Timeline of Medical Discoveries and Innovations

Since the dawn of time, people have become ill, and other people have tried to cure these illnesses. This timeline provides insight into some of the most important medical discoveries and innovations which have helped shape healthcare as we know it today.

Vaccines

Beginning with an attempt by Edward Jenner in 1796 to treat smallpox, the popularity of vaccines grew quickly. Throughout the 1800s and 1900s, many vaccines were created to combat some of the world’s deadliest diseases.

Anaesthetics

Prior to general anaesthetic, surgery was only undertaken as a last resort. That changed in 1846, when William T.G. Morton successfully used ether as an anaesthetic during surgery. Safer anaesthetics have since been developed, allowing millions of life-saving operations to take place.

Hypodermic syringe

Scottish doctor Alexander Wood wanted to treat pain in just one area of the body. The hypodermic syringe made it possible to inject pain relief medicine into the area which was causing pain.

Stethoscope

The French doctor René Laënnec created the first version of the stethoscope by rolling up a paper tube and using it as a funnel. He did this to avoid putting his ear on a female patient’s chest in order to hear her heartbeat.

Germ theory

Before germ theory scientists thought disease could appear through “spontaneous generation”. That was until Louis Pasteur proved that infectious disease was a result of an invasion of pathogens into living hosts. This discovery marked a significant turning point in how diseases were treated and prevented.

X-rays (Medical imaging)

X-rays were first observed by German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen. His discovery was viewed as a medical miracle and X-rays soon became an important diagnostic tool in medicine, allowing doctors to see inside the human body without surgery for the first time.

Antibiotics

British scientist Alexander Fleming accidentally discovered penicillin which was the world’s first known antibiotic.

Kidney transplant

In 1954, the first successful kidney transplant was carried out. This was the first time a recipient had survived the operation. More successful transplants soon followed, such as lung (1963), pancreas (1966) and heart transplant (1967).

Antiviral drugs

The development of antiviral (effective against viruses) drugs has been significant in treating and controlling the spread of deadly viruses.

Stem cell therapy

The potential of stem cells was discovered in t he late 1970s, when they were found inside human cord blood (blood found inside umbilical cords). Stem cell therapy is used to treat leukaemia and other blood disorders, as well as a number of neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Several life science organisations and research institutions have teamed up with technology companies to invent smarter ways to deal with diseases. The potential of AI in detecting, diagnosing and treating disease is becoming increasingly evident and will most likely transform the future of healthcare.