Medical discovery timeline
The developments in medicine since the end of the 19th century have been remarkable. It is now almost impossible to imagine a time before it was known how the human body fought the diseases carried by micro-organisms. Since then medical research has transformed healthcare, extending and improving the quality of life for millions. Many of these remarkable discoveries would not have been possible without vital experiments on animals.
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			1881Germ Theory of Disease  
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			1898Malaria-parasite's life-cycle discovered  
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			1902Mice & genetics  
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			1905Transplant surgery first performed on a human  
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			1913Diphtheria prevented by immunisation  
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			1914Vitamin A discovered  
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			1915Blood transfusion  
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			1921Neurotransmission demonstrated  
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			1922Insulin isolated  
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			1926Pernicious anaemia  
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			1937Heparin used as an anticoagulant  
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			1940Penicillin protects mice against infection  
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			1945Dialysis developed for kidney failure  
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			1955Polio vaccine developed  
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			1958Cardiac pacemakers  
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			1961Artificial heart valves  
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			1967Heart transplants successful in humans  
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			1977Smallpox eradicated through vaccination  
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			1982Leprosy treatments developed  
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			1987AZT - the first drug treatment for HIV  
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			1992Hib-meningitis vaccine  
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			1996Cloning Dolly the sheep  
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			2002Sequencing & analysis of the mouse genome  
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			2012CRISPR genome editing  
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			2021RNA vaccine against COVID-19  
Last edited: 13 June 2023 15:32

