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The Conference on Biosimilars, University of Washington, Seattle - March 19 & 20. Sign up today!Iowa BioHistory
Learn about the scientists behind the discoveries, entrepreneurs,
political leaders, and significant events, people and institutions that are the foundation
of the biotechnology, medical device, pharmaceutical and life science industries
in the state of Iowa.
Tell us about Iowa's BioHistory. If you are aware of a notable event, person,
organization/company or accomplishment that we should include,
please e-mail: BioHistory@InfoResource.org
1847 -- State University of Iowa (University of Iowa) founded.
In 1868, the state of Iowa established a medical
school on the University's Iowa City campus in Iowa City, and
the Department of Dentistry was
founded in 1882 with G.V. Black, considered the father of modern dentistry, later teaching
in the department.
1848 -- American Association for the Advancement of Science founded.
American Association for the Advancement of Science founded in 1848
marked the emergence of a national scientific community in the United States, and was the first organization
established to promote the development of science and engineering at the national level and to represent the interests of
all its disciplines.
Today, the AAAS serves nearly 300 affiliated societies and academies of science and publishes the peer-reviewed general science journal Science. The non-profit AAAS is open to all and fulfills its mission to "advance science and serve society" through initiatives that include science policy, international programs, science education, and public understanding of science.
1859 -- Charles Darwin published "The Origin of Species."
In 1859, British naturalist Charles Darwin published "On the Origin of Species by Means of
Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life"
in which he postulated his theory of evolution that explained how the diverse of
species on Earth evolved from a simple, singled-celled ancestor.
From 1831-1836, Darwin served as a naturalist aboard the H.M.S. Beagle -- a British science expedition around the world. In South America Darwin discovered fossils of extinct animals that were similar to modern species, and on the Galapagos Islands, located west of Equador, he noticed many variations of plants and animals of the same general type as those in South America. Throughout the expedition Darwin studied plants and animals and collected specimens for further study.
Upon his return to London, Darwin conducted thorough research of his notes and specimens, and out of his study grew several related theories: evolution did occur; evolutionary change was gradual, requiring thousands to millions of years; the primary mechanism for evolution was a process called natural selection; and the millions of species alive today arose from a single original life form through a branching process called "specialization."
Darwin's theory of evolutionary selection holds that variation within species occurs randomly and that the survival or extinction of each organism is determined by that organism's ability to adapt to its environment. Darwin's theory of evolution remains the foundation of modern biology.
Suggested Reading:
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From So Simple a Beginning: Darwin's Four Great Books (Voyage of the Beagle, The Origin of Species, The Descent of Man, The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals) By Charles Darwin, Edward O. Wilson. Published by W. W. Norton. 2005. |
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The Reluctant Mr. Darwin: An Intimate Portrait of Charles Darwin and the Making of His Theory of Evolution By David Quammen. Published by W. W. Norton. 2006. |
1865 -- Cargill founded.
In 1865, Cargill was founded as a small grain elevator in Conover, Iowa. Today, the company merchandises, processes and distributes agricultural and other essential products and services throughout the world.
1865 -- Gregor Mendel, the father of modern genetics, presents his laws of heredity.
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"In 1859 I obtained a very fertile descendant with large, tasty seeds from a first generation hybrid. Since in the following year, its progeny retained the desirable characteristics and were uniform, the variety was cultivated in our vegetable garden, and many plants were raised every year up to 1865. (Gregor Mendel to Carl Nägeli, April 1867). |
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1865 -- George Washington Carver, Jr. born.
George Washington Carver, former slave, educator,
scientist, business leader, and renown agriculturist, was born around 1865 in Missouri.
Carver received a B.S. from the Iowa Agricultural College in 1894 and a M.S. in 1896.
He became a member of the faculty of Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts
in charge of the school's bacterial laboratory work in the Systematic Botany department.
Carver developed 118 products, including a rubber substitute and over 500 dyes and pigments, from 28 different plants. In 1927, Carver invented a process for producing paints and stains from soybeans, and was issued three separate patents for his work. Some of the synthetic products developed by Carver include:
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Suggested Reading:
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George Washington Carver: In His Own Words By George Washington Carver, Gary R. Kremer (Editor), George Washington Kremer. Published by University of Missouri Press. Reprint edition 1991. |
1879 -- The first public veterinary college in the U.S. established at Iowa State University.
