Har Gobind Khorana

Awarded for

Interpreting the genetic code and its role in protein synthesis

Shared with: Robert W. Holley, Marshall W. Nirenberg

The story behind the prize

DNA carries instructions in a code of three-letter 'words' (codons). Khorana made RNA molecules with known sequences and showed which codons stand for which amino acids, helping to crack the full genetic code. Nirenberg and Holley worked on other parts of the same puzzle.

About

Biochemist born in Raipur, a village in Punjab in present-day Pakistan; studied at Punjab University, Lahore, and later worked in the United States.

Exam facts

• Born in present-day Pakistan
• Later made the first synthetic gene