The following includes select facts from life science history, both global and Iowa state specific,
that help explain the origins of the state's life science industry. Please note that these facts are part of a much larger state-specific
history database that will be launched in the near future. In the meantime, we encourage you to learn about the scientists behind
the discoveries, the entrepreneurs, philanthropists, political leaders, and significant events, institutions
and companies that are the foundation of the life science industry in the state of Iowa.
If you are aware of a notable event, person, organization/company or accomplishment that we should include,
please e-mail us at: Suggestions@InfoResource.org
1847 -- State University of Iowa (University of Iowa) founded.
In 1847, The State University of Iowa, now known as the University of Iowa, was
founded in Iowa City. The first faculty offered instruction at the university in March
1855 to students in the Old Mechanics Building, situated where Seashore Hall is now located.
In 1882, the Department of Dentistry was founded 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.
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.
1865 -- Cargill was founded.
In 1865, Cargill was founded by William W. Cargill as a
small grain elevator in Conover, Iowa. In 1890, the company's operation incorporated under Cargill Elevator Co.
Today, the company, based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, has grown to become one of the largest, privately-owned
businesses, providing food, agricultural, risk management, financial, and industrial products and services around
the globe.
1865 -- Gregor Mendel, the father of modern genetics, presented his laws of heredity.
Gregor Mendel, an Augustinian considered the father of modern genetics,
conducted crossbreeding experiments with pea plants between 1856 and 1863. Through this work,
he established many of the rules of heredity.
"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).
1879 -- The first public veterinary college in the U.S. was established at Iowa State
University.
In 1879, the College of Veterinary Medicine was
established at Iowa State University in Ames, the nation’s first public veterinary school. The School,
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).
As legislative articles were drafted in 1858 to form the "State Agricultural College and Farm," it was
specified that veterinary studies would be included in the subjects of instruction. When the first Iowa State
class graduated in 1872, seniors in agriculture had received instruction in veterinary science.
(Photo: Christian Petersen sculpture, The Gentle Doctor courtesy Iowa State University)
1885 -- The University of Iowa College of Pharmacy was established.
In 1885, the University of Iowa 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.
Today, the core mission of the UI College of Pharmacy is to educate
future pharmacists and to conduct research to advance health care. (Photo: courtesy University of Iowa)
1887 -- Marine Hospital Service Hygienic Laboratory (National Institutes of Health) was 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
(Photo: courtesy of the NIH Almanac).
1894 -- George Washington Carver graduated from Iowa Agricultural College.
George Washington Carver,
educator, scientist, business leader, and renown
agriculturist received a B.S. from the Iowa Agricultural College in 1894, a M.S. in 1896 and was
a member of the faculty of Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts.
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. (Photo: courtesy Iowa
State University)
1902 -- The Biologics Control Act was established.
The Biologics Control Act, established 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).
The Marine Hospital Service (MHS), established in 1798, was reorganized in 1912
and renamed the Public Health Service (PHS). The PHS was 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.
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.
On Oct. 10, 1918, "Des Moines goes under quarantine today." That was the first line
of a front-page article on the influenza epidemic in the city’s newspaper, the
Des Moines Register. Influenza had been circulating in the city for the prior two
weeks, but the number of cases reported had been small. It was at Camp Dodge, a dozen
miles or so northwest of Des Moines, where the epidemic raged. On Dec. 16, social
distancing measures were removed and Des Moines residents were once again able to
attend dances, go to football games, and ice skate in the city’s rinks.
1926 -- The Hi-Bred Corn Company (Pioneer Hi-Bred) was founded.
In 1926, the Hi-Bred Corn Company now called DuPont Pioneer
was founded in Des Moines by J.J. Newlin, Si Casady, Fred Lehmann, Jr., Walter Welch,
George Kurtzweil, Earl Houghton, Jim Wallace, and future Vice President Henry Wallace.
In 1927, an alliance was formed between Roswell Garst and Henry Wallace to develop
and promote hybrid seed corn. Garst & Thomas Hybrid Corn Company founded in 1930, now
known as Garst Seed Company, 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. (Photo: Henry Wallace courtesy Pioneer Hi-Bred
International, Inc.)
1930 -- The name of the Hygienic Laboratory was changed to the National Institute of Health.
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.
1933 -- Thomas Hunt Morgan was awarded Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his
chromosome theory of heredity.
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.
1935 - University of Iowa laboratory was the first to record human electroencephalograph (EEG) activity.
In 1935, a University of Iowa laboratory was the first to record human electroencephalograph
(EEG) activity, led by pioneering investigator Lee Edward Travis.
