Scientists to Thank.

Gregor Mendel (1822-1884): Scientific discovery aside, I think this man should be congratulated on his patience and dedication. The Austrian scientist, who is now known as the "father of modern genetics" earned this title by more or less, dedicating his life to counting peas in the monastery's experimental garden. His experiments with pea plants lead to his discoveries of the Law of Segregation and the Law of Independent Assortment - also known as Mendel's Law of Inheritance. Although he was not alive to see other scientists appreciate the work he had done, he is still remembered and rightfully so, as the father of modern genetics.

Rosalind Franklin (1920-1958): A British woman named Rosalind Franklin trudged her way through a male-dominated field, and proved that gender has no role in the discoveries they make. She is best known for her work on the x-ray diffraction images of DNA, a piece of information that helped Watson and Crick piece eveything together. Franklin is definitely underappreciated and hardly ever gets the credit she deserves for her help in the discovery of DNA double helix. Watson and Crick were given so much fame and acknowledgment in the field, when in reality, all they did was take bits and pieces of everyone else's information and played connect the dots. Although she still doesn't get enough credit for her contributions in the field, she is still nevertheless remembered as the woman who made outstanding contributions to the understanding of DNA, RNA, viruses, coal and graphite.

Arthur Kornberg (1918-2007): A Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine in 1959 already says a lot about the mind of this man. He along with another scientist discovered the mechanisms in the biological synthesis of DNA. He somehow managed to isolate the first DNA polymerizing enzyme, currently referred to as DNA polymerase I. Kornberg was also able to synthesize DNA in a test tube - which was his ticket to the Nobel Prize. He also studied the nucleic acids which control heredity in animals, plants, bacteria and viruses. In making sure science continue to develop and make headway, he was also the first chairman of the Department of Biochemistry at Stanford University School of Medicine. Under his guidance, the school flourished in DNA research and still contains articles, lectures, laboratory notebooks  of Kornberg in their special collections library.

Barbara McClintock (1902-1992): Moving on from Kornberg, McClintock, who is known for her work with corn. She developed the technique for visualizing maize chromosomes and used it to demonstrate ideas such as genetic recombination through cross-overs during meiosis. Along with her visualizing techniques, she also made the first genetic map for maize, in which she linked regions of the chromosome with physical traits - the roles of the telomere and centromere. McClintock also discovered transposition which helped in explain how genes are responsible for the physical characteristics. Another noted female in the male-dominated field, earning her acknowledgement through a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1983.

Dr. Kary Mullis (1944-): Mullis has a Nobel Prize in Chemistry from 1993, although the win must have gotten to his head, because he has been promoting questionable ideas such as AIDS denialism and climate change denial - all the while supporting astrology. He gained fame and recognition for the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a technique he improved. Expanding from the idea first pitched by Kjell Kleppe and Gobind Khorana, the new improvements allowed PCR to become a central tecnhique in biochemistry and molecular biology.  Mullis succeeded on demonstrating PCR, for which he was granted the Nobel Prize.