Marshall Nirenberg

Marshall Nirenberg was an American biochemist renowned for his groundbreaking work in genetics, particularly in decoding the genetic code. In the 1960s, he and his team identified how sequences of three nucleotides (codons) in DNA correspond to specific amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. This foundational discovery helped explain how genes direct the production of proteins, influencing all biological functions. Nirenberg's contributions earned him the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1968, significantly advancing our understanding of molecular biology and genetics, which has far-reaching implications in medicine, biotechnology, and evolutionary biology.