College of Veterinary Medicine established at Iowa State University in Ames, now a cornerstone of one of the world's largest concentrations of animal health professionals (with the USDA's National Animal Disease Center and the National Veterinary Services Laboratories).
1885 -- The University of Iowa College of Pharmacy established.
College of Pharmacy opened in the basement of the Medical Building, the fourth state university-run pharmacy program in the nation. In 1917, with the start of WWI, the College secretly produced bootleg aspirin after the war in Europe threatened the supply from German patent-holder Friedrich Bayer and Company. The U. S. entry into the War spared College officials any legal repercussions from the bootleg aspirin project. In 1939, University researcher W.D. "Shorty" Paul developed the concept for buffered aspirin.
1887 -- Marine Hospital Service Hygienic Laboratory (National Institutes of Health) founded.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) traces its roots to 1887,
when a one-room laboratory was created within the Marine Hospital Service (MHS), predecessor agency to the
U.S. Public Health Service (PHS). The MHS was established in 1798 to provide for the medical care of
merchant seamen -- charged by Congress with examining passengers on arriving ships for clinical signs of
infectious diseases, such as cholera and yellow fever, to prevent epidemics.
During the 1870s and 1880s, scientists in Europe presented compelling evidence that microscopic organisms were the causes of several infectious diseases, and MHS officials closely followed these developments. In 1887, Joseph Kinyoun, a MHS physician trained in the new bacteriological methods, set up a one-room laboratory in the Marine Hospital at Stapleton, Staten Island, New York. Kinyoun called this facility a "laboratory of hygiene" in imitation of German facilities, and within a few months, he identified the cholera bacillus and used his Zeiss microscope to demonstrate it to his colleagues as confirmation of their clinical diagnoses.
The Biologics Control Act enacted in 1902 had major consequences for the Hygienic Laboratory. It charged
the laboratory with regulating the production of vaccines and antitoxins, making it a regulatory agency
four years before passage of the 1906 Pure Food and Drugs Act. The danger posed by biological products that had
emerged from bacteriologic discoveries resulted from their production in animals and their administration by
injection. In 1901, thirteen children in St. Louis died after receiving diphtheria antitoxin contaminated
with tetanus spores. This tragedy spurred Congress to pass the Biologics Control Act, and between 1903-1907
standards were established and licenses issued to pharmaceutical firms for making smallpox and rabies vaccines,
diphtheria and tetanus antitoxins, and various other antibacterial antisera. (In 1972, responsibility
for regulation of biologics was transferred to the Food and Drug Administration).
(Photo: courtesy of the NIH Almanac)
In 1912 MHS was reorganized, renamed the Public Health Service (PHS) and authorized to conduct research into noncontagious diseases and into the pollution of streams and lakes in the U.S. During World War I, the PHS attended primarily to sanitation of areas around military bases in the U.S., and when the 1918 influenza pandemic struck Washington, physicians from the laboratory were pressed into service treating patients in the District of Columbia because so many local doctors had fallen ill. In 1930, the Ransdell Act changed the name of the Hygienic Laboratory to the National Institute of Health (NIH) and authorized the establishment of fellowships for research into basic biological and medical problems. The roots of this act extended to 1918, when chemists who had worked with the Chemical Warfare Service in World War I sought to establish an institute in the private sector to apply fundamental knowledge in chemistry to problems of medicine. In 1937, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) was created with sponsorship from every Senator in Congress, and was authorized to award grants to nonfederal scientists for research on cancer and to fund fellowships at NCI for young researchers.
During World War II, the NIH focused almost entirely on war-related problems. At the close of the war,
PHS leaders guided through Congress the 1944 Public Health Service Act, which defined the shape of medical
research in the post-war world. Two provisions were especially important: 1) In 1946 the NCI grants program was
expanded to the entire NIH, and the program grew from just over $4 million in 1947, to more than $100 million in
1957, and to $1 billion in 1974. The entire NIH budget expanded from $8 million in 1947 to more than $1 billion in
1966, now fondly remembered as "the golden years" of NIH expansion.
Accompanying growth in the grants program was the proliferation of new categorical institutes, and from
1946-1949, voluntary health organizations moved Congress to create institutes for research on mental health,
dental diseases, and heart disease. In 1948, language in the National Heart Act made the name of the
umbrella organization the National Institutes of Health. 2) The 1944 PHS Act authorized NIH to conduct clinical
research, and after the war Congress provided funding to build a research hospital, now called the Warren
Grant Magnuson Clinical Center on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland. The Center which opened in 1953 with 540 beds
was designed to bring research laboratories into close proximity with hospital wards in order to promote
productive collaboration between laboratory scientists and clinicians.
