2015 Nobel Prize- Chemistry
Winners
Tomas Lindahl
- Born in 1938 in Stockholm, Sweden
- Attended Karolinska Medical School- became interested in medical chemistry
- Worked at: Francis Crick Institute and Clare Hall Laboratory when he received prize
- Field of study: DNA repair / Cancer research
Interesting Fact
- First Swede to receive chemistry prize in 67 years
Paul Modrich
- Born: June 13, 1949 (age 69)
- Field of study: DNA Mismatch repair
- Worked at: Duke University and HHMI (Howard Hughes Medical Institute)
- Bachelor’s Degree: Massachussetts Institute of Technology
- PhD: Stanford University
- Awarded Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2015
Interesting Facts
- Grew up in New Mexico in a small town called Raton.
- Became interested in molecular genetics while studying genetics of viruses that infect bacteria
Aziz Sancar
- Born: 1946, Savur, Turkey
- Education: PhD at University of Texas and MD Istanbul University
- Worked at: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Areas of research: biochemistry and biophysics
Interesting Fact
- Graduated 1st in his class of 625 from Istanbul University in 1969
What did they do?
Tomas Lindahl Contributions
- Noted that chemical reactions in cells damage the genetic material in cells every day
- This led to the conclusion that molecular systems exist that help repair the damages
- Opened a new field of research
- Identified repair mechanism known as base excision repair (used in the cell cycle)
- Examined proteins used in the cell's toolbox during DNA repair
Paul Modrich Contributions
- Studied how cells fix mix matched made by cells during DNA copying
- Explain how mistakes are passed down through generations for mismatch repair
- Led to discovery that 99.9% of these mismatches are fixed by using mismatch repair
- Modrich was able to create simulations to perform his experiments with a protein and E.Coli in DNA repair. Modrich ran his final tests through a gel which displayed similar patterns of dark blue bands if the DNA was successfully repaired.
Aziz Sancar Contributions
- Discovered that DNA is damaged by outside factors (i.e. smoking and UV light)
- Discovered a specific enzyme of a certain bacteria, called photolyase, and studied it until he could apply it to human DNA
- Used In Vitro Experiments and found that this gene helped repair damaged DNA from UV damage with the most accuracy so far by cutting out the damaged nucleotides
- Derived that there are enzymes similar to photolyase in the human body that help set the circadian rhythm (our biological clock)
Why is this important?
- Geneticists can now spot flaws in an individual's genetic makeup
- Geneticists can carefully control the repair mechanisms- future generations are now dramatically more immune to carcinogens and mismatches during birth
- Did not challenge previous knowledge because it is part of a field that is relatively new
- Due to its realtively new creation the methods have not yet been fully implemented but are set to be widely available soon