Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is developed by surfing aficionado, Dr. Kary Mullis at the Cetus Corporation in CA, USA. Dr. Mullis goes on to win a Nobel Prize for this invention in 1993.

Release of the Macintosh 128k, the first mass-market personal computer to feature a GUI, built-in screen, and a mouse.

DNASTAR is trademarked and the company releases software for the “SeqEasy” sequencer digitizer.

EditSeq becomes DNASTAR’s sequence analysis application.

The Human Genome Project is launched, and the first gene therapy case takes place at the National Institutes of Health, who treated 4-year-old Ashanti DeSilva for a severe immune system deficiency.

FlavrSavr tomatoes are the first GMO food to be approved by the FDA.

At the Roslin Institute in Scotland, Dolly the sheep becomes the first mammal to be cloned. This photo shows Dolly with Professor Sir Ian Wilmut, who led the research which produced her. (Photo courtesy of the Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, UK.)

The mouse is the first mammal to have its entire genome sequenced.

The United States Supreme Court rules that naturally-occurring DNA cannot be patented.