Massachusetts BioHistory

Learn about the scientists behind the discoveries, political leaders,
and other significant events, people and institutions that are the foundation
of the biotechnology and medical device industries in the state of Massachusetts.

Tell us about Massachusetts's BioHistory. If you are aware of a notable event, person,
organization/company or accomplishment that we should include,
please send e-mail: BioHistory@InfoResource.org

1636 -- Harvard University Founded.

In 1636, Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher learning in the U.S., was founded and named for the college's first benefactor, John Harvard a minister from Charlestown. Upon his death in 1638, Harvard left half his estate to the institution established in 1636 by vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Seven U.S. presidents – John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Theodore and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Rutherford B. Hayes, John Fitzgerald Kennedy and George W. Bush – graduated from Harvard.

In 1782, The Harvard Medical School was founded. Today, the Harvard Medical School is one of the leading medical research intitutions in the U.S. and more than a dozen current and former faculty have received Nobel Prizes in Medicine.

1848 -- American Association for the Advancement of Science founded.

American Association for the Advancement of Science founded in 1848 marked the emergence of a national scientific community in the United States, and was the first organization established to promote the development of science and engineering at the national level and to represent the interests of all its disciplines.

Today, the AAAS serves nearly 300 affiliated societies and academies of science and publishes the peer-reviewed general science journal Science. The non-profit AAAS is open to all and fulfills its mission to "advance science and serve society" through initiatives that include science policy, international programs, science education, and public understanding of science.

1859 -- Charles Darwin published "The Origin of Species."

In 1859, British naturalist Charles Darwin published "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life" in which he postulated his theory of evolution that explained how the diverse of species on Earth evolved from a simple, singled-celled ancestor.

From 1831-1836, Darwin served as a naturalist aboard the H.M.S. Beagle -- a British science expedition around the world. In South America Darwin discovered fossils of extinct animals that were similar to modern species, and on the Galapagos Islands, located west of Equador, he noticed many variations of plants and animals of the same general type as those in South America. Throughout the expedition Darwin studied plants and animals and collected specimens for further study.

Upon his return to London, Darwin conducted thorough research of his notes and specimens, and out of his study grew several related theories: evolution did occur; evolutionary change was gradual, requiring thousands to millions of years; the primary mechanism for evolution was a process called natural selection; and the millions of species alive today arose from a single original life form through a branching process called "specialization."

Darwin's theory of evolutionary selection holds that variation within species occurs randomly and that the survival or extinction of each organism is determined by that organism's ability to adapt to its environment. Darwin's theory of evolution remains the foundation of modern biology.

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1861 -- Massachusetts Institute of Technology Founded.

In 1861, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), was founded through the efforts of William Barton Rogers formerly chair of natural philosophy at the University of Virginia. Rogers served as president of MIT from 1862-1870, and a second term from 1879-1881.

MIT has a long tradition of working on practical problems affecting the society and the economy, and in recent years has become a leader in developing collaborative partnerships with industry, including significant biotechnology research collaborations with Amgen (1994), DuPont (1997) and Merk (1997). Today, MIT is one of the leading research intitutions in the U.S., and sixty-one current or former members of the MIT community have won the Nobel Prize, including twelve in chemistry and eight in medicine/physiology.

1865 -- Gregor Mendel, the father of modern genetics, presents his laws of heredity.

1887 -- Marine Hospital Service Hygienic Laboratory (National Institutes of Health) founded.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) traces its roots to 1887, when a one-room laboratory was created within the Marine Hospital Service (MHS), predecessor agency to the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS). The MHS was established in 1798 to provide for the medical care of merchant seamen -- charged by Congress with examining passengers on arriving ships for clinical signs of infectious diseases, such as cholera and yellow fever, to prevent epidemics.

During the 1870s and 1880s, scientists in Europe presented compelling evidence that microscopic organisms were the causes of several infectious diseases, and MHS officials closely followed these developments. In 1887, Joseph Kinyoun, a MHS physician trained in the new bacteriological methods, set up a one-room laboratory in the Marine Hospital at Stapleton, Staten Island, New York. Kinyoun called this facility a "laboratory of hygiene" in imitation of German facilities, and within a few months, he identified the cholera bacillus and used his Zeiss microscope to demonstrate it to his colleagues as confirmation of their clinical diagnoses.

