DNA
- Year(s) Officially Discovered: 1860s to 1950s
- Discovery Put Into Action: Knowledge Was Passed On Almost Immediately
- Team/Person Behind The Discovery: Friedrich Miescher, Phoebus Levene & Erwin Chargaff, James Watson & Francis Crick
Not only does DNA help people in the medical world, but people apply it to Criminal Justice too. The value of DNA is not possible to measure. Let’s just say not only is it one of the greatest discoveries in world history….it is quite literally life-altering for us to know about today. There is a mixed history regarding when it was discovered. DNA itself was first identified by a Swiss Chemist named Friedrich Miescher sometime in the 1860s. Yet he did not dive into major testing on it. Two others came along after to do far more, Phoebus Levene & Erwin Chargaff.
They discovered the DNA molecule, especially its primary chemical components along with how and why they joined with each other. Two other men discovered one of the biggest parts of DNA in the 1950s. American biologist James Watson & and English biologist Francis Crick used the work of their previous biologists in DNA to find the most well-known parts of DNA today. Upon further testing, they found out the DNA molecule exists in the now-iconic form of a three-dimensional double helix. Clearly, this is one of the greatest discoveries in history, and has allowed us to do so much!