Daniel Nathans (October 30, 1928 – November 16, 1999) was an American microbiologist. Along with American researcher Hamilton Smith and Swiss researcher Werner Arber, he shared the 1978 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of restriction enzymes and their application in restriction mapping.

Early life and education

Nathans was born in Wilmington, Delaware, the last of nine children born to Russian Jewish immigrant parents, Sarah (Levitan) and Samuel Nathans. During the Great Depression his father lost his small business and was unemployed for a long time.

Nathans attended public schools and then to the University of Delaware, where he received his B.S. degree in chemistry in 1950. He received his M.D. degree from Washington University School of Medicine in 1954 and did a one-year internship at Presbyterian Medical Center with Robert Loeb.

From 1995 to 1996, Nathans served as the interim president of Johns Hopkins University.

In January 1999, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine established the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine, a multidisciplinary clinical and research center named for Nathans and pioneering medical geneticist Victor McKusick.

Nathans was also given six honorary doctorates over the span of his career.

Awards

  • 1967: Selman Waksman Award in Microbiology
  • 1976: NAS Award in Molecular Biology
  • 1977: Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • 1978: Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
  • 1979: Elected to the National Academy of Sciences
  • 1985: Elected to the American Philosophical Society
  • 1993: National Medal of Science

See also

  • List of Jewish Nobel laureates

References

Further reading

  • The Daniel Nathans Papers - Profiles in Science, National Library of Medicine