Remembering Marshall Nirenberg

Marshall Nirenberg (Ph.D. 1957), of Potomac, Maryland, and New York, New York, died January 15, 2010, at age 82. Nirenberg won the Nobel Prize in 1968 for his work on the genetic code and its function in protein synthesis. Born in New York in 1927, Nirenberg and his family relocated to Florida when he was a teenager, and he went on to graduate from the University of Florida with degrees in zoology and chemistry. After receiving his Ph.D. in biological chemistry at the U-M, he joined the NIH as a postdoctoral fellow. In 1961 at the National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Disease (today the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases), Nirenberg and his assistant discovered how RNA transmits “messages” encoded in DNA and directs how amino acids combine to make proteins. That summer, he presented these findings at the International Congress of Biochemistry in Moscow, but was considered an outsider and initially ignored by most in attendance. One attendee who was paying attention invited Nirenberg to give his presentation again; this time the group listened. Back at the NIH, work continued with the help of many colleagues, and by 1965 he had created a 64-square table showing the relationship between DNA and proteins; the table is still in use today. Nirenberg remained at the NIH throughout his career and continued to make significant discoveries in neurobiology and genetics. His other findings helped to advance understanding of congenital heart disease, and were applied to addiction, memory, and heart and blood disorders. He received the National Medal of Science in 1966 and the National Medal of Honor in 1968. Speaking at the Medical School’s Sesquicentennial Celebration in October 2000, Nirenberg advised younger researchers who might be inclined to avoid high-risk projects with uncertain outcomes to embrace the unknown — he told them that even though they might not realize it at the time, "those projects are the most important."

More on Marshall Nirenberg
“Deciphering the Genetic Code: Marshall Nirenberg” (NIH online exhibit)
Tribute from NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D.
“The Forgotten Code Cracker” (Scientific American, November 2007)
National Library of Medicine: Profiles in Science