Marshall Warren Nirenberg
Marshall Warren Nirenberg (born April 10, 1927 in New York City , New York , † January 15, 2010 ibid) was an American biochemist , molecular biologist and geneticist . In 1968 he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine together with Har Gobind Khorana and Robert W. Holley .
Nirenberg grew up in Florida , studied biology at the University of Florida , then turned to a change at the University of Michigan of Biochemistry and closed there in 1957 with a thesis on caddisflies his studies at the Department of Biological Chemistry in Ann Arbor from. He then worked at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, where he became head of the Department of Biochemical Genetics in 1962. He was particularly interested in enzyme, heart and cancer research, especially the glycogen metabolism of tumors. Together with Heinrich Matthaei , he planned what is probably the most important experiment in genetics. The so-called Poly-U experiment was the key to deciphering the genetic code . It was carried out by Heinrich Matthaei alone in May 1961 in the joint laboratory. Nirenberg deciphered other components of the code in a subsequent experiment in 1964 with Philip Leder .
Nirenberg published his work from this period with a strictly alternating authorship with Heinrich Matthaei. This emphasizes the same weight of author to the outside world.
Nirenberg received the National Academy of Sciences Award in Molecular Biology in 1962, the Pfizer Award in Enzyme Chemistry in 1964 , the Prix Charles-Léopold Mayer in 1967 and the Canada Gairdner International Award in 1968, and the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research in 1968 . In addition, he was elected a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina - National Academy of Sciences . In 1965 Nirenberg was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences , 1967 to the National Academy of Sciences and 2001 to the American Philosophical Society .
Publications
- MW Nirenberg and JH Matthaei: The dependence of cell-free protein synthesis in E. coli upon naturally occurring or synthetic polyribonucleotides. In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . Volume 47, 1961, pp. 1588-1602. PMID 14479932 , PMC 223178 (free full text)
- JH Matthaei and MW Nirenberg: Characteristics and stabilization of DNAase-sensitive protein synthesis in E. coli extracts. In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . Volume 47, 1961, pp. 1580-1588. PMID 14471391 , PMC 223177 (free full text)
literature
- Hans-Jörg Rheinberger : Experimental Systems - A History of Protein Synthesis in the Test Tube . Wallstein Verlag , ISBN 3-89244-454-4 .
- Hans-Jörg Rheinberger: Nirenberg, Marshall Warren. In: Werner E. Gerabek , Bernhard D. Haage, Gundolf Keil , Wolfgang Wegner (eds.): Enzyklopädie Medizingeschichte. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-015714-4 , p. 1053.
- Philip Leder: Marshall Warren Nirenberg (1927-2010). Science , Volume 327, 2010, p. 972 doi: 10.1126 / science.1187484
Web links
- Information from the Nobel Foundation on the 1968 award to Marshall Warren Nirenberg
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Nirenberg, Marshall Warren |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American biochemist and geneticist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 10, 1927 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | New York City , New York |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 15, 2010 |
| Place of death | New York City , New York |