description Michael Smith Overview
Michael Smith was a British-born Canadian biochemist who won the 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He received the award for inventing site-directed mutagenesis, a fundamental technique that enables scientists to alter specific nucleotides within a DNA sequence. This method allows researchers to study the functions of individual proteins by modifying their corresponding genes, becoming essential for genetic engineering and biomedical research. Smith spent much of his career at the University of British Columbia.
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Michael Smith ranks #99 of 203 in the Chemist ranking, behind John C. Polanyi, ahead of John W. Cornforth.
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What did Michael Smith win the Nobel Prize for?
Michael Smith received the 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, shared with Kary Mullis, for his invention of site-directed mutagenesis. This technique enables scientists to introduce specific, targeted changes into a DNA sequence, allowing precise alteration of individual amino acids within a protein.
How does site-directed mutagenesis work?
In site-directed mutagenesis, a short synthetic oligonucleotide primer carrying the desired mutation is annealed to a single-stranded DNA template, and DNA polymerase is then used to extend the primer and copy the rest of the gene. The resulting double-stranded DNA contains the targeted change at the position specified by the primer, which can be propagated and expressed in a host organism.
Where did Michael Smith conduct his research?
Smith conducted his Nobel Prize-winning research at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada, where he spent most of his career. He was also the founding director of the Genome Sequence Centre (now the Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre) in Vancouver.
Who shared the 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Michael Smith?
Kary Mullis shared the 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Smith, recognized for his invention of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). While Smith's site-directed mutagenesis allowed targeted editing of genes, Mullis's PCR enabled exponential amplification of specific DNA segments; both technologies became foundational tools of modern molecular biology.
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