Har Gobind Khorana

Har Gobind Khorana was an Indian-American biochemist whose work helped decipher how nucleotide sequences specify proteins. He shared the 1968 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Marshall W. Nirenberg: An American biochemist who identified the first nucleotide triplet that codes for an amino acid. His cell-free experiments independently decoded the genetic code alongside Khorana’s synthetic-RNA approach.
Genetic code: The rules by which nucleotide sequences in nucleic acids specify amino acids and stop signals in protein synthesis. Khorana’s experiments established how particular RNA triplets correspond to amino acids.
DNA: A molecule that stores hereditary information in most organisms through sequences of nucleotide bases. Khorana’s work connected DNA’s chemical sequence to the amino-acid sequences of proteins.
1968 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: The Nobel award shared by Har Gobind Khorana, Marshall W. Nirenberg, and Robert W. Holley for interpreting the genetic code. The prize recognized Khorana’s contribution to linking nucleotide sequences with protein synthesis.
Robert W. Holley: An American biochemist who determined the structure of alanine transfer RNA. He shared the 1968 Nobel Prize with Khorana and Nirenberg for work on the genetic code.
Codon: A sequence of three nucleotides in messenger RNA that specifies an amino acid or a translation stop signal. Synthetic RNAs let Khorana test the meaning of defined nucleotide triplets.
RNA: A family of nucleic acids that perform roles in gene expression, regulation, and catalysis. RNA provided the templates through which Khorana tested the genetic code.
Gene synthesis: The chemical or enzymatic production of DNA sequences designed to encode specified genetic information. Khorana’s laboratory synthesized genes, demonstrating that DNA sequences could be built from chemical components.
Vladimir Prelog: A Croatian-Swiss chemist known for research on stereochemistry and organic molecules. Prelog nominated Khorana for the Nobel Prize, recognizing his contributions to nucleic-acid chemistry.
Nucleotide: A molecular unit composed of a nitrogenous base, a sugar, and one or more phosphate groups. His synthetic polynucleotides were assembled from nucleotide building blocks.

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