are two different types of beta receptors, distinguishing them as Beta-1 and Beta-2. They noticed that each has specific pharmacological characteristics. Order of authorship …
GMN 14140 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16454
1983 HUNT, Sir Richard Timothy (1943 – ); EVANS, Tom; ROSENTHAL, Eric T.; YOUNGBLOOM, Jim; DISTEL, Daniel
Cyclin: A protein specified by maternal mRNA in sea urchin eggs that is destroyed at each cleavage division.
"It was at Woods Hole around July 1982, using Arbacia sea urchin eggs as his model organism, that he discovered cyclin proteins.[12] Cyclins play a key role in regulating the cell-division cycle.[16] Hunt was observin…
GMN 14254 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16574
1984 HALL, Jeffrey Connor (1945 – ); ROSBASH, Michael Morris (1944 – ); REDDY, Pranhitha; ZEHRING, William A.; WHEELER, David A.; HADFIELD, Christopher
Molecular analysis of the period locus in Drosophila malanogaster and identification of a transcript involved in biological rhythms.
Rosbach and colleagues, including Jeffrey C. Hall, sequenced the Drosophila period gene in 1984. Full text available from cell.com at this link. Order of authorship in the original publication: Reddy, Zehring, Wheeler…
GMN 14263 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16584
1984 YOUNG, Michael Warren (1949 – ); BARGIELLO, Thaddeus A.; JACKSON, F. Rob
Restoration of circadian behavioral rhythms by gene transfer in Drosophila.
"At The Rockefeller University in the early 1980s, Young and his two lab members, Ted Bargiello and Rob Jackson, further investigated the circadian period gene in Drosophila. They constructed segments of recombinant D…
GMN 14265 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16586
1985 BLACKBURN, Elizabeth Helen (1948 – ); GRIEDER, Carolyn Widney (1961 – )
Identification of a specific telomere terminal transferase activity in Tetrahymena extracts.
Blackburn and Grieder discovered telomerase in the ciliate Tetrahymena. In 2009 Blackburn and Grieder shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Jack W. Szostak "for the discovery of how chromosomes are pro…
GMN 8388 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/10565
1985 MULLIS, Kary Banks (1944 – 2019); ET AL
Enzymatic amplication of B-globin genomic sequences and restriction site analysis for diagnosis of sickle cell anemia.
Polymerase chain reaction first published. With Randall K. Saiki, Stephen Scharf, Fred Faloona et al. Order of authorship in the original paper was Saiki, Scharf, Faloona, Mullis.... In 1993 the Nobel Prize in Chemist…
GMN 10785 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/12981
1985 DEISENHOFER, Johann (1943 – ); MICHEL, Hartmut (1948 – ); HUBER, Robert (1937 – ); ET AL
Structure of the protein subunit in the photosynthetic reaction centre of Rhodopseudomonas viridis at 3 Å resolution.
Discovery of the three-dimensional structure of a protein complex found in certain photosynthetic bacteria, called the photosynthetic reaction center. This was the first elucidation of the 3D crystal structure of any …
GMN 11060 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/13256
1985 SMITH, George Pearson (1941 – )
Filamentous fusion phage: Novel expression vectors that display cloned antigens on the virion surface.
In this paper Smith invented "phage display technology," a technique where a specific protein sequence is artifically inserted into the coat protein gene of a bacteriophage, causing the protein to be expressed on the …
GMN 14339 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16667
1987 CAPECCHI, Mario Ramberg (1937 – ); THOMAS, Kirk R.
Site-directed mutagenesis by gene targeting in mouse embryo-derived stem cells.
In 2007 Capecchi shared the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Martin J. Evans and Oliver Smithies "for their discoveries of principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of em…
GMN 13931 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16226
1987 SMITHIES, Oliver (1925 – 2017); DOETSCHMAN, Thomas C.; GREGG, Ronald G.; ET AL
Targeted correction of a mutant HPRT gene in mouse embryonic stem cells.
