Robert W. Holley
Facts
Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.
Robert W. Holley
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1968
Born: 28 January 1922, Urbana, IL, USA
Died: 11 February 1993, Los Gatos, CA, USA
Affiliation at the time of the award: Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
Prize motivation: “for their interpretation of the genetic code and its function in protein synthesis”
Prize share: 1/3
Work
In the 1950s, it was established that genetic information is transferred from DNA to RNA, to protein. A sequence of three nucleotides in DNA–known as a codon–corresponds to a particular amino acid in a protein. The proteins are formed in what are known as ribosomes, which lie outside the cell nucleus. The transportation of amino acids to these ribosomes takes place with the help of a particular kind of RNA called transfer RNA or tRNA. There exists a special tRNA molecule for each codon. Robert Holley was the first person to successfully isolate tRNA and, in 1964, was also able to map its structure.
Nobel Prizes and laureates
Six prizes were awarded for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. The 12 laureates' work and discoveries range from proteins' structures and machine learning to fighting for a world free of nuclear weapons.
See them all presented here.
