The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1993

The PCR method already of great use

In Mullis's method, gene technology has gained a new tool. The sequencing of DNA, for example in the HUGO (Human Genome Organization) project, which aims to determine each individual DNA code in the human genetic material, has been dramatically simplified. There are already many medical applications. Since very small quantities of foreign DNA can be detected, the diagnosis and analysis of, for example, viruses (such as HIV) in clinical samples can be done very rapidly.

	DNA from fossil remains can be mass-produced by PCR. Researchers have succeeded in amplifying genetic material from insects trapped in amber that have been extinct for more than 20 million years.
In PCR the police have a new and very reliable fingerprinting method, since the DNA content can be analysed from a single drop of blood or a single hair found at the site of a crime.

Contents:
Introduction » Site-directed mutagenesis reprograms DNA » Tailor-made proteins » The PCR method – a copying machine for DNA molecules » The PCR method already of great use » DNA and the genetic code » Landmarks in the history of gene technology » Further reading »
Based on materials from the 1993 Nobel Poster for Chemistry. Credits and references for the poster »

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The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1993

The PCR method already of great use

The 1993 Prize in:

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1993

Kary B. Mullis

Michael Smith

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