Smithies discovered, simultaneously with Mario Capecchi and Martin Evans, the technique of homologous recombination of transgenic DNA with genomic DNA, a much more reliable method of altering animal genomes than previ…
GMN 13940 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16237
1989 HOUGHTON, Michael; CHOO, Qui-Lim; KUO, George Ching-Hung; BRADLEY, Daniel W. (1941 – ); OVERBY, Lacy Rasco (1920 – 1994); WEINER, A. J.
Isolation of a cDNA clone derived from a blood-borne non-A, non-B viral hepatitis genome.
In this paper Houghton and colleagues named “hepatitis C” for the first time. They cloned and isolated the viral RNA genome and demonstrated that a patient who had high antibodies to a ‘native/wild strain’, reacted sp…
GMN 12653 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/14896
1990 WINTER, Sir Gregory Paul (1951 – ); MCCAFFERTY, John; GRIFFITHS, Andrew D.; CHISWELL, David J.
Phage antibodies: Filamentous phage displaying antibody variable domains.
Working in the Laboratory of Molecular Biology at Cambridge University, Winter became interested in the idea that all antibodies have the same basic structure, with only small changes making them specific for one targ…
GMN 14340 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16669
1991 AXEL, Richard (1946 – ); BUCK, Linda Brown (1947 – )
A novel multigene family may encode odorant receptors: A molecular basis for odor recognition.
"In their landmark paper published in 1991, Buck and Axel cloned olfactory receptors, showing that they belong to the family of G protein coupled receptors. By analyzing rat DNA, they estimated that there were approxi…
GMN 13930 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16224
1992 HONJO, Tasuko (1942 – ); ISHIDA, Yasumasa; AGATA, Yasutoshi; SHIBAHARA, Keiichi
Induced expression of PD-1, a novel member of the immunoglobulin gene superfamily, upon programmed cell death.
Honjo discovered the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1). This discovery significantly contributed to the establishment of cancer immunotherapy principle by PD-1 blockade. Order of authorship in the original public…
GMN 14268 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16589
1993 AMBROS, Victor R. (1953 – ); LEE, Rosalind C.; FEINBAUM, Rhonda L.
The C. elegans heterochronic gene lin-4 encodes small RNAs with antisense complementarity to lin-14.
Ambros and colleagues discovered the first known microRNA (miRNA), a small single-stranded non-coding RNA molecule (containing about 22 nucleotides) found in plants, animals and some viruses, that functions in RNA sil…
GMN 14010 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16316
1993 RUVKUN, Gary Bruce (1952 – ); WIGHTMAN, Bruce; HA, I
Posttranscriptional regulation of the heterochronic gene lin-14 by lin-4 mediates temporal pattern formation in C. elegans.
The authors cloned and generated the sequence of the lin-14 gene. They discovered that a segment in lin-14 mRNA (messenger RNA), was necessary for its inhibition by lin-4. Ruvkun and Ambros (No. 14010) then compared r…
GMN 14301 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16626
1993 ARNOLD, Frances Hamilton (1956 – ); CHEN, K. Q.
Tuning the activity of an enzyme for unusual environments: Sequential random mutagenesis of subtilisin E for catalysis in dimethylformamide.
Arnold introduced a biochemical molecule manipulating technique to mimic the process of natural selection in creating new enzymes adapted to a specific catalytic reaction. She directed evolution of subtilisin E to obt…
GMN 14341 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16670
1994 CHALFIE, Martin Lee (1947 – ); TU, Yuan; EUSKIRCHEN, Ghia; PRASHER, Douglas C. (1951 – ); WARD, William W.
Green fluorescent protein as a marker for gene expression.
Chalfie and colleagues showed that the green fluorescent protein (GFP) from the jellyfish Aequorea victoria, could be used as a visible marker for protein localization and expression in vivo, in bacteria and worm cell…
GMN 13564 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/15842
1994 OHSUMI, Yoshinori (1945 – ); BABA, Misuzu; TAKESHIGE, K.; BABA, N.
Ultrastructural analysis of the autophagic process in yeast: detection of autophagosomes and their characterization.
