Biografy Dr. Kary Mullis - When asked About his development of the technique of polymerase chain reaction (PCR), considered by many the most important discovery in genetic research Since the discovery of the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), Mullis responded by saying,''I was playing.I think really good science doesn't c come from hard work. The striking advances come from people on the fringes of being playful."It was that playful mind that was at work on a beautiful spring evening in 1983 when the idea for PCR came to Mullis. He was pondering how to find a particular section of the DNA molecule and isolate it. From that thought came the idea that one should be able to mark off a section of DNA and then, using enzymes, force it to copy itself over and over again, almost as if the DNA section was part of a computer program in which the same process is repeated over and over again. If this could be done with a section of DNA, then the DNA would copy itself over and over again - two, four, eight, exponentially - so that in 20 cycles there would be 1,048,576 copies and so on. Over a billion copies in less than three hours.
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| Dr. Kary Mullis |
Because of the PCR technique developed by Mullis, scientists now have the ability to create billions of copies of genes within the DNA molecule in a few hours. These strands of DNA can be utilized in many ways: to help convict or free accused criminals, to located genes, and to copy genes from DNA samples of creatures that died millions of years ago, among other applications.
Mullis has engaged in the fun of science all of his life. As a young boy, he would constantly experiment. He studied biochemistry as a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley.
Mullis has a lifestyle and personality that do not fit what most people think of when they imagine a Nobel Prize laureate. He is a man that many of his colleagues would call quirky and outlandish. He is more likely to be found in the hot tub at his ranch in the Anderson Valley region of the California wine country, or surfing, or sunning near his home in La Jolla. He is a scientist whose personality elicits reactions from colleagues ranging from giggles to awe. Kary Mullis is truly, as stated by some, "the Quirky Genius who has changed the world
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