Travis was a founding father of Speech-Language Pathology in America, and was one of
the 25 charter members of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) and
was instrumental in setting up one of the first speech-pathology programs in the country
located at the University of Iowa.
1937 -- The National Cancer Institute was created.
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.
Today, the NCI, part of the National Institutes of Health, is the federal government's
principal agency for cancer research and training.
1937 - The first digital computer was built at Iowa State University.
The first digital computer,
built at Iowa State University by John V. Atanasoff and Clifford Berry, introduced the ideas of binary arithmetic,
regenerative memory, and logic circuits. The Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC) was the world’s first electronic digital
computer. Atanasoff, a former Iowa State professor of physics and mathematics, and Berry, a
former physics graduate student and electrical engineering undergraduate, built the computer at Iowa State University
from 1937 to 1942.
These ideas were communicated from Atanasoff to Mauchly, who used them in the design of the better-known
ENIAC built several years later. (Photo: courtesy Iowa State University)
1938 -- Iowa State University Research Foundation was established.
In 1938, the Iowa State University Research Foundation (ISURF)
was established to manage the collection of intellectual property that grew from the work of Iowa State employees and
students. The ISURF is a non-profit corporation, and is the second oldest university technology transfer program in the nation.
Today, the ISURF and the Office of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer (OIPTT) work in concert
to facilitate and enhance the inventive and creative works of Iowa State University's employees and students,
and to transfer these works for the benefit of society.
1938 -- Elmer DeGowin developed the first reliable methods of preserving and shipping blood.
In 1938, University of Iowa researcher Elmer DeGowin developed the first reliable methods
of preserving and shipping blood, making transfusions and blood banks routine services.
Much of the early impetus and financial support were fueled by the military needs of World War II.
Dr. DeGowin and his colleagues provided important information pertaining to the preservation,
storage, transportation, and transfusion of blood. After the war, many of these investigations
continued and were applied to civilian practices.
The legacy of Dr. DeGowin to provide exemplary service, teaching, and research has been sustained by the
physicians and staff of the DeGowin Blood Center,
part of the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City. Photo: Elmer DeGowin courtesy of
University of Iowa, DeGowin Blood Center.
1944 -- Public Health Service Act was established.
The 1944 Public Health Service Act defined the shape of medical research in the post-war world.
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. 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.
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.
1947 -- Transistor was 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.
1953 -- Double helix structure of DNA was 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.
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)
Jack Kilby went on to pioneer military, industrial, and commercial applications of
microchip technology. He headed teams that built both the first military system and the
first computer incorporating integrated circuits. He later co-invented both the hand-held
calculator and the thermal printer that was used in portable data terminals.
Mr. Kilby officially retired from TI in 1983, but he maintained a significant involvement
with the company throughout his life.
1961 -- President John F. Kennedy expanded the 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 National Aeronautics & Space Administration)
1969 -- Man walked on the moon.
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 published "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 was awarded Nobel Peace Prize.
Born of Norwegian descent, Dr. Borlaug was raised in Cresco, a small farming community in northeast Iowa.
He learned his work ethic on a small mixed crop and livestock family farm and obtained initial education
in a one-room rural school house. In 1944, Dr. Borlaug participated in the Rockefeller Foundation's
pioneering technical assistance program in Mexico, where he was a research scientist in charge of
wheat improvement. It was on the research stations and farmers' fields of Mexico that Dr. Borlaug developed
successive generations of wheat varieties with broad and stable disease resistance, broad adaptation to
growing conditions across many degrees of latitude, and with exceedingly high yield potential.
These new wheat varieties and improved crop management practices transformed agricultural production
in Mexico during the 1940's and 1950's and later in Asia and Latin America, sparking what today is known
as the "Green Revolution." Because of his achievements to prevent hunger, famine and misery around the world,
it is said that Dr. Borlaug has "saved more lives than any other person who has ever lived." (Courtesy of
The World Food Prize Foundation).
1971 -- NASDAQ Stock Market was founded.
NASDAQ Stock Market was founded as the world's first electronic stock market by the
National Association of Securities Dealers. The NASDAQ system, created by the Bunker Ramos
Corp. allowed the financial community, for the first time, to determine which market
offered the best price on a given security.
1971 -- President Nixon declared war on cancer creating the Cancer Centers Program of the National Cancer Institute.
On Dec. 23, 1971, the National Cancer Act of 1971, enacted by President Richard Nixon as part of the
nation’s war on cancer, established the Cancer Centers Program of the National Cancer Institute.