(Photo: National Archives and Records Administration photograph, courtesy of the Franklin Delano
Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, New York)
The NIH today, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the primary Federal agency for conducting and supporting medical research and is composed of 27 Institutes and Centers, providing leadership and financial support to researchers in every state and throughout the world.
1918 -- Spanish Influenza Pandemic.
It is estimated that between 25 and 40 million people died from the the influenza outbreak that began in 1918, swept across America in a week and around the world in three months. In all, between 500,000 and 700,000 Americans --civilians and soldiers-- died from the influenza, more than were lost in World War I, II, and the Korean and Viet Nam wars combined.
Latest Findings: In September 2004, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded a five-year, $12.5 million grant to five institutions that will collaborate to study genes constructed from 1918 flu-virus particles salvaged from the bodies of World War I soldiers and the exhumed Brevig Mission, Alaska resident. The Institutions include the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington, D.C.; Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York; Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and the University of Washington. The ultimate goal is to use knowledge gained from the study to develop vaccines, influenza medications and diagnostic tests to prevent a similar influenza outbreak.
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Suggested Reading:
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America's Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918 By Alfred W. Crosby. Published by Cambridge University Press. 1990. |
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The Great Influenza By John Barry. Published by Viking Press. 2004. |
1926 -- Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. founded.
Hi-Bred Corn Company now called Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. founded by J.J. Newlin, Si Casady, Fred Lehmann, Jr., Walter Welch, George Kurtzweil, Earl Houghton, Jim Wallace, and Henry Wallace.
Suggested Reading:
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American Dreamer: The Life and Times of Henry A. Wallace By John C. Culver, John Hyde. Published by W.W. Norton & Company. 2000. |
1927 -- Alliance formed between Roswell Garst and Henry Wallace to develop and promote hybrid seed corn.
The alliance resulted in a franchise agreement through which Garst used Hi-Bred Corn Company's stock to grow seed corn which he sold and payed a royalty fee on each bushel sold. By 1935, Garst had produced and sold more than twice the amount Wallace believed would ever be sold.
1930 -- Garst & Thomas Hybrid Corn Company founded.
Garst & Thomas Hybrid Corn Company, now known as Garst Seed Company, located in Coon Rapids, is one of the world's leading hybrid seed companies.
From 1930-1945, U.S. corn growers went from planting no hybrid seed corn to planting it on 100% of their acreage.
1933 -- Thomas Hunt Morgan awarded Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his chromosome theory of heredity.
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Thomas Hunt Morgan pioneered the new science of genetics through experimental
research with the fruit fly (Drosophila), laying the foundations for the future of biology. On
the basis of fly-breeding experiments he demonstrated that genes are linked in a series on
chromosomes and that they determine indentifiable, hereditary traits.
In 1928, Thomas Hunt Morgan transferred to the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) to organize work in biology, and five years later he was awarded the 1933 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his chromosome theory of heredity. (Photo: © The Nobel Foundation) |
1935 - University of Iowa laboratory is the first to record human electroencephalograph (EEG) activity.
A University laboratory is the first to record human electroencephalograph (EEG) activity, led by pioneering investigator Lee E. Travis. In 1938, University researcher Elmer DeGowin developed the first reliable methods of preserving and shipping blood, making transfusions and blood banks routine services.
1947 -- Transistor invented at AT&T's Bell Laboratories.
The transistor, the invention that marked the dawn of the
information age, was invented by John Bardeen, William Shockley and Walter Brattain at AT&T's Bell Laboratories. Bardeen,
Shockley and Brattain were awarded the 1956
Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery of the transistor effect.
Transistors have become an invisible technology that is part of almost every electronic device. Every major information age innovation was made possible by the transistor and its application can be found all around us. (Photos: © The Nobel Foundation)
1953 -- Double helix structure of DNA revealed.
The double helix structure of DNA, the hereditary molecule is revealed by
two scientists, James D. Watson and Francis Crick. This is one of the key
discoveries of the century. Watson and Crick shared the 1962
Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine with Maurice Wilkins for their discoveries
concerning the molecular structure of nuclear acids and its significance for information
transfer in living material.
