Photo: Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
Paul Berg
1926–2023 · United States · Born 1900–1939
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-winning 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.