Daniel Nathans

Daniel Nathans (October 30, 1928 – November 16, 1999) was an American microbiologist. Along with American researcher Hamilton Smith and Swiss researcher Werner Arber, he shared the 1978 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of restriction enzymes and their application in restriction mapping.

Early life and education Nathans was born in Wilmington, Delaware, the last of nine children born to Russian Jewish immigrant parents, Sarah (Levitan) and Samuel Nathans. During the Great Depression his father lost his small business and was unemployed for a long time.

Nathans attended public schools and then to the University of Delaware, where he received his B.S. degree in chemistry in 1950. He received his M.D. degree from Washington University School of Medicine in 1954 and did a one-year internship at Presbyterian Medical Center with Robert Loeb.

From 1995 to 1996, Nathans served as the interim president of Johns Hopkins University.

In January 1999, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine established the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine, a multidisciplinary clinical and research center named for Nathans and pioneering medical geneticist Victor McKusick.

Nathans was also given six honorary doctorates over the span of his career.

Awards

1967: Selman Waksman Award in Microbiology 1976: NAS Award in Molecular Biology 1977: Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 1978: Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1979: Elected to the National Academy of Sciences 1985: Elected to the American Philosophical Society 1993: National Medal of Science