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Paul Berg
1926–2023 · United States · 20th century
Nobel Chemistry 1980
Stanford biochemist who created the first recombinant DNA molecule and helped write the safety guidelines for genetic engineering; Nobel Prize 1980.
Nobel Prize work
Awarded for fundamental studies of the biochemistry of nucleic acids, in particular recombinant DNA: in 1972 his team spliced SV40 viral DNA to λ-phage DNA to create the first recombinant DNA molecule, inventing gene splicing; he then co-organized the Asilomar conference that set safety rules for genetic engineering.