Inspired by @philipcball's question, here is a 🧵of some of the most beautiful #biology experiments (in my opinion)
Disclaimer: Not in order and no details (links provided)
Disclaimer: Not in order and no details (links provided)
https://twitter.com/philipcball/status/1435641058159902720
1-Messelson-Stahl discovery of semi-conservative DNA replication (Okay that's obvious but bear with me)
Year: 1958
Side-note: notice how humble the paper title is.
Paper ➡️pnas.org/content/44/7/6…
Summaries ➡️
➡️
Year: 1958
Side-note: notice how humble the paper title is.
Paper ➡️pnas.org/content/44/7/6…
Summaries ➡️
➡️
2-Hershey-Chase:
Viruses replicate by way of their nucleic acids (not proteins)
DNA is the origin of hereditary material
Year: 1952
Paper ➡️ rupress.org/jgp/article-pd…
Summary ➡️
Viruses replicate by way of their nucleic acids (not proteins)
DNA is the origin of hereditary material
Year: 1952
Paper ➡️ rupress.org/jgp/article-pd…
Summary ➡️
3- Isolation of messenger RNA
Brenner, Jacob, Watson and colleagues
Papers ➡️ nature.com/articles/19057…
➡️nature.com/articles/19058…
Summary ➡️ bit.ly/CSHLsum
Brenner's story ➡️ bit.ly/BrennerYT
➡️bit.ly/Biochapter12
Brenner, Jacob, Watson and colleagues
Papers ➡️ nature.com/articles/19057…
➡️nature.com/articles/19058…
Summary ➡️ bit.ly/CSHLsum
Brenner's story ➡️ bit.ly/BrennerYT
➡️bit.ly/Biochapter12
4- #Immunology (1)
Karl Landsteiner shows that antibodies can be generated against literally anything (with a lot of mechanistic analysis)
Year: 1937
➡️ amazon.com/dp/B00MAVFQ2Y?…
Karl Landsteiner shows that antibodies can be generated against literally anything (with a lot of mechanistic analysis)
Year: 1937
➡️ amazon.com/dp/B00MAVFQ2Y?…
5- #Immunology (2)
Affinity maturation: antibody affinity increases over the course of an immune response
Herman Eisen & Siskin
Simply elegant.
Year: 1964
Affinity maturation: antibody affinity increases over the course of an immune response
Herman Eisen & Siskin
Simply elegant.
Year: 1964
6- Luria-Delbrück fluctuation analysis:
"The mutational event precedes the selective pressure used to reveal it."
Year: 1943
Paper ➡️ bit.ly/LuriaDelbrück
Summary ➡️
"The mutational event precedes the selective pressure used to reveal it."
Year: 1943
Paper ➡️ bit.ly/LuriaDelbrück
Summary ➡️
7- Hayflick limit:
Year: 1961
Normal cells have limited capacity to divide (40 to 60 times)
Paper ➡️ bit.ly/Hayflicklimit
Summary from Hayflick ➡️
(Term coined by Frank Burnet)
Year: 1961
Normal cells have limited capacity to divide (40 to 60 times)
Paper ➡️ bit.ly/Hayflicklimit
Summary from Hayflick ➡️
(Term coined by Frank Burnet)
8- Induction of pluripotency:
S. Yamanaka and co. (The Yamanaka factors)
4 factors make cells younger
Year: 2006
Paper ➡️ cell.com/cell/fulltext/…
Nobel lecture ➡️ nobelprize.org/prizes/medicin…
S. Yamanaka and co. (The Yamanaka factors)
4 factors make cells younger
Year: 2006
Paper ➡️ cell.com/cell/fulltext/…
Nobel lecture ➡️ nobelprize.org/prizes/medicin…
9- #Immunology (3)
Induction of acquired immune tolerance
Medawar and colleagues: a SINGLE experiment that changed immunology
Year: 1953
Paper ➡️ nature.com/articles/17260…
Nobel lecture ➡️ nobelprize.org/prizes/medicin…
Interesting slightly relevant ➡️
Induction of acquired immune tolerance
Medawar and colleagues: a SINGLE experiment that changed immunology
Year: 1953
Paper ➡️ nature.com/articles/17260…
Nobel lecture ➡️ nobelprize.org/prizes/medicin…
Interesting slightly relevant ➡️
10- Protein Secretory pathway: Pulse-chase experiment
George Palade and colleagues Siekevitz and Jamieson
Year: 1967
Paper ➡️ doi.org/10.1083/jcb.34…
Really nice summary ➡️ molbiolcell.org/doi/10.1091/mb…
Modified from images by James Jamieson
George Palade and colleagues Siekevitz and Jamieson
Year: 1967
Paper ➡️ doi.org/10.1083/jcb.34…
Really nice summary ➡️ molbiolcell.org/doi/10.1091/mb…
Modified from images by James Jamieson
11- Transposons: Jumping genes
Barbara McClintock
Year: 1950
Paper ➡️ pnas.org/content/36/6/3…
Nobel lecture ➡️ nobelprize.org/prizes/medicin…
Summary ➡️
Barbara McClintock
Year: 1950
Paper ➡️ pnas.org/content/36/6/3…
Nobel lecture ➡️ nobelprize.org/prizes/medicin…
Summary ➡️
12- #Immunology (4): Inducible switching of antigen receptor specificity
Klaus Rajewsky and co.