The National Cancer Act, "The War on Cancer," gave the NCI unique autonomy at NIH with special budgetary authority.
The annual budget of NCI, called the bypass budget, be submitted directly to the president, bypassing traditional
approval by the NIH or the Department of HHS required of other NIH institutes.
1973 -- Recombinant DNA was perfected.
The modern era of biotechnology begins when Stanley Cohen of Stanford University and Herbert Boyer of the University of
California at San Francisco successfully recombined ends of bacterial DNA after splicing a toad gene in between. They
called their accomplishment recombinant DNA, but the media preferred the term genetic engineering.
(Photo: Courtesy Stanley Cohen)
Boyer and Cohen's achievement was an advancement upon the techniques developed by Paul Berg, in 1972,
for inserting viral DNA into bacterial DNA. Cohen's research at Stanford was with plasmids—the nonchromosomal, circular
units of DNA found in, and exchanged by, bacteria, while Boyer's was restriction enzymes produced by bacteria to counter
invasion by bacteriophages.
1974 -- University of Iowa pharmaceutical production began.
In July 1974, the Division of
Pharmaceutical Service at the University of Iowa began producing cGMP compliant clinical materials for client
organizations outside of the University of Iowa umbrella. Pharmaceutical Service's first client
was the National Cancer Institute. In 1992 the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy
formed a second contract pharmaceutical service unit, the Center for Advanced Drug Development.
Today, the University of Iowa Pharmaceuticals (UIP) is the largest and most experienced
university-affiliated FDA-registered pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in the U.S.
UIP currently occupies 24,000 square feet on the ground floor of the University of
Iowa College of Pharmacy and 6,000 square feet at the University of Iowa Research Park.
1974 -- Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) was enacted.
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 creating a growing source of new capital.
(Photos: Jacob Javits and Pete Williams courtesy U.S. Senate Historical Office).
1975 -- Monoclonal antibodies were produced.
In 1975, Georges Köhler and César Milstein, showed how monoclonal antibodies can be generated by
isolating individual fused myeloma cells.
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.
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. This event was one of the largest stock run-ups ever, and that
event set the stage for future biotechnolgy industry offerings.
1977 -- First human gene was 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.
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, Mohan 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 provided for university technology transfer.
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)
1980 -- Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at University of Iowa established.
Founded in 1980, Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at University of Iowa
is dedicated to bringing the finest cancer care and research to Iowa and beyond. Holden ensures that all the cancer research,
clinical service, and education at Iowa are interdependent.
Holden is a matrix center that spans the university and includes physicians, faculty, and researchers
from 40 university departments and six colleges, as well as the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
Research at Holden is organized into four research programs: cancer genes and pathways, experimental
therapeutics, free radical metabolism and imaging, and cancer epidemiology and population science.
1983 -- Orphan Drug Act was created.
The Orphan Drug Act
encouraged the research and development of drugs for rare or "orphan" diseases defined as a disease or condition that
affects fewer than 200,000 Americans.
The Orphan Drug Act provided for financial incentives to help companies recover the cost of developing much needed
therapies for small patient populations. The FDA estimates that more than 11 million patients in the U.S. and millions
more around the world, have benefited from this legislation.
1983 -- University of Iowa established the “Iowa Biocats”.
The Biocatalysis Research Group, known informally as
“Iowa Biocats,” was established at University of Iowa. It became the Center for Biocatalysis and Bioprocessing (CBB) and was
designated the State’s industrial biotechnology laboratory in 1990. In 1995, the CBB opened a new laboratory at
The University of Iowa Research Park (previously called Oakdale Research Park) North of the University of Iowa.
The CBB is the first and largest organization in the world to organize a multidisciplinary research group focused on
biocatalysis and bioprocessing. (Photo: Jack Rosazza, Director, CBB courtesy of Tom Langdon)
1984 -- Alec Jeffreys and technician Vicky Wilson discovered minisatellites leading to the development of genetic fingerprinting.
In 1984, geneticist Sir Alec Jeffreys, and technician Vicky Wilson at the University of
Leicester in England discovered minisatellites leading to the development of genetic fingerprinting.
The new technology was first used in 1985 to resolve a disputed immigration case
that confirmed the identity of a British boy whose family was from Ghana.
In 1988, Colin Pitchfork was convicted of murdering two girls in 1983 and 1986 in
Narborough, Leicestershire, England after his DNA samples matched semen samples
taken from the two dead girls. Jeffreys' work in this case convicted the
killer, but also exonerated Richard Buckland, a suspect who otherwise might
have spent his life in prison. In 1994, Jeffreys' was knighted by Queen
Elizabeth II for his services to genetics.
