Name

Era

Contribution

Arthur Kornberg

1959-2007

Frederick Sanger

1980-2013

Paul Berg

1972-

-Arthur Kornberg along

with his partner Severo
Ochoa
spent
years
isolating and purifying
enzymes that run cells.
Soon thereafter, they were
able
to
identify
the
enzyme involved in the
creation
of
DNA
Polymerase I. This was an
important
concept
in
understanding
the
molecular biology of cells.
-Kornbergs
greatest
synthesis was of the virus
PhiX174. It was the first
time a biochemist had
produced a virus in a lab.
In 1943, He joined
Chibnalls research group
at the Cambridge
University where they
worked on proteins but
more importantly insulin.
At the time proteins
chemistry was considered
of significant importance
and new techniques like
fractionation were being
put in place. It was
believed that there was a
real possibility of
determining the chemical
structure of fundamental
components that making
up matter. Sanger was
able to replicate amino
acid sequencing which
lead to coming up with a
sequence for insulin.
He assembled the first
DNA molecules that

Archibald Garrod

1908-1936

Alfred Henry Sturtevant

1913-1970

*Fred Griffith

1928-1941

George Wells Beadle

1939-1989

combined genes from

different organisms. He
used SV40 virus as a
hypothesis to try and
insert new genes into cells
similar to that of
bacteriophage induces
DNA into infected cells.
Soon thereafter, he was
able to develop a way to
join two DNAs together.
Through his interest in
patients with a rare but
rather harmless disorder
known as alkaptonuria, he
was able to postulate that
genetic defects cause
many inherited diseases.
He believed that many
more disorders of
metabolism undoubtedly
exist with more subtle
manifestations and called
such disorders inborn
errors of metabolism.
Garrod also acquired the
reputation father of
chemical genetics
Published the worlds first
genetic map. He realized
that genes were linked in
a series, and data as to
how these genes were
linked could be deduced
by building the right
Drosophila mutant.
Some component of hearkilled virulent bacteria can
transform a non-virulent
strain to become virulent
American geneticist who
helped found biochemical
genetics when he showed
that genes affect heredity

Matthew Meselson &

Franklin Stahl

1958

Calvin Bridges

1936

Ruth Sager

1953-1997

Janet Rowley

1973-2013

by determining enzyme
structure.
Proved that DNA
replication is semiconservative by using
their own technique called
equilibrium density
gradient centrifugation
His analysis of
nondisjunction is probably
his most famous
contribution to the
development of classical
genetics. His other
contributions in genetics
include the balance theory
of sex determination and
his evolutionary
interpretation of the
salivary chromosome
bands associated with
larvae
In 1953 she discovered in the
alga Chlamydomonas a
second genetic-transmitting
system: not located on the
chromosomes of the alga.
This gene governs the cells
sensitivity to the antibiotic
streptomycin. Her
experiments showed that the
many nonchromosomal genes
in Chlamydomonas could be
passed on by either partner in
sexual reproduction, that they
controlled a variety of
hereditary characteristics, and
that they replicated and
remained active through
successive generations.
In the 1970s, Dr. Janet Rowley
identified a specific genetic
translocation in leukemia,
heralding a new understanding of
the role of some translocations in

specific cancers.

William Russel

1976-2003

quantitative evaluation of the

genetic effects of radiation in
mammals which serve as a major
scientific base for national and
international standards for
radiation protection of human
populations

Fred Sherman

1985-2013

Huntington Willard

1982

performed groundbreaking
research on the structure of
genes and the effects of
genetic mutations on proteins in
yeast. He was also a proponent
of the use of baker's yeast as a
genetic model system
Researched on genetic and

genomic studies of X
chromosome
inactivation, functional
genomics of human and
other mammalian
centromeres, creation of
human artificial
chromosomes as a tool
for genome exploration,
and the epigenetic basis
of gene silencing.
Charles Yanofsky

1964

working with the

bacteriumEscherichia coli, he
showed that the sequence of
the nitrogen-containing bases
forming part of the structure of
the genetic material has a
linear correspondence to
the amino acid sequence of
proteins.