The history of genetics is started with the work of an Augustinian monk called Gregor Mendel. His work on pea plants first released the possible link of inhertiance, published in 1866. By 1915 the basics of Mendelian genetics had become widely accepted by the scientific establishment and applied to a wide variety of organisms; notably the fruit fly named 'Drosophila melanogaster'. Thomas Morgan and his team of geneticists developed the 'Mendelian chromosome theory of heredity', which was widely accepted and peer reviewed by 1925. including experimental work, mathematicians developed the statistical framework of population genetics.

With the fundemental pattern of inheritance from genes as an established fact. Biologists began looking at the physical nature of the gene. In the 1940s and early 1950s, experiments pointed to DNA as the portion of chromosomes that held genes. chemists developed techniques for sequencing both nucleic acids and proteins, while others worked out the relationship between the two forms of biological molecules: the genetic code.In the last decade(s) of the 20th century, biologists looked at large-scale genetics projects, sequencing entire genomes. From his statistical analysis Mendel defined a concept that he described as an allele, which was the fundamental unit of heredity.

History of Genetic Testing

During the 1870's and 1880's Walther Flemming discovered 'chromosomes' or DNA In 1902 first linked chromosomes with inherited diseases. Around 1950 things got interesting when we discovered more information about DNA including the 'ratio of DNA bases' and structure of the DNA molecule. A number of other finds were made in genetic history during the 60’s and 70’s were we found a method to analyze and 'isolate DNA fragments. Which is now known as the “Southern blot analysis” and is used within the genetic testing arena..

In 1983 the PCR method of DNA analysis was discovered by the Cetus Corporation and is now a popular method of DNA analysis in genetic testing. The techniques eventually found more and more disorders being linked to genetic makeup including cystic fibrosis and muscular dystrophy to name a few.

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