Timelines: 1982
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The automated protein sequencer
Accelerated development
Applied Biosystems, Inc. releases its first product, the Model 470A protein sequencer. The machine vastly improves the sensitivity of the ‘Edman degradation’ used to determine the order of amino acids in protein molecules, and significantly expands the utility of protein chemistry in industrial and biomedical applications. Leroy Hood and Michael Hunkapiller had invented the sequencer at Cal Tech in the late 1970s, but no instrument company was willing to develop it. Applied Biosystems was founded in 1981 by venture capitalist William K. Bowes and former Hewlett-Packard engineers Sam Eletr and André Marion, in order to commercialize the invention.