June 30th
Born June 30, 1926.
American biochemist, who has carried out “basic studies on the biochemistry of nucleic acids, especially concerning recombinant DNA-technique” for which he received the Nobel Prize. Chemistry in 1980. Berg’s pioneering experiment, in which he was the first to create recombinant DNA molecules, initiated genetic engineering. Such molecules contain parts of DNA from different species, for example, chromosomes from viruses combine with genes from bacterial chromosomes. DNA molecules from viruses, relatively small, are useful for analysis. Current important practical applications include human hormone production with the help of bacteria.
