Biography
Charles Yanofsky (April 17, 1925 [ 1 ] – March 16, 2018) was an American geneticist on the faculty of Stanford University who contributed to the establishment of the one gene-one enzyme hypothesis and discovered attenuation, a riboswitch mechanism in which messenger RNA changes shape in response to a small molecule and thus alters its binding ability for the regulatory region of a gene or operon. Charles Yanofsky was born on April 17, 1925, in New York . [ 2 ] He was one of the earliest graduates of the Bronx High School of Science, [ 3 ] then studied at the City College of New York and completed his degree in biochemistry in spite of having had his education interrupted by military service in World War II including participation in the Battle of the Bulge. [ 2 ] In 1948, having returned and completed college, he took up graduate work towards his master's degree and PhD, both granted by Yale University . [ 2 ] He pursued postdoctoral work at Yale for a time, completing work started during his PhD training. [ 3 ] Yanofsky joined the Case Western Reserve Medical School faculty in 1954. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] He moved to the faculty at Stanford University as an associate professor in 1958. [ 2 ] In 1964, Yanofsky and colleagues established that gene sequences and protein sequences are colinear in bacteria. [ 4 ] Yanofsky showed that changes in DNA sequence can produce changes in protein sequence at corresponding positions. [ 5 ] His work is considered the best evidence in favor of the one gene-one enzyme hypothesis. Fields: Genetics, microbiology Education: City College of New York Yale University
About the Lasker Award
The Lasker Awards have been awarded annually since 1946 to living persons who have made major contributions to medical science or who have performed public service on behalf of medicine. They are administered by the Lasker Foundation, founded by advertising pioneer Albert Lasker and his wife Mary Woodard Lasker (a medical research activist). The awards are sometimes referred to as "America's Nobels."
Quick Facts
- Award: Lasker Award - Basic Medical Research
- Added: 2026-02-07
- Source: Wikipedia
- Established: 1946
- Presented by: Lasker Foundation