NAS Award in Molecular Biology

The National Academy of Sciences Award in Molecular Biology (NAS Award in Molecular Biology) is a scientific award in the field of molecular biology awarded annually by the National Academy of Sciences of the United States since 1962 . The award, open to American scientists under the age of 45, is sponsored by Pfizer , and US Steel in earlier years . It is endowed with 25,000 US dollars .

15 of the 65 award winners (as of January 2016) later received a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine or one in Chemistry (year and area in brackets), some decades later.

Award winners

2020 Hashim Murtadha Al-Hashimi : For revealing the dynamic nature of RNA and DNA conformation through innovative use of NMR methods. The discovery of RNA conformation ensembles and transient formation of non-Watson-Crick base pairs has illuminated the impact of folding and form on nucleic acid function including protein and small-molecule binding, mutations and cancer.
2019 David Reich : For creative use of molecular biology to trace ancient human migrations, reveal how population mixtures shaped modern humans, and illuminate disease risk factors across populations.
2018 Howard Y. Chang : For insightful discoveries of long noncoding RNAs and technologies unveiling the noncoding genome.
2017 Rodolphe Barrangou : For his landmark discovery that bacteria have adaptive immune systems, groundbreaking work that catalyzed the manipulation of the CRISPR-Cas9 pathway for genome engineering.
2016 Dianne K. Newman : For her discovery of microbial mechanisms underlying geologic processes, thereby launching the field of molecular geomicrobiology and transforming our understanding of how the Earth evolved.
2015 Xiaowei Zhuang : For the development of a high-resolution microscopy method (STORM) that allows molecular-scale resolution, by bypassing the 'diffraction limit' that has long shackled light microscopy. In addition, she developed the photo-switchable fluorescent dyes that have made this method a powerful and critical tool in many areas of biological research and neuroscience.
2014 David M. Sabatini : For his discovery of components and regulators of the mTOR kinase pathway and his elucidation of the important roles of this signaling pathway in nutrient sensing, cell physiology, and cancer.
2013 Sue Biggins : For her isolation and in vitro characterization of a functional kinetochore complex, and for the use of that system to explore kinetochore function.
2012 Zhijian (James) Chen : For his creative use of elegant biochemistry both in elucidating an unsuspected role for polyubiquitin in a kinase signaling cascade important for cancer and immunity and in discovering a novel link between innate immunity and a mitochondrial membrane protein that forms prion- like polymers to trigger antiviral responses.
2011 James M. Berger : For elucidating the structures of topoisomerases and helicases and providing insights into the biochemical mechanisms that mediate the replication and transcription of DNA.
2010 Jeannie T. Lee : By using X-chromosome inactivation as a model system, Lee has made unique contributions to our understanding of epigenetic regulation on a global scale, including the role of long, non-coding RNAs, interchromosomal interactions, and nuclear compartmentalization .
2009 Stephen P. Bell : For groundbreaking studies illuminating the mechanisms of DNA replication in eukaryotic cells.
2008 Angelika Amon : For groundbreaking studies that have provided insight into the mechanism of the central process of chromosome segregation and the regulation of segregation.
2007 Gregory J. Hannon : For elucidation of the enzymatic engine for RNA interference.
2006 Ronald R. Breaker , Tina M. Henkin : For establishing a new mode of regulation of gene expression in which metabolites regulate the activity of their cognate pathways by directly binding to mRNA.
2005 David Bartel : For his discoveries on the repertoire of catalytic RNA and the analysis of micro RNA genes and their targets.
2004 Xiaodong Wang : For his biochemical studies of apoptosis which have resolved a molecular pathway leading in and out of the mitochondrion.
2003 Andrew Z. Fire (Medicine 2006), Craig Mello (Medicine 2006): For inventing methods to inactivate genes by RNA interference and helping to elucidate their underlying mechanism and biological function.
2002 Stephen J. Elledge : For his innovative contributions at the forefront of the field of cell cycle checkpoints and his elucidation of pathways and mechanisms involved in DNA damage responses.
2001 Erin K. O'Shea : For contributions to our understanding of signal transduction, regulation of protein movement into and out of the nucleus, and how phosphorylation controls protein activity.
2000 Patrick O. Brown : For his intellectual leadership in functional genomics, most notably the development of a reliable and accessible DNA microarray system to measure genome-wide gene expression.
1999 Clifford J. Tabin : For his contributions in analyzing genes that establish asymmetric body patterns and control limb development in vertebrates.
1998 Philip A. Beachy : For his studies of a developmental morphogen, its processing and structure, and its covalent attachment to cholesterol.
1997 Richard H. Scheller , Thomas Südhof (Medicine 2013): For their performance of elegant experiments to resolve the molecular components responsible for controlling neurotransmitter vesicle release and chemical communication within the nervous system.
1996 Michael S. Levine : For his insightful contributions to our understanding of gene regulation networks and molecular mechanisms governing the development of organisms with a segmented body plan.
1995 Daniel E. Gottschling : For his elucidation, by experiments elegant in their simplicity, of the relationship between the ends of yeast chromosomes and transcriptional silencing.
