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Marshall Warren Nirenberg
New York City, United States
Archival Overview
American biochemist and geneticist who shared the 1968 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for breaking the genetic code and showing how RNA translates DNA into proteins.
Biographical Record
Marshall Warren Nirenberg was born in New York City and raised in Orlando, Florida. He earned his doctorate in biological chemistry from the University of Michigan in 1957 before joining the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, where he conducted foundational molecular research.
In 1961, together with J. Heinrich Matthaei, Nirenberg conducted the historic poly-U experiment, demonstrating that a synthetic RNA chain made entirely of uracil directed the synthesis of a protein composed solely of phenylalanine. This breakthrough cracked the first 'word' of the genetic code (UUU = phenylalanine), paving the way for the full mapping of all 64 RNA triplets to amino acids.
Key Life Milestones
The Poly-U Experiment
Demonstrated that poly-uridylic acid produces polyphenylalanine, deciphering the first codon of the universal genetic code.
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Honored alongside Har Gobind Khorana and Robert W. Holley for their interpretation of the genetic code and its function in protein synthesis.
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Final Resting Place
Perpetual MemorialNew York City, United States