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.
In 1944, Dr. Borlaug participated in the Rockefeller Foundation's pioneering technical assistance program
in Mexico, where he was a research scientist in charge of wheat improvement. It was on the research stations and farmers' fields of Mexico that Dr. Borlaug developed
successive generations of wheat varieties with broad and stable disease resistance, broad adaptation to
growing conditions across many degrees of latitude, and with exceedingly high yield potential.
These new wheat varieties and improved crop management practices transformed agricultural production
in Mexico during the 1940's and 1950's and later in Asia and Latin America, sparking what today is known
as the "Green Revolution." Because of his achievements to prevent hunger, famine and misery around the world,
it is said that Dr. Borlaug has "saved more lives than any other person who has ever lived." (Courtesy of
The World Food Prize Foundation).
1987 -- Integrated DNA Technologies founded.
In 1987, Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT) IDT), a
University of Iowa spin-off company founded by Dr. Joseph Walder, established its headquarters in Coralville and
began the development and manufacture of synthetic DNA for research.
Today, IDT is the global leader in nucleic acid synthesis, serving all areas of life sciences research
and development, offers products for a broad range of genomic applications. IDT’s primary business is the
production of custom, synthetic nucleic acids for molecular biology applications, including qPCR, sequencing,
synthetic biology, and functional genomics. (Photo: Joseph Walder courtesy Integrated DNA Technologies)
1987 -- First public field trial of a transgenic plant and a transgenic tree.
In the mid-1980s, Dr. Robert Thornburg at Iowa State University prepared transgenic tobacco
plants expressing a gene that was derived from potato plants. In 1987, Dr. Thornburg’s
laboratory conducted the first field trial of transgenic plants ever conducted at a public
institution in the U.S. In 1988, Dr. Thornburg and his group trumped this project by preparing transgenic poplar
trees and conducting the very first ever field trial of transgenic trees. (Photo: courtesy Iowa State University)
1989 -- Thomas R. Cech, was awarded Nobel Laureate in Chemistry.
Cech was raised in Des Moines, and attended Grinnell College and the University of Iowa.
Cech joined the faculty at the University of Colorado, Boulder in 1978. Cech
served as president of Howard Hughes Medical Institute from 2000-2008 where he promoted
science education. Today, Cech remains on the faculty at the University of Colorado
as Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.
1990 -- Human Genome Project was 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 main goals of the
Human Genome Project were to provide a complete and accurate sequence of the 3 billion
DNA base pairs that make up the human genome and to find all of the estimated 20,000 to
25,000 human genes. The project, originally planned to last 15 years, was expected
to be completed by 2003 due to rapid technological advances.
1992 -- University of Iowa Research Foundation received first U.S. patent for CMV promoter.
In 1992, the University of Iowa Research Foundation
received its first U.S. patent on the CMV promoter, a prevalent tool in the biotechnology industry. The CMV promoter
is used to manufacture FDA approved therapeutic proteins for treating patients with cancer and other diseases,
and to develop gene therapy and DNA-based vaccine products. UI Microbiology Professor Mark Stinski discovered
the CMV promoter.
Dr. Stinski joined the University of Iowa Department of Microbiology in 1973 as an Assistant Professor of Virology,
and as of December 2011, is Professor Emeritus. He has provided 39 years of service to the Department and its members as
a researcher and educator. He is also an exceptionally rare and highly important entrepreneur, whose dedicated
efforts have paid off in major ways to contribute financially to The University of Iowa, Carver College of Medicine,
and Department of Microbiology. (Photo Mark Stinski: courtesy University of Iowa)
1993 -- Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) was 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 was awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
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.
1993 -- Biocatalysis Research Group was founded at the University of Iowa.
The Biocatalysis Research Group, known informally as
the “Iowa Biocats,” was established at University of Iowa in 1993. It became the Center for Biocatalysis and
Bioprocessing (CBB) and was designated the State’s industrial biotechnology laboratory in 1990. In 1995,
the CBB opened a new laboratory at The University of Iowa Research Park (previously called Oakdale Research Park)
North of the University of Iowa.
In 2004, CBB acquired a state-of-the-art cGMP Downstream Protein Purification Facility, and in 2006, CBB added
a State-of-the-art cGMP contract fermentation facility that was supported with a $3 million grant from Grow
Iowa Value Fund. Today, the CBB is the first and largest organization in the world to organize a multidisciplinary
research group focused on biocatalysis and bioprocessing.
1994 -- Iowa Biotechnology Association (IBA) was founded.
