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In the Fall of 1978, Bill
Linton founded Biotec in his garage. Biotec would later
grow into Promega Corporation. His vision was to create
a place where biotechnology would lead to the cure and
prevention of disease; a dynamic environment for the
individual to be individual, a path of discovery that
would change the way researchers did their work. This
timeline reviews the milestones of Promega, science and
society over the last 25 years. |
| Promega Milestones |
Science Milestones |
|
1978
first "test tube" baby
Walkman® stereo
"Star Wars"
|
- William Linton founds Biotec, a company that
provided restriction enzymes to molecular
biologists.
First building occupied by Biotec.
|
- The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is
awarded to Werner Arber, Daniel Nathans, and
Hamilton Smith for their discovery of
restriction enzymes.
- Recombinant DNA techniques are used to produce
human insulin.
|
|
1981
MS-DOS
Iran crisis
space shuttle
|
- Biotec boasts 15 employees.
- The first Asian distributor, SKK Japan, begins
placing orders with Biotec.
In 1982, the catalog fit on
one page.
|
- Thomas R. Cech describes catalytic RNA molecules
in Tetrahymena.
- Stanley Prusiner isolates “prions”, the
protein infectious agents of spongiform
encephalopathies.
|
|
1984
Archbishop Desmond Tutu wins Nobel prize
"Thriller"
Macintosh computers |
- Promega Biotec announces a joint venture to set
up China’s first genetic biochemical
manufacturing facility.
- Branch offices open in Netherlands and
Australia.
|
- McGinnis, Gehring and others demonstrate
conservation of homeobox genes in Drosophila
and mouse.
- Glenner identifies the peptide component of
Alzheimer plaques, beta-amyloid.
|
|
1987
Black Monday for U.S. Stock Market
Prozac®
Paul Simon's "Graceland"
|
- Promega Biotec drops “Biotec” and becomes
Promega Corporation.
- Promega Corporation makes Inc. Magazine's
list of fastest growing American corporations.
|
- The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is
awarded to Susumu Tonegawa for his description
of the genetic principle of the generation of
antibody diversity.
|
|
1990
Germany reunified
McDonald's in Moscow
Iraq invades Kuwait |
- The Wisconsin Chapter of the U.S. Small Business
Association names Promega as “exporter of the
year.”
- Promega begins investigating luciferase
chemistry as part of a research project on
biosensors.
|
- Hubble Space Telescope is placed into orbit.
- Berners-Lee and CERN implement a hypertext
system for information access for physicists
(the predecessor to the Internet).
|
|
1993
first female Canadian Premier
Russian Parliament Revolt
"Jurassic Park"
|
- R&D Magazine names TNT®
Coupled Reticulocyte Lysate as one of the 100
most technologically significant products of the
year.
- Promega France opens.
|
- Andreeson and others develop a graphical user
interface for the World Wide Web.
- FlavrSavr® tomatoes are marketed.
|
|
1996
Taliban seize Kabul
Bombing at Olympics
Unabomber arrested |
- Promega introduces PowerPlex® 1.1
Fluorescent STR System.
- Other new products include: TNT®
T7 Quick Coupled Transcription/Translation
System and the Dual-Luciferase®
Reporter Assay System.
|
- Galileo spacecraft explores Jupiter’s moon,
Europa.
- Great Britain is alarmed by the outbreak of
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (Mad-Cow
Disease).
|
|
1999
JFK, Jr. dies
150 million Internet users
War erupts in Kosovo
|
- JBL Scientific, Incorporated, a specialty
biochemicals company in San Luis Obispo, joins
Promega and becomes Promega Biosciences.
- Promega begins publication of eNotes online
magazine.
|
- Nescovi shows that mouse brain stem cells can
produce blood cells.
- Blobel receives Nobel Prize for discovering that
proteins have signals that govern their
transport and localization in the cell.
|
|
2002
Enron
"A Beautiful Mind"
War in Afghanistan
|
- DNA IQ™ System and AluQuant® Human
DNA Quantitation System make R&D
Magazine's list of Top 100 technologies for
2002.
- New products include: Dual-Glo™ Luciferase
Assay System and CytoTox-ONE™ Homogeneous
Membrane Integrity Assay.
|
- Sydney Brenner, Robert Horvitz and John E.
Sulston are awarded the Nobel prize in
Physiology and Medicine for their work on
development and programmed cell death in the
nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.
- Early skull is discovered in Chad, reported to
be 7 million year old skull belonging to a
member of the human family.
|
|
2003
War in Iraq
Germany wins Women's World Cup
|
- Promega celebrates it's 25th year of providing
leadership in the biotechnology industry.
- New technologies include siRNA RNA Interference
Systems and luminescent cell-based and
toxicology assays.
Our 2004 catalog.
|
- NASA scientists discover an extreme-loving
microorganism, Spirochaeta americana, in
Mono Lake, California.
- WHO announces that a new member of the
coronavirus family is responsible for Severe
Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
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