The Biologics Control Act enacted in 1902 had major consequences for the Hygienic Laboratory. It charged the laboratory with regulating the production of vaccines and antitoxins, making it a regulatory agency four years before passage of the 1906 Pure Food and Drugs Act. The danger posed by biological products that had emerged from bacteriologic discoveries resulted from their production in animals and their administration by injection. In 1901, thirteen children in St. Louis died after receiving diphtheria antitoxin contaminated with tetanus spores. This tragedy spurred Congress to pass the Biologics Control Act, and between 1903-1907 standards were established and licenses issued to pharmaceutical firms for making smallpox and rabies vaccines, diphtheria and tetanus antitoxins, and various other antibacterial antisera. (In 1972, responsibility for regulation of biologics was transferred to the Food and Drug Administration). (Photo: courtesy of the NIH Almanac)

In 1912 MHS was reorganized, renamed the Public Health Service (PHS) and authorized to conduct research into noncontagious diseases and into the pollution of streams and lakes in the U.S. During World War I, the PHS attended primarily to sanitation of areas around military bases in the U.S., and when the 1918 influenza pandemic struck Washington, physicians from the laboratory were pressed into service treating patients in the District of Columbia because so many local doctors had fallen ill. In 1930, the Ransdell Act changed the name of the Hygienic Laboratory to the National Institute of Health (NIH) and authorized the establishment of fellowships for research into basic biological and medical problems. The roots of this act extended to 1918, when chemists who had worked with the Chemical Warfare Service in World War I sought to establish an institute in the private sector to apply fundamental knowledge in chemistry to problems of medicine. In 1937, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) was created with sponsorship from every Senator in Congress, and was authorized to award grants to nonfederal scientists for research on cancer and to fund fellowships at NCI for young researchers.

During World War II, the NIH focused almost entirely on war-related problems. At the close of the war, PHS leaders guided through Congress the 1944 Public Health Service Act, which defined the shape of medical research in the post-war world. Two provisions were especially important: 1) In 1946 the NCI grants program was expanded to the entire NIH, and the program grew from just over $4 million in 1947, to more than $100 million in 1957, and to $1 billion in 1974. The entire NIH budget expanded from $8 million in 1947 to more than $1 billion in 1966, now fondly remembered as "the golden years" of NIH expansion. Accompanying growth in the grants program was the proliferation of new categorical institutes, and from 1946-1949, voluntary health organizations moved Congress to create institutes for research on mental health, dental diseases, and heart disease. In 1948, language in the National Heart Act made the name of the umbrella organization the National Institutes of Health. 2) The 1944 PHS Act authorized NIH to conduct clinical research, and after the war Congress provided funding to build a research hospital, now called the Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland. The Center which opened in 1953 with 540 beds was designed to bring research laboratories into close proximity with hospital wards in order to promote productive collaboration between laboratory scientists and clinicians. (Photo: National Archives and Records Administration photograph, courtesy of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, New York)

The NIH today, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the primary Federal agency for conducting and supporting medical research and is composed of 27 Institutes and Centers, providing leadership and financial support to researchers in every state and throughout the world.

1896 -- Deaconess Hospital Founded.

In 1896 as part of their missionary charter, Methodist deaconesses founded Deaconess Hospital to care for the city's residents, and in 1916, Beth Israel Hospital was established by the Boston Jewish community to meet the needs of the growing immigrant population. In 1996, the Beth Israel Hospital merged with the New England Deaconess Hospital to form the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC).

Today, BIDMC is one of the three major teaching hospitals affiliated with Harvard Medical School, and is renowned for excellence in surgery, and treatment of cardiac conditions, cancer, and pulmonary and thoracic disorders; and expertise in neurosciences, gastroenterology and liver disease, obstetrics and women's health, podiatry, and emergency and trauma medicine. BIDMC is the official hospital of the Boston Red Sox.