Rosalind Franklin, whose work contributed to the discovery, died before this date and the rules do not allow a Nobel Prize to be awarded posthumously. (Photos: © The Nobel Foundation)
Suggested Reading:
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The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA. By James D. Watson. Published by Touchstone Books. 2001. |
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DNA - The Secret to Life. By James D. Watson, Andrew Berry. Published by Knopf. 2003. |
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Genes, Girls, and Gamow: After the Double Helix. By James D. Watson. Published by Vintage. 2003. |
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Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA. By Brenda Maddox. Published by Perennial. 2003. |
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The Third Man of the Double Helix: The Autobiography of Maurice Wilkins. By Maurice Wilkins. Published by Oxford University Press. 2003. |
1958 -- Integrated circuit invented.
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Jack Kilby, an engineer at Texas Instruments shows only a transistor and other components on a slice of germanium. This invention (7/16-by-1/16-inches in size), called an integrated circuit, revolutionized the electronics industry. Kilby was awarded the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics for his invention of the integrated circuit. (Photo: Jack Kilby courtesy of Texas Instruments) |
1961 -- President John F. Kennedy expands U.S. Space Program
Listen to President John F. Kennedy's speech in
his historic message to a joint session of the Congress, on May 25, 1961 declared,
"...I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade
is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth." This goal was
achieved when astronaut Neil A. Armstrong became the first human to set foot upon the
Moon at 10:56 p.m. EDT, July 20, 1969. Shown in the background are, (left) Vice
President Lyndon Johnson, and (right) Speaker of the House Sam T. Rayburn. The expansion of
the U.S. Space Program resulted in the development of a wide range of technology with
enormous benefit to human and animal kind.
(Photo: Courtesy of the National Aeronautics & Space Administration)
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1969 -- Man walks on the moon.
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In July of 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, American astronauts, made history by becoming the first men to walk on the moon. Listen to Neil Armstrong's first words as he steps onto the lunar surface (66 kb .wav file). (Photo: Courtesy of the National Aeronautics & Space Administration) |
An important benefit of the Apollo Lunar Program and other NASA programs is the ever-growing pipeline of technology that improves human and veterinary healthcare diagnostics and therapeutics.
1969 -- Victor McKusick publishes "Mendelian Inheritance in Man".
Victor McKusick, widely acknowledged as the father of medical genetics, spent his career studying the genetic basis of diseases and disorders with the belief that such an understanding could lead to new methods of diagnosis and treatment. He studied, identified, and mapped genes responsible for inherited conditions such as Marfan syndrome and dwarfism (specifically in Amish communities). In 1969, he proposed the idea of mapping the human genome, over 30 years before the Human Genome Project was established.
McKusick, a graduate of Johns Hopkins (M.D. 1946), spent his entire career there and founded the Division of Medical Genetics in 1957, the first research center and clinic of its kind. In 1969 he published the 1st edition of his book "Mendelian Inheritance of Man", one of the most comprehensive collections of inherited disease genes. In 2002, McKusick received the highest scientific honor in the U.S., the National Medal of Science.
1970 -- Norman Borlaug awarded Nobel Peace Prize.
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1971 -- NASDAQ Stock Market founded.
Nasdaq, founded February 8, 1971, is now the largest U.S. electronic stock
market. With approximately 3,300 companies, it lists more companies and, on
average, trades more shares per day than any other U.S. market. NASDAQ is
home to companies that are leaders across all areas of business including
technology, retail, communications, financial services, transportation, media,
biotechnology, medical device, and pharmaceutical.
Suggested Reading:
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NASDAQ: A History of the Market That Changed the World. By Mark Ingebretsen. Published by Prima Lifestyles. 2002. |
1973 -- Recombinant DNA perfected.
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The modern era of biotechnology begins when Stanley Cohen of Stanford University and Herbert Boyer of the University of California at San Francisco successfully recombine ends of bacterial DNA after splicing a toad gene in between. They call their accomplishment recombinant DNA, but the media prefers using the term genetic engineering. (Photo: Courtesy Stanley Cohen) |
1974 -- Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).
John N. Erlenborn, the ranking Republican on the House Committee, was responsible for bringing the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to a floor vote, and is one of the ERISA’s "Founding Fathers." Together with Senator Jacob Javits (R-NY), Senator Pete Williams (D-NJ) and Congressman John Dent (D-PA), Erlenborn crafted provisions and participated in negotiations that were instrumental to the enactment of ERISA which was - and remains - the single most important legislation governing employee benefit plans in the United States providing an important source of financial investment for the stock market. (Photos: Jacob Javits and Pete Williams courtesy U.S. Senate Historical Office).
