Short answers, pulled from the story.
Gregor Mendel presented his work on pea plants to the Naturforschender Verein in 1865. His findings remained largely ignored for decades until they were rediscovered in 1900 after his death. This presentation laid the foundation for modern genetics.
James Watson and Francis Crick proposed the double-helix model of DNA in 1953. They used X-ray crystallography data from Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins to determine the structure. This discovery revealed how genetic information is stored in the sequence of nucleotides.
Thomas Hunt Morgan demonstrated that genes are located on chromosomes in 1911. He observed a sex-linked white-eye mutation in fruit flies to prove this location. His student Alfred Sturtevant later used genetic linkage to map genes linearly along chromosomes.
Scientists found a heritability of 89% for human height in the United States compared to 62% in Nigeria. This difference occurs because nutritional variability plays a larger role in Nigeria. Environmental factors can override genetic predispositions in this dynamic relationship.
The Human Genome Project reached completion in 2003. This milestone followed the invention of chain-termination sequencing by Frederick Sanger in 1977. Next-generation sequencing technologies have since lowered the cost of genome sequencing.
Chinese researchers reported editing the DNA of non-viable human embryos in 2015. That same year, a group of leading biologists urged a worldwide ban on the clinical use of methods like CRISPR to edit the human genome. This event highlighted the rapid progress and potential risks of genetic engineering.