Among independent teaching hospitals, BIDMC is the fourth-largest recipient of biomedical research funding from the National Institutes of Health. Research funding totals nearly $150 million annually. BIDMC researchers run more than 1,000 active sponsored projects and 200 clinical trials. BIDMC also shares important clinical and research programs with institutions such as the Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, the Joslin Diabetes Center and Children's Hospital.

1918 -- Spanish Influenza Pandemic.

It is estimated that between 25 and 40 million people died from the the influenza outbreak that began in 1918, swept across America in a week and around the world in three months. In all, between 500,000 and 700,000 Americans --civilians and soldiers-- died from the influenza, more than were lost in World War I, II, and the Korean and Viet Nam wars combined.

Latest Findings: In September 2004, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded a five-year, $12.5 million grant to five institutions that will collaborate to study genes constructed from 1918 flu-virus particles salvaged from the bodies of World War I soldiers and the exhumed Brevig Mission, Alaska resident. The Institutions include the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington, D.C.; Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York; Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and the University of Washington. The ultimate goal is to use knowledge gained from the study to develop vaccines, influenza medications and diagnostic tests to prevent a similar influenza outbreak.

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1933 -- Thomas Hunt Morgan awarded Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his chromosome theory of heredity.

1934 -- George Richards Minot and William Parry Murphy awarded Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

1947 -- Transistor invented at AT&T's Bell Laboratories.

The transistor, the invention that marked the dawn of the information age, was invented by John Bardeen, William Shockley and Walter Brattain at AT&T's Bell Laboratories. Bardeen, Shockley and Brattain were awarded the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery of the transistor effect.

Transistors have become an invisible technology that is part of almost every electronic device. Every major information age innovation was made possible by the transistor and its application can be found all around us. (Photos: © The Nobel Foundation)

1947 -- Children's Cancer Research Foundation (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute) Founded.

In 1947, the late Sidney Farber, MD, founded a Children's Cancer Research Foundation dedicated to providing children with cancer with compassionate, state-of-the-art treatment and simultaneously developing the cancer preventatives, treatments, and cures of the future. The Institute officially expanded its programs to include patients of all ages in 1969, and in 1974 became known as the Sidney Farber Cancer Center in honor of its founder. Charles A. Dana Sr. was an attorney, legislator, industrialist, and philanthropist. As founder of the Charles A. Dana Foundation, he directed funding to advance programs in healthcare and higher education. The Institute acknowledged its generous, long-term support from the Dana Foundation by incorporating the Dana name into its official title in 1983.

Beginning in the early 1950s, and continuing until his death in 1973, Farber became a star presenter at Congressional hearings on appropriations for cancer research. Animated, with a flair for the dramatic anecdote and poignant case history, Farber made a compelling speaker. With Mary Woodard Lasker, a longtime advocate of biomedical research, famed surgeon Michael DeBakey, Senator Lester Hill of Louisiana and Congressman John Fogarty of Rhode Island, Farber led a massive expansion in federal spending for cancer research. Between 1957 and 1967, the annual budget of the National Cancer Institute, the government's primary funding arm for cancer study, jumped from $48 million to $176 million.

Today, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute employs about 3,000 people supporting more than 150,000 patient visits a year, is involved in some 200 clinical trials, and is internationally renowned for its blending of research and clinical excellence.

1952 -- Joslin Clinic Founded.

In 1898, Elliott P. Joslin, M.D., opened a private practice on Beacon Street in Boston that in 1952 became formally known as Joslin Clinic. Dr. Joslin's associates included Howard Root, M.D., Alexander Marble, M.D., and Robert Bradley, M.D. (all three became Joslin Presidents), his son Allen P. Joslin, M.D., Leo Krall, M.D. (who held the position of President of the International Diabetes Federation) and Priscilla White, M.D., known for her pioneering work with children and pregnant women.

In 1958, the Joslin Clinic moved to its current location adjacent to New England Deaconess Hospital (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center), and in 1968 the Joslin Clinic merged with The Diabetes Foundation, and was renamed Joslin Diabetes Foundation. Renamed Joslin Diabetes Center in 1981, the institution now combines patient care, research and education into one single organization. Joslin Diabetes Center is an institution on the front lines of the world epidemic of diabetes, leading the battle to conquer diabetes in all of its forms through cutting-edge research and innovative approaches to clinical care and education.