Order of authorship in the original publication: Baba, M., Takeshige, Baba, N., Ohsumi. In 2016 Oshuni received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for his discoveries of mechanisms for autophagy."
GMN 14261 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16582
1994 WALKER, Sir John Ernest (1941 – ); ABRAHAMS, Jan Pieter; LESLIE, Andrew Grieg William; LUTTER, René
Structure at 2.8 Â resolution of F1-ATPase from bovine heart mitochondria.
Walker used X-ray crystallography to determine the structure of ATP synthase (ATPase or adenosine triphosphatase). In 1997 Walker shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Paul Boyer and Jens C. Skou “for their elucida…
GMN 14314 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16639
1995 SEMENZA, Gregg Leonard (1956 – ); WANG, Guang L.
Purification and characterization of hypoxia-indicible factor 1.
Semenza and postdoctoral fellow Guang Wang discovered transcription factor HIF-1, a transcription factor that responds to decreases in available oxygen in the cellular environment, or hypoxia. IN 2019 Semenza shared t…
GMN 14269 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16590
1996 TSIEN, Roger Yonchien (1952 – 2016); ORMÖ, Mats F.; CUBITT, Andrew; KALLIO, Karen; REMINGTON, S. James; ET AL
Crystal structure of Aequorea victoria green fluorescent protein.
Tsien and colleagues published the crystal structure of the 238 A.A. long green fluorescent protein (GFP). With this data, the authors could determine what had to be modified within the protein in such a way that the …
GMN 13565 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/15843
1996 KANDEL, Eric Richard (1929 – ); BAILEY, Craig Harrison; BARTSCH, Dusan
Toward a molecular definition of long-term memory storage.
"Abstract: The storage of long-term memory is associated with a cellular program of gene expression, altered protein synthesis, and the growth of new synaptic connections. Recent studies of a variety of memory process…
GMN 14252 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16572
1996 ALLISON, James Patrick (1948 – ); LEACH, D. R.; KRUMMEL, Matthew F. (1968 – )
Enhancement of antitumor immunity by CTLA-4 blockade.
In the early 1990s James Allison showed that CTLA-4 acts as an inhibitory molecule to restrict T-cell responses. In 1996, Allison was the first to show that antibody blockade of a T-cell inhibitory molecule (known as …
GMN 14267 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16588
1997 RICE, Charles Moen (1952 – ); KOLYKHALOV, Alexander M; AGAPOV, Eugene V.; ET AL
Transmission of hepatitis C by intrahepatic inoculation with transcribed RNA.
Rice and colleagues constructed a viral RNA genome with the 3’ region and a consensus region to exclude potential inactivating mutations, which was then injected into the liver of chimps. That RNA, specifically encode…
GMN 13541 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/15818
1997 JULIUS, David (1955 – ); CATARINA, Michael J.; SCHUMACHER, Mark A.; TOMINAGA, Makoto; ROSEN, Tobias A.; LEVINE, Jon David
The capsaicin receptor: a heat-activated ion channel in the pain pathway.
"Abstract: Capsaicin, the main pungent ingredient in ‘hot’ chilli peppers, elicits a sensation of burning pain by selectively activating sensory neurons that convey information about noxious stimuli to the central ner…
GMN 14274 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16596
1998 POLTORAK, Alexander; SMIRNOVA, Irina; BEUTLER, Bruce Alan (1957 – ); ET AL
Defective LPS signaling in C3H/HeJ and C57BL/10ScCr mice: Mutations in the Tlr4 gene.
Order of authorship in the original paper: Poltorak, Smirnova...Beutler. The authors, led by Beutler, showed that mice that harbor a mutation of the gene which codes for the production of the Toll-like receptor TLR4 q…
GMN 12112 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/14321
1998 FIRE, Andrew Zachary (1959 – ); MELLO, Craig Cameron (1960 – ); XU, SiQun; ET AL
Potent and specific genetic interference by double-stranded RNA in Caenorhabditis elegans.
