Daniel Nathans
Daniel Nathans · Science & Medicine
Awarded the 1978 Nobel Prize for applying restriction enzymes to map the genetic makeup of viruses.
1928, Wilmington, Delaware, USA — 1999, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
United States
Daniel Nathans is recognized among Jewish contributors to Science & Medicine — Awarded the 1978 Nobel Prize for applying restriction enzymes to map the genetic makeup of viruses.
The youngest of nine children in a Jewish immigrant family, Nathans worked at Johns Hopkins, where he saw the power of newly found restriction enzymes — molecular scissors that cut DNA at specific sequences. He used them to slice the DNA of the tumour virus SV40 into defined pieces and assemble the first genetic map of a virus, giving biologists a general method to dissect genomes. For this application of restriction enzymes he shared the 1978 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
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Source: Jinfo.org — Jews in Biology
Awarded the 1978 Nobel Prize for applying restriction enzymes to map the genetic makeup of viruses.
Source: Jinfo.org — Jews in Biology
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