| 1838 | Gerardus Mulder | Named "protein" (from Greek proteios = primaryfirst) | Background knowledge |
| 1869 | Friedrich Miescher | Isolated "nuclein" (first nucleic acid) from pus cells | Foundation of nucleic acid discovery |
| 1894 | Emil Fischer | Lock-and-Key model of enzyme specificity | NEET: lock-and-key vs induced fit |
| 1897 | Eduard Buchner | Cell-free fermentation by zymase — enzymes work outside cells | Concept of enzyme isolation |
| 1913 | Michaelis & Menten | Michaelis-Menten kinetics (Km, Vmax) | NEET: enzyme kinetics calculations |
| 1926 | James Sumner | First crystallized enzyme (urease) — proved enzymes are proteins | Historic significance |
| 1952 | Chargaff | Chargaff's rules (A=T, G=C in dsDNA) | NEET: DNA base composition calculations |
| 1953 | Watson & Crick (with Franklin's X-ray data) | DNA double helix structure | NEET: DNA structure (antiparallel, base pairing) |
| 1958 | Daniel Koshland | Induced Fit model — flexible active site | NEET: "currently accepted model" = induced fit |
| 1968 | Nirenberg, Holley, Khorana | Genetic code cracked (Nobel Prize 1968) | Connects DNA sequence to amino acid sequence |
| 1972 | Anfinsen | Primary structure determines 3D folding (ribonuclease experiment) | NEET: sequence = structure (primary determines all levels) |
| 1972 | Singer & Nicolson | Fluid Mosaic Model of membrane structure | NEET: membrane biology |
| 1982-83 | Thomas Cech, Sidney Altman | Discovery of ribozymes (catalytic RNA) | NEET: "Not all enzymes are proteins" |
| 1989 | Cech & Altman | Nobel Prize in Chemistry for ribozyme discovery | Key NEET fact |
| 2000-09 | Steitz, Yonath, Ramakrishnan | Ribosome structure — rRNA has peptidyl transferase (ribozyme) activity | Advanced: ribosome as ribozyme |