Our group name is called: “Miracle Rice”

Group members are: Leonard Totten

Frank Rodriquez
Mariles Daza-Enriquez
Winnie Montero

Background of our group name in a Timeline:

1960 - The Rockefeller and Ford Foundation jointly established the first international agricultural
research center in cooperation with the Philippine government and the International Rice
Research Institute (IRRI).
(Link to IRRI )

1966 - The launch of a high-yielding dwarf rice variety by the

International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) on Nov 28, 1966
marked the beginning of Asia’s struggle for freedom from hunger.
Perhaps drawn by the promise of the ‘Miracle rice’ – the IR8 rice
variety, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations (FAO) dedicated 1966 as the International Rice Year.

1996 – IRRI released new rice that has been named "Super Rice"
because it is predicted to increase rice yields by 25-50%. It is
supposed to produce 15 metric tonnes per hectare.
(Link to Super Rice )

2000 – Development of “Golden Rice” modified to make vitamin

A, promise to help third world countries alleviate blindness.

2002 – Researchers were able to sequence the DNA of rice, the main food source for two thirds
of the world’s population. It is the first crop to have its genome decoded.
(Link to Rice Genome )

2004 - United Nations dedicates 2004 to the world’s most important staple food once again,
celebrating it as the International Year of Rice, the starchy grain has undergone a complete
metamorphosis. Syngenta now owns patents for Golden Rice as well as BT Corn.
(Link to Oryza Syngenta ) (Link to Syngenta BT Corn )
 Miracle Rice Group (L. Totten, F. Rodriquez, W. Montero, M. Daza-Enriquez)
Biotechnology Training March 5, 2005

Homework: Timeline

1953 – James Watson and Francis Crick describe structure of DNA,

which resulted in an explosion of research into molecular biology
and genetics, which paved the way to biotechnology.
(Link to 1953 Structure of DNA ) (Link to Watson and Crick 1953
papers )

1957 – In 1957 Francis Crick and George Gamov worked out the
“Central Dogma”, explaining how DNA functions to make protein.
Their “sequence hypothesis” posited that the DNA sequence
specifies the amino acid sequence in a protein. They also suggested
that genetic information flows only in one direction, from DNA to messenger RNA to protein,
the central concept of the central dogma.
(Link to Central Dogma )

1965 – Scientist noticed that genes conveying antibiotic resistance in bacteria are often carried
on small, supernumerary chromosomes called plasmids. This observation led to the classification
of the plasmids.
(Link to Mechanisms of Evolution ) (Link to Antibiotic Paradox )

1966 – In 1966 the genetic code was finally “cracked”. Marshall Nirenberg, Heinrich Mathaei
and Severo Ochoa demonstrated that a sequence of three nucleotide bases, determines each of
the 20 amino acids.
(Link to 1966 Cracking Genetic Code )

1967 – In 1967, Kornberg, Mehran Goulian , and Robert L. Sinsheimer synthesized a

biologically active viral DNA using a template a single-stranded DNA chain from fX174 which
requires no protein coat to infect bacteria.
(Link to Life from Scratch )

1970 - Howard Temin and David Baltimore, first isolated "reverse transcriptase" a restriction
enzyme that cuts DNA molecules at specific sites. Their work described how viral RNA that
infects a host bacteria uses this enzyme to integrate its message into the host's DNA. This
discovery allowed scientists to create clones and observe their function. The major motivation to
understand reverse transcriptase comes from its role in HIV infections. The job of reverse
transcriptase in all retroviruses is to synthesize double-stranded DNA from the retrovirus' own
single-stranded RNA genome. This DNA double helix is then integrated into the host cell's
chromosomes as a provirus. Transcription then leads to copies of the viral RNA genome, from
which the virus's own proteins and enzymes are formed. New viral particles then bud from the
membrane of the cell. Thus, reverse transcriptase is essential for viral replication, becoming an
important target for drugs against AIDS.
(Link to Reverse Transcriptase )

1972 - Paul Berg isolated and employed a restriction enzyme to cut DNA.
Berg used ligase to paste two DNA strands together to form a hybrid circular
molecule. This was the first recombinant DNA molecule.
(Link to First Recombinant DNA )
(Link to Speaking the Language of Recombinant DNA )
(Link to Bio of Paul Berg )

1972 - The first successful DNA cloning experiments were performed in California.
(Link to PDF file of History of Genome Research )

1973 - Scientists for the first time successfully transferred deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) from
one life form into another. Stanley Cohen and Annie Chang of Stanford University and Herbert
Boyer of UCSF "spliced" sections of viral DNA and bacterial DNA with the same restriction
enzyme, creating a plasmid with dual antibiotic resistance.
(Link to Recombinant DNA )
(Link to First Recombinant DNA Molecules )
(Link to Animation of Recombinant DNA Process )

1973 – Bruce Ames, a biochemist at UC Berkeley, developed a test to

identify chemicals that damage DNA. The Ames test becomes a widely
used method to identify carcinogenic substances.
(Link to the Ames Test )

1973 - The first human-gene mapping conference took place. The conference was inspired
primarily by the rapid development in mapping by somatic-cell hybridization.
(Link to Human-Rodent Somatic Cell Hybrids )

1974 – The National Academy of Sciences published a paper by Stanford geneticist Stanley
Cohen and UCSF biochemist Herbert Boyer in which they demonstrated the expression of a
foreign gene implanted in bacteria by recombinant DNA methods. Cohen and Boyer showed that
DNA can be cut with restriction enzymes and reproduced by inserting the recombinant DNA into
Escherichia coli.
(Link to The Basics of Recombinant DNA )
1977 – This is considered the Dawn of Biotechnology, Genentech produced the first human
protein (SOMATOSTATIN), manufactured in a microorganism (E. coli bacteria).
(Link to Genetech timeline )
(Link to UCSF Chronology of Biotechnology )

1978 – BIOGEN the world’s oldest independent biotechnology company was

founded by a group of internationally acclaimed scientists,
including two U.S. academics, Walter Gilbert of Harvard
University and Philip Sharp of Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, (both of whom would later win Nobel Prizes)
which met in Geneva, Switzerland. The founders were a group
of scientists that were leaders in genetic engineering and saw
the potential of harnessing the power of human genes to
develop novel therapeutics that improved the quality of
people’s lives.
(Link to Biogen )
(Link to Gene Research )

1982 – Genentech Inc., received approval from the FDA to market genetically engineered human
insulin. The first genetically engineered drug is a form of human insulin produced by bacteria.
(Link to Insulin )
(Link to the First Insulin )

1983 – Kary Mullis invented the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a technique that amplifies
specific DNA sequences from very small amounts of genetic material. PCR has revolutionized
DNA technology by allowing scientists to produce an almost unlimited amount of highly
purified DNA molecules suitable for analysis or manipulation. The technique has widespread
applications, including the screening of genetic and infectious diseases, the reconstruction of
phylogenetic trees, and forensic analysis. An enzyme called POLYMERASE reads its code and
assembles a copy.
(Link to Biotechnology Advances )
(Link to DNA Timeline )