dd ecades of discoveries A Salute to the 1900s: The Discovery That Started 1920s: Insulin Improves Quality of 1940s: The Acceleration of Scientific Research A $36 Billion Industry Life for Diabetics Antibiotic Development In 1908, Leo Hendrik Baekeland The administration of insulin can provide Although antibiotics and penicillin were CAS , a division of the American discovered Bakelite, a condensation control of blood sugar and prevent some discovered in 1928 by Alexander has been an Chemical Society product of formaldehyde and phenols. of the complications associated with Fleming, the development of the first integral part of the scientific In 1909, Chemical Abstracts, in its third diabetes. Banting and Best first large-scale manufacturing process did community for years. more than 110 year of publication, was quick to report extracted insulin from a dog pancreas in not begin until 1941. Howard Florey Scientists have come to rely on CAS on two of Baekeland’s papers on the 1921. After demonstrating insulin’s (Australian-born British pathologist) and and its products and services to synthesis, constitution, and use of therapeutic effect in 1922, the first batch Ernest Chain (German-born British their research. accelerate Bakelite. of commercially available insulin was biochemist) extracted enough penicillin successfully produced a year later. Two to allow clinical testing, and their work In honor of the centenary The resulting plastics industry has since of Banting’s articles were referenced in led to a major cooperative program e salute this anniversary of DFG, w grown to contribute significantly to the 1922 in Volume 16 of CA. under the auspices of the Committee on record of achievement by U.S. and world economies. CAS has Medical Research of the U.S. Office of recognizing one significant discovery grown along with the plastics industry The discovery of insulin focused Scientific Research and Development. for each of the last 1 decades. 2 and other chemical industries. In 1909, attention on the therapeutic uses of Fleming, Florey, and Chain shared the CA published 15,459 abstracts; in 1995, naturally occurring substances. 1945 Nobel Prize for Physiology or that annual number of abstracts reached Medicine. 687,789. 1930s: The Discovery of Nylon Research by Chain and Florey was referenced in CA as early as 1940 1910s: Bohr’s Atom: A Foundation The polyamides known as nylon were (Volume 34). for Modern Atomic Physics developed by Wallace H. Carothers at E.I. duPont de Nemours and Company. 1950s: Building the Double Helical When Niels Bohr proposed his “solar In 1939, CA reported on Carothers’ six system” model of the atom, he set forth polyamide patents. The CA Subject DNA Structure what has become a tenet of modern Index for that year contained references atomic physics. Bohr’s theory has been to only 29 documents under the new In 1950, E. Chargaff and his colleagues a major force in chemical research, heading “Nylon.” Research accelerated showed that different samples of DNA, leading to explanations of the structure during the next few years–the CA 4th regardless of differences in composition, of molecules, their optical spectra, etc. Decennial Index (1937-1946) contained were invariably alike in one important The impact of Bohr’s work on spec- references to 553 documents under respect: adenine and thymine are troscopy and many other fields of “Nylon.” always present in equal molar amounts, science can be found in the research as are guanine and cytosine. At roughly recorded throughout CAS’ vast CAS continues to keep track of the the same time, Maurice H. F. Wilkins databases of scientific information. primary literature in this still-developing succeeded in obtaining much sharper field (in the Macromolecular Chemistry X-ray diffraction patterns of DNA. Sections of CA). Based on these two previous studies, 1970s: Pushing Farther into Space 1980s: The Discovery of 1990s: The First Nobel Prize for James D. Watson and Francis H. C. Buckyballs Atmospheric Chemistry Crick developed a model of the DNA Space exploration technology has grown molecule structure and proposed their from the discoveries of scientists and It all started in outer space. Scientist In 1970, Professor Paul Crutzen showed complementary double helical DNA engineers in many different countries. Harold Kroto was interested in carbon- that nitrogen oxides play an important structure in 1953. This model has been The 1970s saw a rapid expansion of rich red giant stars. role in the destruction of ozone in the consistently supported by later research, space exploration in the wake of pio- upper atmosphere. Professors Mario which has been abstracted and indexed neering Soviet orbital missions and U.S. Richard E. Smalley, on the other hand, Molina and Sherwood Rowland by CAS over the last four decades. advances leading to the first manned could create clusters of almost any published an article on the threat of Watson, Crick, and Wilkins received the lunar landing in 1969. While the U.S. element. After