1958	Discovery that somatic nuclei, when transplanted into an egg, can fully reprogram development, demonstrating the principle of genomic equivalence of nuclei, and providing the basis for current work on animal cloning and nuclear reprogramming [8].
1964–1968	Discovery that the nucleolus is the site of the rRNA genes, and that these genes are amplified during oogenesis [9–11].
1966	Existence of mitochondrial DNA established and that it is maternally inherited [12].
1968, 1971	Isolation of the first eukaryotic genes (rRNA and 5SRNA genes) by equilibrium density centrifugation [13, 14].
1971, 1977	First eukaryotic translation and transcription-translation systems using the oocyte for injection and expression of mRNAs and cloned genes, respectively [15, 16].
1976	Discovery of MPF, a meiosis maturation promoting factor, a key insight for understanding mechanisms of cell cycle control [17].
1977	First system used for electrophysiological studies on cloned membrane channels and receptors[18].
1978	Identification of intrinsic nuclear targeting of nuclear proteins [19].
1980	Identification of the first eukaryotic transcription factor, TFIIIA [20].
1983–1989	First in vitro system for nuclear and chromatin assembly, and identification of key components of the cell cycle including its regulation by protein degradation of cyclins via ubiquitination [21, 22].
1987	Formation of mesoderm is mediated by members of the TGFβ and FGF growth factor families [23–25]. This work established the principle that peptide growth factors regulate many, if not most, tissue interactions controlling vertebrate embryo patterning and organogenesis.
1990’s	Identification of key genes involved in embryonic patterning, and development of the concept that many of these encode secreted growth factor antagonists (e.g. Noggin, and Cerberus, a potent head inducer [26]).
1996	Identification of key genes that underlie establishment and patterning of the nervous system [27, 28].
2005	First genetic screen using wild-caught X. tropicalis [29].
2006	First genetic screen using ENU mutagenesis identifies 29 mutations in numerous organ systems [30].
2009	First mutant gene identified by positional cloning using new X. tropicalis genetic map [31, 32].
2010	X. tropicalis genome published, showing high conservation with mammalian genomes [33].