Two Cambridge University scientists "James D Watson and Francis Crick" publish an article in Nature Magazine explaining the structure of DNA and that DNA is the material that makes up genes which pass hereditary characteristics in all life from one parent to another. They conclude that it consists of a double helix of two strands coiled around each other and could even be considered the "secret of life".

The Human Genome Project to determine the sequence of chemical base pairs which make up DNA of the human genome consisting of 20,000-25,000 genes started in 1990 is published. The project started in the US with James D. Watson who was head of the National Center for Human Genome Research at the National Institutes of Health but over the next 10 years geneticists in China, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom all worked together on the project helping the project end two years earlier than planned. One of the most important aspects of this research is it available to available to anyone on the Internet and not owned or controlled by any one company or government.