1975 -- Monoclonal antibodies produced.
In 1975, Georges Köhler and César Milstein, showed how monoclonal antibodies can be generated by
isolating individual fused myeloma cells.
The 1984 Nobel Laureate in Medicine was awarded jointly to: Niels Jerne, Georges Köhler and César Milstein for theories concerning the specificity in development and control of the immune system and the discovery of the principle for production of monoclonal antibodies. (Photos: © The Nobel Foundation)
1976 -- Genentech, founder of the biotechnology industry, established.
In 1976, Genentech was founded by venture capitalist Robert Swanson and biochemist Dr. Herbert Boyer. In the early 1970s, Boyer and geneticist Stanley Cohen at Stanford University pioneered recombinant DNA technology. Excited by the breakthrough, Swanson called Boyer who agreed to give the young entrepreneur 10 minutes of his time. Swanson's enthusiasm for the technology resulted in a three hour meeting and at its conclusion, Genentech was born.Within a few short years Swanson and Boyer invented a new industry - biotechnology. In 1980, Genentech issued its Initial Public Offering (IPO) and raised $35 million with an offering that jumped from $35 a share to a high of $88 after less than an hour on the market. The event was one of the largest stock run-ups ever, and that event set the stage for future biotechnolgy industry offerings.
Genentech was initially broadly focused in three areas including food processing, industrial chemicals, and human health care. In 1982, Eli Lilly & Co. which had acquired worldwide rights to Genenetch's recombinant human insulin (1978) received FDA approval to market the product -- the first biotechnology therapeutic to reach the marketplace.
Beginning in 1983, Genentech became solely focused on human therapeutics and diagnostics, and in 1985, Genentech received approval from FDA to market its first product, Protropin® (somatrem for injection) growth hormone for children with growth hormone deficiency — the first recombinant pharmaceutical product to be manufactured and marketed by a biotechnology company. In 1990, Genentech and Roche Holding Ltd. of Basel, Switzerland completed a $2.1 billion merger. Today, Genentech is among the world's leading biotech companies with multiple protein-based products on the market for serious or life-threatening medical conditions.
1977 -- First human gene cloned.
Walter Gilbert induced bacteria to synthesize insulin and interferon, and Frederick Sanger published the complete sequence of phage FX174. The 1980 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry was awarded jointly to Frederick Sanger and Walter Gilbert for "for their contributions concerning the determination of base sequences in nucleic acids, and to Paul Berg for his fundamental studies of the biochemistry of nucleic acids, with particular regard to recombinant-DNA. (Photos: © The Nobel Foundation)
1980 -- U.S. Supreme Court ruled man-made organism patentable.
Diamond v. Chakrabarty, the U.S. Supreme Court upholds five-to-four the patentability of
genetically altered organisms, opening the door to greater patent protection for any
modified life forms.
In 1972, Chakrabarty, a microbiologist, filed a patent application, assigned to the General Electric Co. for a human-made genetically engineered bacterium capable of breaking down multiple components of crude oil. Because of this property, which is possessed by no naturally occurring bacteria, Chakrabarty's invention was believed to have significant value for the treatment of oil spills. The application asserted 36 claims related to Chakrabarty's invention of "a bacterium from the genus Pseudomonas containing therein at least two stable energy-generating plasmids, each of said plasmids providing a separate hydrocarbon degradative pathway. Opinions: Chief Justice Warren Burger delivered the opinion of the Court, in which justices Potter Stewart, Harry Blackmun, William Rehnquist, and John Paul Stevens joined. William Brennan filed a dissenting opinion, in which Byron White, Thurgood Marshall, and Lewis Powell joined. |
1980 -- Bayh-Dole Act provides for university technology transfer.
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H.R.6933, Public Law: 96-517, December 12, 1980. A bill to amend title 35 of the United States Code. This Act known as the Bayh-Dole Act provided for the legal transfer of research and technology originating from U.S. universities and federal laboratories to private companies for commercialization. Technology transfer offices are now common in universities and federal laboratories and are the technology foundation for numerous biotechnology and medical device companies. (Photos: Birch Bayh and Robert Dole courtesy U.S. Senate Historical Office) |
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1980 -- Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at University of Iowa established.
Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at University of Iowa is dedicated to bringing the world's best research and cancer care to the University of Iowa and to the state of Iowa. The Cancer Center was established to promote interactive, high-quality cancer research; to provide high-quality health care related to the prevention, detection, and treatment of cancer; and to educate cancer professionals and the citizens of Iowa about cancer.
1986 -- The World Food Prize established.
The
World Food Prize Foundation, located in Des Moines, was established by Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, winner
of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his work in world agriculture. The World Food Prize, awarded
annually, honors outstanding individuals who have made vital contributions to improving the
quality, quantity, or availability of food throughout the world. Previous laureates have been
recognized around the world, including from the United Kingdom,
India, Switzerland, Bangladesh and the United States.
1989 -- Thomas R. Cech Awarded Nobel Laureate in Chemistry.
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1990 -- Human Genome Project established.
The U.S. Human Genome
Project was established -- a 13-year effort coordinated by the U.S.
Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health. The project, originally
planned to last 15 years, was expected to be completed by 2003 due to
rapid technological advances.
| Project Goals |
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1993 -- Center for Biocatalysis & Bioprocessing founded at University of Iowa.
Center for Biocatalysis & Bioprocessing is a leader in promoting technology transfer, research and development, and education and training in the state of Iowa.
1993 -- Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) founded.
Biotechnology Industry
Organization is the world's largest organization to serve and represent the
biotechnology industry. BIO's leadership and service-oriented guidance have helped advance
the industry and bring the benefits of biotechnology to people everywhere.
1993 -- Kary B. Mullis awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
| Kary B. Mullis of La Jolla, CA and a graduate of the University of California
at Berkeley (Ph.D) was awarded the 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for contributions to the developments of
methods within DNA-based chemistry, specifically for his invention of the polymerase chain
reaction (PCR) method. (Photo: © The Nobel Foundation)
PCR allows scientists to quickly replicate small strands of DNA, greatly simplifying the sequencing and cloning of genes. First presented in 1985, PCR has become one of the most widespread methods of analyzing DNA. Notably, PCR requires the heat-stable enzyme Taq (Thermus Aquaticus) which originated from hot springs located in Yellowstone National Park. |
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1994 -- Iowa Biotechnology Association (IBA) founded.
Iowa Biotechnology Association advances opportunities in Iowa for the improvement of the human environmental and economic well-being through the development and application of value-added technologies in the life sciences.
1994 -- University of Iowa National Laboratory for the Study of Rural Telemedicine founded.
National Laboratory for the Study of Rural Telemedicine at the University of Iowa is a national leader in the emerging field of telemedicine.
2000 -- University of Iowa Cancer Center gains recognition as a National Cancer Institute designated cancer center.
University of Iowa Cancer Center recognized as a National Cancer Institute designated Cancer Center, a mark of distinction given to a select group of cancer centers nationwide.
2001 -- Human Genome Project draft sequence published.
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The February 16 issue of Science and February 15 issue of Nature contained the working draft of the human genome sequence (U.S. Human Genome Project). Nature papers included initial analysis of the descriptions of the sequence generated by the publicly sponsored Human Genome Project, while Science publications focused on the draft sequence reported by the private company, Celera Genomics. |
2004 -- University of Iowa National Offers Magnetic Surgery.
University of Iowa Heart Care physicians became among the first cardiac specialists in the United States and worldwide to use a revolutionary magnetic guidance system to treat patients with coronary artery disease and heart rhythm problems.
2006 -- Iowa IA BioGenealogy illustrates the technology origins of state's industry.
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Iowa BioGenealogy -- a one-of-a-kind genealogy poster that illustrates the "technology origins" of more than 150 firms and non-profit research organizations that comprise the biotechnology and medical device industry in the state of Iowa. |
2009 -- Year of Science launched by the Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science.
Year of Science
launched by the Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS) will embark on a celebratory
journey with you to share how science works, what it is like to be a scientist, and why science matters.
In nearly every state, participants in the celebration will demonstrate how we know about our natural world and why science continues to be so vitally important to our communities, our country, and the world.
Other Resources
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Other State & Province BioHistories
Plus the provinces of:
Other Life Science History Resources
Tell us about Iowa's BioHistory. If you are aware of a notable event, person,
organization/company or accomplishment that we should include,
please e-mail: BioHistory@InfoResource.org
Iowa BioHistory(TM) and Iowa BioEvolution(TM) © 2008 Info.Resource, Inc.