1953 -- Double helix structure of DNA revealed.

The double helix structure of DNA, the hereditary molecule is revealed by two scientists, James D. Watson and Francis Crick. This is one of the key discoveries of the century. Watson and Crick shared the 1962 Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine with Maurice Wilkins for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nuclear acids and its significance for information transfer in living material.

Rosalind Franklin, whose work contributed to the discovery, died before this date and the rules do not allow a Nobel Prize to be awarded posthumously. (Photos: © The Nobel Foundation)

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1953 -- Fritz Albert Lipmann awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine.

1954 -- John Enders, Thomas Weller, and Federick Robbins awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine.

1958 -- Integrated circuit invented.

1961 -- President John F. Kennedy expands U.S. Space Program

1967 -- George Wald awarded Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

1969 -- Man walks on the moon.

An important benefit of the Apollo Lunar Program and other NASA programs is the ever-growing pipeline of technology that improves human and veterinary healthcare diagnostics and therapeutics.

1969 -- Victor McKusick publishes "Mendelian Inheritance in Man".

Victor McKusick, widely acknowledged as the father of medical genetics, spent his career studying the genetic basis of diseases and disorders with the belief that such an understanding could lead to new methods of diagnosis and treatment. He studied, identified, and mapped genes responsible for inherited conditions such as Marfan syndrome and dwarfism (specifically in Amish communities). In 1969, he proposed the idea of mapping the human genome, over 30 years before the Human Genome Project was established.

McKusick, a graduate of Johns Hopkins (M.D. 1946), spent his entire career there and founded the Division of Medical Genetics in 1957, the first research center and clinic of its kind. In 1969 he published the 1st edition of his book "Mendelian Inheritance of Man", one of the most comprehensive collections of inherited disease genes. In 2002, McKusick received the highest scientific honor in the U.S., the National Medal of Science.

1971 -- NASDAQ Stock Market founded.

Nasdaq, founded February 8, 1971, is now the largest U.S. electronic stock market. With approximately 3,300 companies, it lists more companies and, on average, trades more shares per day than any other U.S. market. NASDAQ is home to companies that are leaders across all areas of business including technology, retail, communications, financial services, transportation, media, biotechnology, medical device, and pharmaceutical.

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1973 -- Recombinant DNA perfected.

1974 -- Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).

John N. Erlenborn, the ranking Republican on the House Committee, was responsible for bringing the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to a floor vote, and is one of the ERISA’s "Founding Fathers." Together with Senator Jacob Javits (R-NY), Senator Pete Williams (D-NJ) and Congressman John Dent (D-PA), Erlenborn crafted provisions and participated in negotiations that were instrumental to the enactment of ERISA which was - and remains - the single most important legislation governing employee benefit plans in the United States providing an important source of financial investment for the stock market. (Photos: Jacob Javits and Pete Williams courtesy U.S. Senate Historical Office).

1975 -- Monoclonal antibodies produced.

In 1975, Georges Köhler and César Milstein, showed how monoclonal antibodies can be generated by isolating individual fused myeloma cells.

The 1984 Nobel Laureate in Medicine was awarded jointly to: Niels Jerne, Georges Köhler and César Milstein for theories concerning the specificity in development and control of the immune system and the discovery of the principle for production of monoclonal antibodies. (Photos: © The Nobel Foundation)

1975 -- David Baltimore awarded Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

1976 -- Genentech, founder of the biotechnology industry, established.

In 1976, Genentech was founded by venture capitalist Robert Swanson and biochemist Dr. Herbert Boyer. In the early 1970s, Boyer and geneticist Stanley Cohen at Stanford University pioneered recombinant DNA technology. Excited by the breakthrough, Swanson called Boyer who agreed to give the young entrepreneur 10 minutes of his time. Swanson's enthusiasm for the technology resulted in a three hour meeting and at its conclusion, Genentech was born.

