Frederick Sanger
Facts
Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.
Frederick Sanger
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1980
Born: 13 August 1918, Rendcombe, United Kingdom
Died: 19 November 2013, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Affiliation at the time of the award: MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Prize motivation: “for their contributions concerning the determination of base sequences in nucleic acids”
Prize share: 1/4
Also awarded: The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1958
Life
Frederick Sanger was born in the small village of Rendcomb, England. His father was a doctor. After having converted to quakerism he brought up his sons as quakers. Frederick Sanger studied and received his PhD at the University of Cambridge in 1943. He remained in Cambridge for the rest of his career. Frederick Sanger was married with three children.
Work
An organism's genome is stored in the form of long rows of building blocks, known as nucleotides, which form DNA molecules. An organism's genome can be mapped by establishing the order of the nucleotides within the DNA molecule. In 1977, Frederick Sanger developed a method based on using small amounts of what are known as dideoxynucleotides. These can be inserted into the DNA chain, but at a certain nucleotide they stop growth of the chain so that fragments of different lengths are created. After undergoing what is known as electrophoresis, the nucleotide sequences in a DNA sample can be identified.
Watch the 2023 Nobel Prize announcements
Watch the live stream of the announcements.