The authors reported that tiny snippets of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) effectively shut down specific genes, driving the destruction of messenger RNA (mRNA) with sequences matching the dsRNA. As a result, the mRNA can…
GMN 13957 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16258
1998 GREENGARD, Paul (1925 – 2019); ET AL
DARPP-32: Regulator of the efficacy of dopaminergic neurotransmission.
"Greengard's research focused on events inside the neuron caused by neurotransmitters. Specifically, Greengard and his fellow researchers studied the behavior of second messenger cascades that transform the docking of…
GMN 14251 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16570
1998 MACKINNON, Roderick (1956 – ); DOYLE, Declan A.; CABRAL, Joao Morais
The structure of the potassium channel: Molecular basis of K+ conduction and selectivity.
The authors determined the first high resolution structure of an ion channel, called KcsA from the bacterium Streptomyces lividans. The structure that they revealed was perfectly adapted to allow entry of potassium io…
GMN 14332 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16657
1999 ORBINSKI, James Jude (1960 – )
Médecins Sans Frontières. Nobel Lecture.
In 1999 Orbinsky accepted the Nobel Peace Prize for Médecins Sans Frontières “in recognition of the organization's pioneering humanitarian work on several continents." He delivered the organization's Nobel Lecture, av…
GMN 14233 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16551
1999 HALL, Jeffrey Connor (1945 – ); RENN, Susan C. P.; PARK, Jae H.; ROSBASH, Michael Morris (1944 – ); TAGHERT, Paul H. (1953 – )
A pdf Neuropeptide gene mutation and ablation of PDF neurons each cause severe abnormalities of behavioral circadian rhythms in Drosophila.
In 2017 Hall shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young “for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm.” Order of authorship in the orig…
GMN 14262 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16583
1999 RATCLIFFE, Sir Peter John (1954 – ); MAXWELL, Patrick Henry; MAHER, Eamonn; PUGH, Christopher W.
The tumour suppressor protein VHL targets hypoxia-inducible factors for oxygen-dependent proteolysis.
The focus of both Peter Ratcliffe’s and William Kaelin’s work, for which they shared the Nobel Prize with Gregg Semenza, was the relationship between pVHL and HIF. This led to an increased understanding of how cells s…
GMN 14270 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16591
2000 RAMAKRISHNAN, Venkatraman (1952 – ); ET AL
Structure of the 30S ribosomal subunit.
Ramakrishnan and colleagues determined the complete molecular structure of the 30S subunit of the ribosome and its complexes with several antibiotics. " The Abstract: "Genetic information encoded in messenger RNA is t…
GMN 13952 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16251
2000 STEITZ, Thomas Arthur (1940 – 2018)
The structural basis of ribosome activity in peptide bond synthesis.
With Poul Nissen, Jeffrey Hansen, Nenad Ban, Peter B. Moore. Steitz shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Venkatraman Ramakrishnan and Ada Yonath "for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome."
GMN 13953 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16252
2000 KORNBERG, Roger David (1947 – )
Architecture of RNA polymerase II and implications for the transcription mechanism.
Kornberg devoted two decades to the development of methods to visualize the atomic structure of RNA polymerase and its associated protein components. Initially, Kornberg took advantage of expertise with lipid membrane…
GMN 13982 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16285
2000 BERTOZZI, Carolyn Ruth (1966 – ); SAXON, Eliana
Cell surface engineering by a modified Staudinger reaction.
In 2022 Carolyn Bertozzi shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Barry Sharpless and Morten Meldal for discovery of click chemistry. Bertozzi invented a biorthogonal variation of Sharpless and Meldal reactions. In th…
GMN 14293 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16616
2001 KONDO, K; KAELIN, William G. Jr. (1957 – ); IVAN, Mircea; ET AL
HIFalpha targeted for VHL-mediated destruction by proline hydroxylation: implications for O2 sensing.
Kaelin and colleagues identified aspects of the molecular machinery in Von Hippel-Landau disease that regulates the activity of genes in response to varying levels of oxygen. In 2019 Kaelin shared the Nobel Prize in P…
GMN 14273 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/16595