Within a few short years Swanson and Boyer invented a new industry - biotechnology. In 1980, Genentech issued its Initial Public Offering (IPO) and raised $35 million with an offering that jumped from $35 a share to a high of $88 after less than an hour on the market. The event was one of the largest stock run-ups ever, and that event set the stage for future biotechnolgy industry offerings.

Genentech was initially broadly focused in three areas including food processing, industrial chemicals, and human health care. In 1982, Eli Lilly & Co. which had acquired worldwide rights to Genenetch's recombinant human insulin (1978) received FDA approval to market the product -- the first biotechnology therapeutic to reach the marketplace.

Beginning in 1983, Genentech became solely focused on human therapeutics and diagnostics, and in 1985, Genentech received approval from FDA to market its first product, Protropin® (somatrem for injection) growth hormone for children with growth hormone deficiency — the first recombinant pharmaceutical product to be manufactured and marketed by a biotechnology company. In 1990, Genentech and Roche Holding Ltd. of Basel, Switzerland completed a $2.1 billion merger. Today, Genentech is among the world's leading biotech companies with multiple protein-based products on the market for serious or life-threatening medical conditions.

1977 -- First human gene cloned.

Walter Gilbert induced bacteria to synthesize insulin and interferon, and Frederick Sanger published the complete sequence of phage FX174. The 1980 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry was awarded jointly to Frederick Sanger and Walter Gilbert for "for their contributions concerning the determination of base sequences in nucleic acids, and to Paul Berg for his fundamental studies of the biochemistry of nucleic acids, with particular regard to recombinant-DNA. (Photos: © The Nobel Foundation)

1980 -- U.S. Supreme Court ruled man-made organism patentable.

1980 -- Bayh-Dole Act provides for university technology transfer.

1980 -- Baruj Benacerraf and George D. Snell awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine.

1981 -- David H. Hubel and Torsten N. Wiesel awarded Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

1982 -- Whitehead Institute Founded.

In 1982, The Whitehead Institute, was founded as an independent research institution affiliated with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) through the efforts of Edwin C. "Jack" Whitehead pioneer of the modern clinical diagnostics industry. Through its teaching activities the Whitehead accepts MIT graduate students for research and training in its laboratories and MIT, considers all Whitehead faculty for appointment to faculty level positions at MIT.

From 1982-84, Jack Whitehead provided $35 million to build and equip the new Whitehead building, as well as $5 million per year in guaranteed income and a substantial endowment in his will. At the time, the total gift of $135 million was the second largest gift made by a living person in the history of the United States.

Today, the Whitehead Institute is a thriving center for scientific advancement with more than 200 students, postdoctoral fellows, physicians, and visiting scientists from around the world, and pioneering programs in cancer research, developmental biology, genetics, infectious disease research and transgenic science.

1990 -- Human Genome Project established.

The U.S. Human Genome Project was established -- a 13-year effort coordinated by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health. The project, originally planned to last 15 years, was expected to be completed by 2003 due to rapid technological advances.

1990 -- Joseph E. Murray and E. Donnall Thomas awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine.

1993 -- Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) founded.

Biotechnology Industry Organization is the world's largest organization to serve and represent the biotechnology industry. BIO's leadership and service-oriented guidance have helped advance the industry and bring the benefits of biotechnology to people everywhere.

1993 -- Kary B. Mullis awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

2001 -- Human Genome Project draft sequence published.

2003 -- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard founded.

The Broad Intitute of MIT and Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts was founded in 2003 through the donation of $100 million by Eli and Edythe Broad. The Broad Institute evolved from a decade of successful research collaborations among young scientists in the MIT and Harvard communities and was created facilitate collaboration and organization of cross-discipinary projects at any scale. The Institute's main mission is to translate knowledge of the human genome into new forms of medicines.

In December 2005, Eli Broad pledged another $100 million which will increase his contribution to $20 million annually for 10 years.

2003 -- Roderick MacKinnon awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

2004 -- Linda Buck awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine.

2005 -- Richard R. Schrock awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

2006 -- Craig Mello awarded Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

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Tell us about Massachusetts's BioHistory. If you are aware of a notable event, person,
organization/company or accomplishment that we should include,
please e-mail: BioHistory@InfoResource.org