Norman Simmons
Encyclopedia
Norman Simmons was a Nobel Prize
nominee and DNA
research pioneer.
Simmons was nominated in 1972 for a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
for his work with Dr. Elkan Bout on proteins and polypeptides and was also recognized for isolating a structurally pure form of DNA
. This was, in fact, the DNA which Rosalind Franklin
used in her x-ray diffraction studies that rewarded Maurice Wilkins
, James Watson
and Francis Crick
with the Nobel Prize for the double helix model of DNA. Wilkins stated at that time' "I wish to thank Norman Simmons for having refined techniques of isolating DNA, and thereby helping a great many workers including ourselves."
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
nominee and DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
research pioneer.
Simmons was nominated in 1972 for a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the field of life science and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will...
for his work with Dr. Elkan Bout on proteins and polypeptides and was also recognized for isolating a structurally pure form of DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
. This was, in fact, the DNA which Rosalind Franklin
Rosalind Franklin
Rosalind Elsie Franklin was a British biophysicist and X-ray crystallographer who made critical contributions to the understanding of the fine molecular structures of DNA, RNA, viruses, coal and graphite...
used in her x-ray diffraction studies that rewarded Maurice Wilkins
Maurice Wilkins
Maurice Hugh Frederick Wilkins CBE FRS was a New Zealand-born English physicist and molecular biologist, and Nobel Laureate whose research contributed to the scientific understanding of phosphorescence, isotope separation, optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction, and to the development of radar...
, James Watson
James D. Watson
James Dewey Watson is an American molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist, best known as one of the co-discoverers of the structure of DNA in 1953 with Francis Crick...
and Francis Crick
Francis Crick
Francis Harry Compton Crick OM FRS was an English molecular biologist, biophysicist, and neuroscientist, and most noted for being one of two co-discoverers of the structure of the DNA molecule in 1953, together with James D. Watson...
with the Nobel Prize for the double helix model of DNA. Wilkins stated at that time' "I wish to thank Norman Simmons for having refined techniques of isolating DNA, and thereby helping a great many workers including ourselves."
External links
- In Memoriam: Norman Simmons on University of California website