Iowa Biotechnology Association (IBA) founded in 1994,
is a non-profit, membership-based organization that includes companies from all segments of biotechnology,
universities & colleges, state & federal associations, as well as numerous service & support companies.
Today, the IBA 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.
1999 -- Pioneer Hi-Bred was acquired by DuPont Co.
In 1999, Pioneer Hi-Bred
was acquired by DuPont Co. for cash and stock valued at about $7.7 billion.
In 1926, the Hi-Bred Corn Company was founded in Des Moines by J.J. Newlin, Si Casady, Fred Lehmann, Jr., Walter Welch,
George Kurtzweil, Earl Houghton, Jim Wallace, and future Vice President Henry Wallace.
Today, DuPont Pioneer is the world’s leading developer and supplier of advanced
plant genetics, providing high-quality seeds to farmers in more than 90 countries.
2000 -- Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center gained recognition as a National Cancer
Institute designated cancer center.
Founded in 1980, Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at University of Iowa
received its National Cancer Institute designation in 2000 and Comprehensive designation in 2001. The Center is
dedicated to bringing the finest cancer care and research to Iowa and beyond. Holden ensures that all the cancer research,
clinical service, and education at Iowa are interdependent.
Holden is a matrix center that spans the university and includes physicians, faculty, and researchers
from 40 university departments and six colleges, as well as the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
Research at Holden is organized into four research programs: cancer genes and pathways, experimental
therapeutics, free radical metabolism and imaging, and cancer epidemiology and population science.
2000 -- Capillary electrophoresis DNA sequencer was developed at Iowa State University.
In 2000, The Capillary electrophoresis DNA sequencer device
was developed by Dr. Edward Yeung at Iowa State University. DNA sequencers play an important role in sequencing the human genome and
leading to advances in the fight against Alzheimer's disease, muscular dystrophy, Downs Syndrome and other
genetic disorders.
Dr. Yeung, Distinguished Professor in Liberal Arts and Sciences and director of the Chemical
and Biological Sciences Program at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory, developed a
DNA sequencer that combined laser microfluorescence with capillary electrophoresis, two analytical
chemistry methods for determining the minute components of a substance. The DNA sequencer technology,
which was pivotal in the completion of the Human Genome Project, was licensed exclusively to
Applied Biosystems, Foster City, Calif. The device read DNA sequences much faster than other systems
allowing for this critical sequencing process to be done in days rather than months or years.
2001 -- Human Genome Project draft sequence was published.
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.
2006 -- Iowa BioGenealogy illustrated the technology origins of state's industry.
Iowa BioGenealogy -- a one-of-a-kind
genealogy poster that illustrated the "technology origins" of more than 150 firms and
non-profit research organizations that comprised the biotechnology and medical device
industry in the state of Iowa.
2007 -- The National Institutes of Health established the Human Microbiome Project.
On Dec. 19, 2007, the Human Microbiome Project (HMP), a $150 million initiative, was established by the National
Institutes of Health with the mission of generating resources that would enable the comprehensive characterization of
the human microbiome and analysis of its role in human health and disease.
The HMP is the collection of all
the microorganisms living in association with the human body, including eukaryotes, archaea, bacteria and viruses.
Bacteria in an average human body number ten times more than human cells, for a total of about 1000 more genes
than are present in the human genome.
2014 -- The University of Iowa dedicated $126 million biomedical hub.
In 2014, the University of Iowa ushered in a new age of accelerated research in biomedicine with the
formal opening of the $126 million John and Mary Pappajohn Biomedical Discovery Building.
The 256,000-square-foot building houses “high-risk, high-reward” research in diabetes, deafness, and brain science.
The building was named for John Pappajohn, a venture capitalist and philanthropist from Des Moines and his wife,
Mary, who committed $26.4 million in 2009 to help establish the Pappajohn Biomedical Institute and to contribute
to the building's construction. The other major donor is the state of Iowa.
Learn about the history of the life science industry in other states:
If you are aware of a notable event or person at your company or organization
that should be included in Iowa Life Science History, please e-mail us
at: suggestions@inforesource.org.
The 
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.
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In 1987, 
In the mid-1980s, Dr. Robert Thornburg at Iowa State University prepared transgenic tobacco
plants expressing a gene that was derived from potato plants. In 1987, Dr. Thornburg’s
laboratory conducted the first field trial of transgenic plants ever conducted at a public
institution in the U.S. In 1988, Dr. Thornburg and his group trumped this project by preparing transgenic poplar
trees and conducting the very first ever field trial of transgenic trees. (Photo: courtesy Iowa State University)
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