The world lost one of the most noteworthy scientists ever. British Chemist, Fred Sanger died at age 95. Sanger was the only scientist to win two Nobel prizes in Chemistry, and one of four to win the Nobel Prize twice in any category.
His first Nobel Prize was won in 1958, after Sanger made significant strides in the structure of the protein insulin. In 1980, the second was won and shared by three chemists: Fred Sanger, Walter Gilbert and Paul Berg. Sanger won for his work as the “father of DNA sequencing” which laid the foundations for todays medicine in human genome mapping.
“His invention of the two critical technical advances – for sequencing proteins and nucleic acids – opened up the fields of molecular biology, genetics and genomics,” said Colin Blakemore, a professor of neuroscience and philosophy and former chief executive of Britain’s Medical Research Council.
The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in England was named after Fred Sanger. The WTSI is one of the world’s leaders in human genome and working on significant strides in human genetics, all inspired by one great scientist, Fred Sanger.
Blakemore refers to Sanger as “a real hero,” adding it was “impossible to exaggerate” the impact of his work on modern biomedical science.
One of the most important scientists of the 20th century! Fred Sanger has died. He twice changed the direction of the scientific world.
— J. Craig Venter (@JCVenter) November 20, 2013
Fred Sanger has died. Genius pioneer of the molecular biology revolution, he uniquely won two Nobel Prizes in Chemistry.
— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) November 20, 2013
Image (via) Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.