Daniel NathansBorn 30 Oct 1928; died 16 Nov 1999 at age 71.American microbiologist, corecipient of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1978 (with American Hamilton Othanel Smith and Swiss scientist Werner Arber). The winners were cited for their discovery and application of restriction enzymes, which provide the "chemical knives" to cut genes (= DNA) into defined fragments. These may then be used (1) to determine the order of genes on chromosomes, (2) to analyse the chemical structure of genes and of regions of DNA which regulate the function of genes, and (3) to create new combinations of genes. Thus new avenues are opened to study the basic problems in developmental biology; and in medicine, to help the prevention and treatment of malformations, hereditary diseases and cancer. |
