The gene gun was originally a Crosman air pistol modified to fire dense tungsten particles. It was invented by John C Sanford, Ed Wolf, and Nelson Allen at Cornell University along with Ted Klein of DuPont between 1983 and 1986.  The original target was onions (chosen for their large cell size), and the device was used to deliver particles coated with a marker gene which would relay a signal if proper insertion of the DNA transcript occurred. Genetic transformation was demonstrated upon observed expression of the marker gene within onion cells.
The earliest custom manufactured gene guns (fabricated by Nelson Allen) used a 22 caliber nail gun cartridge to propel a polyethylene cylinder (bullet) down a 22 caliber Douglas barrel. A droplet of the tungsten powder coated with genetic material was placed onto the bullet and shot down into a Petri dish below.  The bullet welded to the disk below the Petri plate, and the genetic material blasted into the sample with a doughnut effect involving devastation in the middle of the sample with a ring of good transformation around the periphery. The gun was connected to a vacuum pump and was placed under a vacuum while firing.  The early design was put into limited production by a Rumsey-Loomis (a local machine shop then at Mecklenburg Road in Ithaca, NY, USA).
Biolistics, Inc sold Dupont the rights to manufacture and distribute an updated device with improvements including the use of helium as a non-explosive propellant and a multi-disk collision delivery mechanism to minimize damage to sample tissues. Other heavy metals such as gold and silver are also used to deliver genetic material with gold being favored due to lower cytotoxicity in comparison to tungsten projectile carriers.