2010 National DNA Day Online Chatroom Transcript

This is just one question from an archive of the National DNA Day Moderated Chat held in April 2010. The NHGRI Director and many genomics experts from across NHGRI took questions from students, teachers and the general public on topics ranging from basic genomic research, to the genetic basis of disease, to ethical questions about genetic privacy.

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Happy DNA day everyone. Who was the first person to find DNA?
     Barry Starr, Ph.D.: I run a program out of Stanford's Department of Genetics where I train science graduate students how to communicate science to the public. I do this by having the students run fun hands on genetics activities at The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose and by having them answer people's genetics questions online at our Understanding Genetics website. That depends on what you mean by DNA. Gregor Mendel discovered the idea of genes between 1856-1865. In 1869 Johann Friedrich Miescher discovered a weakly acidic substance in human nuclei he calls nuclein. It is later called DNA. In 1882 Walther Fleming discovers chromosomes.
East Haven High School in CT (10th grade student)

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