a series of experiments man-made chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) Nobel Prize for their critically important carried out additional moon landings and that involved vaporizing graphite to to the ozone layer in a 1974 issue of work. transmitted pictures from both the inner produce a new molecule, the chemists Nature (the article was referenced in and outer solar system, the unmanned discovered a broad class of related Volume 81 of CA in 1974). They Soviet Union probes achieved soft- materials that are now known as showed that chlorine atoms catalyze 1960s: The Birth of the Laser landings of space capsules on Mars and fullerenes. The soccer-ball-like molecule ozone destruction just as nitrogen Venus. got its name, and its “buckyball” nick- oxides do. One chlorine atom can An acronym that stands for “light name, from architect R. Buckminster destroy thousands of ozone molecules. amplification of stimulated emission of In 1975, American and Soviet spacecraft Fuller who conducted pioneering studies radiation,” the laser is a device that performed joint maneuvers in orbit. The of polyhedral structures. For their outstanding research, Drs. produces an intense beam of light in a first probe of a comet occurred in 1978 Crutzen, Molina, and Rowland received very pure single color. The first laser with the launch of the International Sun- A winner of the 1996 Nobel Prize, the the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (the was constructed by U.S. physicist Earth Explorer. Other countries ventured discovery of buckyballs has been first for atmospheric chemistry or Theodore H. Maiman in 1960. At that into the new frontier as France, Japan, credited with opening up a whole new environmental science). As a result of time, CAS reported on Maiman’s the People's Republic of China, and area of chemistry. Over 1000 citations their research, many steps are being invention. A new subject index heading Great Britain developed their own launch in the literature as reported in CA have taken to preserve the earth’s ozone was added, and 10 documents were capabilities. Chemical science has produced more than 800 related layer. indexed under “lasers” in 1961. played an essential role in space explor- structures in the REGISTRY file. ation, contributing to new materials, life Today, lasers are used in an impressive support systems, and analytical devices, array of applications. In 1995 alone, among other technical breakthroughs. CAS abstracted and indexed nearly CAS is proud to have 20,000 documents that reported on Chemistry related to outer space is documented these some aspect of lasers, laser radiation, or found in several subject and/or material- life-changing discoveries. its applications. This information is related sections of CA (including found primarily in CA Section 73. Sections 6, 53, and 73). 2000s: The Human Genome Project 2010s: CRISPR-based Gene Editing How can we better understand the generation sequencing technology has CRISPR-based gene editing, also called Since the first adaption of this blueprint for how a person is built? The significantly reduced the whole genome genomic editing, is a simple and technique for editing genomic DNA in Human Genome project was an sequencing cost, making it a feasible powerful tool for modifying a cell’s human cells and other eukaryotic cells international effort coordinated by the approach for disease-gene discovery in genetic makeup. Because of its ability in in 2010s, CRISPR-based gene editing National Institutes of Health and the clinical diagnostics. precisely “cutting” and “pasting” a gene has attracted great interest from U.S. Department of Energy, with a goal into the genomes of living organisms scientists around the world. Since to decode the genetic makeup of human During the period of 2000-2009, CAS with an affordable way, this cutting-edge 2011, over 38,000 research papers and DNA. Through these efforts, mysteries registration of biological sequences technique holds great promise for patents have been published, based on of the human body were unlocked. By present in scientific literature and patents applications in a wide range of areas, the content in CAS SciFinder-n. Many April 2003, the sequence of the entire also skyrocketed with the most annual including research, medicine and sequence substances related to human genome was mapped, expanding sequence registration of nearly 15 million agriculture. In particular, its use for CRISPR-based gene editing have also possibilities for research and discovery sequences occurring in 2005. Today, treating diseases caused by abnormal been registered by CAS. 65% of these around human ailments and treatments. CAS data collection contains about 70 genes is being widely explored. are CRISRP-associated million sequences, including over 6 Recently, it has also been adapted for endonucleases, 24% are sgRNAs, and Since then, the DNA sequencing million human sequences and many the development of diagnosis kits for 11% are CRISPR disperse repeats.