Berg, Paul (1926-2023), an American biochemist and molecular biologist, shared the 1980 Nobel Prize in chemistry with fellow American Walter Gilbert and Frederick Sanger from the United Kingdom. They received the prize for their studies of the biochemical structure of nucleic acids. Nucleic acids occur in all living cells and carry vital genetic information.
In the 1960’s, Berg’s research into isolated genes led him to develop recombinant-DNA techniques, techniques that enabled him to combine parts of the nucleic acid DNA from different species. He developed methods to attach segments of DNA molecules to the DNA of viruses and plasmids (small structures containing genetic material). These viruses and plasmids could then enter cells of other organisms and manufacture proteins foreign to the organisms. This technique has been used to produce bacteria containing a gene to produce the hormone insulin, used in treating diabetes.
In 1975, Berg headed an international committee to explore the ethics of genetic engineering and to provide guidelines to regulate genetic research. The proposed guidelines have now been widely accepted. In 1991, he was named chairman of the Program Advisory Committee for the Human Genome Project.
Berg was born in New York City on June 30, 1926. He studied at Pennsylvania State College and Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve University). Berg conducted research at the Institute of Cytophysiology in Copenhagen, Denmark, and at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. He became professor of biochemistry at Stanford University in 1959. He died on Feb. 15, 2023.
See also Genetic engineering.
