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Friedrich Miescher
Meischer: 1844 -1895
He got bandages from a clinic and washed off the pus. He experimented and isolated a new molecule - nuclein - from the cell nucleus. He decided that nuclein was made up of hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and phosphorus and there was an unique ratio of phosphorus to nitrogen. He was able to isolate nuclein from other cells and later used salmon sperm (as opposed to pus) as a source. He thought proteins were the molecules of heredity. He laid the groundwork for furture generations. -
Frederick Griffith
Griffith: 1879-1941
Fredrick Griffith discovered what the central role of DNA in heredity was. He discovered the transforming principle in pneumococcus bacteria in 1928. He did not win any awards. He experimented this on mice. In this experiment, bacteria from the III-S strain were killed by heat, and their remains were added to II-R strain bacteria. While neither alone harmed the mice, the combination was able to kill its host. -
Beadle and Tatum
Beadle: October 22, 1903 – June 9, 1989. Tatum: December 14, 1909 – November 5, 1975.
They wanted to provide experimental proof of the connection between genes and enzymes. They guessed that if there was a 1:1 relationship between genes and specific enzymes, it should be possible to create genetic mutants that are unable to carry out specific enzymatic reactions. They tested. They were able to create single gene mutations that incapacitated specific enzymes. Won Nobel Prize. -
Oswald Avery, Colin MacLeod, and Maclyn McCarty
Oswald: 1877-1955. McCarty: 1911-2005. MacLeod: 1909-1972.
They demonstrate that the transformation of Streptococcus pneumoniae from an avirulent type to a virulent type is the result of the transfer of DNA from dead smooth organisms to live rough ones. They also show that the transforming principle is destroyed by an enzyme that hydrolyzes DNA but isn't affected by enzymes that destroy proteins. Nominated for Nobel prize 3 times, but did not recieve it. -
Max Delbruck
Delbruck: 1906-1981.
He discovered how to do genetics with bacteria and their viruses. After 1945 he helped to spread the news by setting up phage courses. These activities were instrumental in creating the molecular biology that exploded in the years following WWII. He shifted from the physics that one had studied to the biology in which one wanted to work. Shared the Nobel Prize with 2 other people. -
Erwin Chargaff
Erwin: 1905-2002
He created 2 rules which allowed us to figure out that Dna had a double helical structure. First rule: DNA had equal percentage of Adenine and Thymine, and an equal percentage of Guanine and Cytosine. Second rule: the mentioned pairs in the first rule were always paired with each other and could not be crosspaired. He won 5 awards. -
ALfred Hershey and Martha Chase
Hershey: 1908-1997. Martha Chase: 1927-2003.
They discovered through a series of experiments that DNA was comprised of genetic material. The confirmation that it was DNA that carried genetic material paved the way for many advances in genealogy, forensic science and the study of genetics to determine inherited diseases. Hershey received a Nobel prize in 1969. -
Watson and Crick
Watson: 1928- . Crick: 1916-2004
They discovered the double-helix structure of DNA. Some sources say that they stole it from a King's College scientist named Rosalind Franklin. They both won a Nobel Prize for physology. -
Rosalind Franklin & Maurice Wilkins
Franklin:
Wilkins obtained the first clearly crystalline X-ray diffraction patterns from DNA fibres and also suggested that the patterns indicated that DNA was helical in structure. Franklin took the famous 'Photo 51' which was of a DNA strand. Wilkins won the Nobel prize for physology. -
Arthur Kornberg
Kornberg: 1918-2007
He was the first to discover how molecules of DNA duplicate within bacterial cells and also the first to devise a method for synthesizing this process in a laboratory setting. He received the Nobel Prize in 1959 in physology. -
Matthew Meselson and Frank Stahl
Mselson: 1930- . Stahl: 1929- .
They preformed an experiment which supported the hypothesis that DNA replication was semiconservative. They won no know awards. -
Marshall Nirenberg
Nirenberg: 1927-2010
He showed that a synthetic messenger RNA made of only uracils can direct protein synthesis. The polyu MRNA resulted in a poly-phenylalanine protein. They had the first piece of the genetic code. He won a Nobel Prize in biology. -
Paul Berg
Berg: June 30, 1926-
He combined two different DNA's from two different virus' to create the first recombinant DNA molecules. He then relized that it was against regulations because it was considered dangerous. He then proposed a one year moratorium on recombinant DNA research, in order for safety concerns to be worked out. Berg later continued his recombinant DNA research, and was awarded the 1980 Nobel Prize in chemistry. -
Stanley Cohen & Herbert Boyer
Boyer: 1936- Cohen: 1942-2013
They reported the construction of functional organisms that combined and replicated genetic information from different species. Their experiments dramatically demonstrated the potential impact of DNA recombinant engineering on medicine and pharmacology, industry and agriculture. Won the Nobel Prize in chemistry. -
Kary Mullis
Mullis: 1944-
Mullis developed the use of the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) technique to replicate DNA. For this, he was the co-recipiant of the Nobel Prize in chemistry.
