H. Gobind Khorana, 1968 Nobel Winner for RNA Research, Dies

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/14/us/h-gobind-khorana-1968-nobel-winner-for-rna-research-dies.html

by nikhilpandit • 15 years ago

101 13 15 years ago

kshatrea• 15 years ago

I am an Indian, and it is usually a matter of pride for us that people of Indian origin have scaled heights in academia and elsewhere. Which is why it surprises me that the largest Indian English dailies that I subscribe to, haven't really said much about the passing of a great scientist. They seem more busy in talking about perfectly useless reality shows.

train_robber• 15 years ago

The Hindu covered it prominently. That's how I came to know. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/eco...

muon• 15 years ago

I am sure they would have covered some fad in the science & technology section. Like some vague research claiming that wine is good for heart or chocolate is good for memory etc.

The truth is that most of Indian dailies are not fit for reading any science related news or even news for that matter.

gvnonor2• 15 years ago

  The truth is that most of Indian dailies are not fit for reading any science related news or even news for that matter.

With the exception of "The Hindu", which is the only daily I find professional, without bias to any ideology/organisation and mostly free of grammatical, spelling and other errors.

rohil• 15 years ago

I am also Indian. And I have never considered him Indian just because he was born in India. He moved away very early in his life and became an American citizen in 1966. The only mention of India in the article is once in the 1st para. So, for me, he was American in all significant aspects.

JoeAltmaier• 15 years ago

One of those giants people are always standing on the shoulders of.

And he stood on his share. Watson and Crick. That teacher under the tree in his village. His father.

J3L2404• 15 years ago

Khorana and his team had established that the mother of all codes, the biological language common to all living organisms, is spelled out in three-letter words: each set of three nucleotides codes for a specific amino acid.

Khorana was the first scientist to synthesize oligonucleotides.

He extended the above to long DNA Polymers using non-aqueous chemistry and assembled these into the first synthetic gene, using polymerase and ligase enzymes that link pieces of DNA together. as well as methods that anticipated the invention of PCR.

These custom-designed pieces of artificial genes are widely used in biology labs for sequencing, cloning and engineering new plants and animals.

Khorana's invention has become automated and commercialized so that anyone now can order a synthetic gene from any of a number of companies. One merely needs to send the genetic sequence to one of the companies to receive an oligonucleotide with the desired sequence.

arjn• 15 years ago

It surprises me how few Indians know about Khorana. He is the only Indian (person of Indian origin) to be awarded the prize for Physiology or Medicine.

H. Gobind Khorana, 1968 Nobel Winner for RNA Research, Dies

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