Year: 2000
(also repeated in 2019 for a different question)
Paper ➡️ nature.com/articles/35036…
Klaus Rajewsky and co.
Year: 2000
(also repeated in 2019 for a different question)
Paper ➡️ nature.com/articles/35036…
13- #Immunology (5) Discovery and imaging of meningeal Lymphatics
Kipnis and colleagues
Year: 2015
Paper ➡️ nature.com/articles/natur…
(Side-note: proposed by Paolo Mascagni 200 years ago)
Kipnis and colleagues
Year: 2015
Paper ➡️ nature.com/articles/natur…
(Side-note: proposed by Paolo Mascagni 200 years ago)
14- #Immunology (6) Epigenetics (not gene expression) clearly distinguish memory and naive T cells
Love the heavy water multi-year tracking of T cells.
R. Akondy and Rafi Ahmed
Year: 2017
Paper ➡️ nature.com/articles/natur…
Lecture ➡️ videocast.nih.gov/watch=23509
Love the heavy water multi-year tracking of T cells.
R. Akondy and Rafi Ahmed
Year: 2017
Paper ➡️ nature.com/articles/natur…
Lecture ➡️ videocast.nih.gov/watch=23509
15- #Immunology (7)
Discovery of mammalian Pattern Recognition pathway
Medzhitov & Janeway
Year: 1997
Paper ➡️ nature.com/articles/41131
Conceptualization ➡️
Discovery of mammalian Pattern Recognition pathway
Medzhitov & Janeway
Year: 1997
Paper ➡️ nature.com/articles/41131
Conceptualization ➡️
16- #Immunology (8)
Visualizing clonal burst and dominance in the germinal center
Victora and colleagues
Year: 2016
Paper ➡️ science.org/doi/full/10.11…
Visualizing clonal burst and dominance in the germinal center
Victora and colleagues
Year: 2016
Paper ➡️ science.org/doi/full/10.11…
17- #Immunology (9)
Two tolerance checkpoints during B cell development
Hedda Wardemann & M. C. Nussenzweig
Year: 2003
Two tolerance checkpoints during B cell development
Hedda Wardemann & M. C. Nussenzweig
Year: 2003
18- #Immunology (10)
Some plasma cells live long. Labeling of plasma cells. Tracking of antibody
M Slifka & R. Ahmed (1998)
Manz & Radbruch (1997)
Amanna & Slifka (2010)
Papers ➡️ bit.ly/Slifka1998
nature.com/articles/40540
nejm.org/doi/full/10.10…
Some plasma cells live long. Labeling of plasma cells. Tracking of antibody
M Slifka & R. Ahmed (1998)
Manz & Radbruch (1997)
Amanna & Slifka (2010)
Papers ➡️ bit.ly/Slifka1998
nature.com/articles/40540
nejm.org/doi/full/10.10…
19- RNA ➡️ DNA
Reverse transcription: enzyme activity and inhibition assays
David Baltimore & Howard Temin (& Satoshi Mizutani)
Year: 1970
Papers: nature.com/articles/22612…
nature.com/articles/22612…
Conceptualization ➡️ nature.com/articles/22756…
Reverse transcription: enzyme activity and inhibition assays
David Baltimore & Howard Temin (& Satoshi Mizutani)
Year: 1970
Papers: nature.com/articles/22612…
nature.com/articles/22612…
Conceptualization ➡️ nature.com/articles/22756…
20- Chemical synthesis of a virus
Eckard Wimmer and colleagues describe the synthesis of poliovirus in vitro (cell-free system)
Year: 2002
Paper ➡️ science.org/doi/abs/10.112…
Eckard Wimmer and colleagues describe the synthesis of poliovirus in vitro (cell-free system)
Year: 2002
Paper ➡️ science.org/doi/abs/10.112…
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