Kary Mullis

Kary Mullis (1944–2019) was an American biochemist who developed the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a method for rapidly copying specific DNA sequences. He shared the 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for this work.

Polymerase chain reaction: A laboratory method that repeatedly copies selected DNA sequences through cycles of heating and cooling. Mullis’s defining invention amplifies DNA through repeated cycles.
Cetus Corporation: A biotechnology company founded in California in 1971 and acquired by Chiron in 1991. Mullis worked there when he developed PCR in the 1980s.
Michael Smith: A Canadian biochemist who pioneered site-directed mutagenesis and shared the 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Smith shared the Nobel Prize with Mullis for a separate DNA method.
DNA fingerprinting: The identification of individuals by comparing distinctive patterns in their DNA. PCR can produce enough DNA from small samples for genetic identification.
1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry: The chemistry Nobel Prize awarded to Kary Mullis and Michael Smith in 1993. The award recognized Mullis’s invention of PCR and Smith’s work on mutagenesis.
DNA polymerase: An enzyme that synthesizes DNA strands using an existing strand as a template. PCR depends on this enzyme to extend primers and copy DNA.
DNA synthesis: The biological or chemical production of DNA molecules from nucleotide building blocks. Mullis’s idea built on established methods for making DNA and primers.
Thomas D. Brock: An American microbiologist whose research helped establish the scientific importance of thermophilic bacteria. His work on Thermus aquaticus enabled the later use of Taq polymerase in PCR.
Polymerase chain reaction in medicine: The use of PCR to detect or measure genetic material in clinical samples. PCR made rapid testing for pathogens and genetic variants possible.
PCR patent dispute: Legal conflicts over ownership and licensing of patents covering polymerase chain reaction. The commercial value of Mullis’s invention made its ownership contested.

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Thermus aquaticusRelated: Mullis’s PCR method gained practical power when thermostable Taq polymerase became available.