1994 Gerald Joyce , Jack Szostak (Medicine 2009): For independently developing in vitro evolution of RNA catalysts. Their work produced RNA enzymes with novel specificities, while illuminating our view of natural selection.
1993 Peter S. Kim : For his pathfinding research in structural biology, which has elucidated both the pathway of protein folding and mechanisms of macromolecular recognition.
1992 Bruce S. Baker , Thomas W. Cline : For their creative use of genetics and molecular biology to define how sex is determined in Drosophila. Their experiments have shown how the ratio of sex chromosomes to autosomes can initiate a novel regulatory pathway involving RNA processing.
1991 Steven L. McKnight , Robert Tjian : For advancing our understanding of transcriptional regulation by devising novel strategies and applying elegant biochemistry to reveal fundamental mechanisms underlying gene expression and development.
1990 Elizabeth Blackburn (Medicine 2009): For her discovery of the nature of DNA at the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes and the enzymes that is necessary to complete chromosomal replication.
1989 Kiyoshi Mizuuchi : For bringing about remarkable advances in our understanding of transposition and other forms of genetic recombination.
1988 H. Robert Horvitz (Medicine 2002): For significant contributions to the genetic analysis of the development of cell lineages in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.
1987 Thomas R. Cech (Chemie 1989): For the astonishing discovery of RNA-catalyzed self-splicing of introns and the analysis of the chemistry of RNA-catalyzed reactions.
1986 Robert G. Roeder : For his pioneering studies of eukaryotic RNA polymerases and the factors that regulate their activity.
1985 Gerald M. Rubin , Allan C. Spradling : For adding a new dimension to eukaryotic genetics and developmental biology by developing a method to introduce and stably integrate cloned genes into the germ cells of living Drosophila.
1984 Geoffrey M. Cooper , Robert Allan Weinberg : For the identification and characterization of cellular oncogenes of human and animal tumors, thereby providing seminal insights into the mechanisms of carcinogenesis.
1983 James C. Wang : For his ingenious studies of the topological properties of the DNA double helix and his discovery of the important class of enzymes know as DNA topoisomerases.
1982 Joan A. Steitz : For contributing to our understanding how RNA molecules are recognized by enzymes and discovering the roles played by small ribonucleoprotein molecules in RNA processing.
1981 Ronald W. Davis , Gerald R. Fink : For their outstanding contributions to the molecular biology of the simple eukaryote Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Both have opened vistas of genetic analysis by the development of new methods, in particular, the development and utilization of molecular cloning in yeast.
1980 Phillip Allen Sharp (Medicine 1993): For his pioneering and continuing contributions to our understanding of messenger RNA biogenesis in mammalian cells.
1979 Mark Ptashne : For his outstanding contributions to our understanding of gene regulation through the studies of the virus Lambda.
1978 Günter Blobel (Medicine 1999): For elucidating mechanisms of passage of secreted proteins into and across membranes.
1977 Aaron J. Shatkin : For his contributions to the understanding of eukaryotic, viral, and cellular messenger RNAs.
1976 Daniel Nathans (Medicine 1978): For his innovative use of molecular and cell biological tools to analyze the genome of an oncogenic virus.
1975 Bruce Alberts : For the isolation of proteins required for DNA replication and genetic recombination and the elucidation of how they interact with DNA.
1974 David Baltimore (Medicine 1975): For his distinguished leadership in virus research, and for his discoveries on the reproduction and enzymology of RNA viruses that has greatly advanced the science of molecular biology.
1973 Donald D. Brown : For his studies of the structure, regulation, and evolution of genes in animals, particularly the genes specifying ribosomal RNA in Xenopus and silk fibroin in Bombix.
1972 Howard M. Temin (Medicine 1975): For his work leading to the discovery of reverse transcription.
1971 Masayasu Nomura : For his studies on the structure and function of ribosomes and their molecular components.
1970 A. Dale Kaiser : For his discovery that pure phage lambda DNA can infect susceptible bacterial cells and produce progeny, and for the effect of this discovery on the whole field of bacterial virus genetics.
1969 William B. Wood : For his genetic dissection of the mechanism of assembly of the bacterial virus particle and reconstruction of the virus in vitro.
1968 Walter Gilbert (Chemie 1980): For his signal contribution to understanding of the regulatory mechanisms operative in genetic control of protein synthesis.
1967 Robert W. Holley (Medicine 1968): For his elucidation of the full sequence of nucleotides in the molecule of a soluble RNA.
1966 Norton D. Zinder : For his discovery of RNA bacteriophages, a new class of bacteria-attacking viruses, which have provided researchers with a highly valuable and convenient method of studying fundamental processes in all living cells.
1965 Robert Stuart Edgar : For his development and application of the method of "conditional lethal mutants" for the analysis of the genetic control of morpho-genesis at the molecular level.
1964 Charles Yanofsky : For his achievements in demonstrating how changes in the gene produce changes in the way protein is made in the body.
1963 MS Meselson : For his leading role in developing and applying methods to measure the transmission of genetic information in the cell.
1962 Marshall Warren Nirenberg (Medicine 1968): For his studies of the molecular mechanisms for the biosynthesis of protein.

Web links

NAS Award in Molecular Biology from the National Academy of Sciences (nasonline.org)