Turkish-american Scientist Wins Nobel Prize For Chemistry

A Turkish-American DNA scientist is among the three names to win this year's Nobel Prize for Chemistry, the award-giving body announced on Oct. 7.

Aziz Sancar, Sweden's Tomas Lindahl, and the U.S.-based Paul Modrich won the prize for work on mapping how cells repair damaged DNA.

Their work has provided fundamental knowledge of how a living cell functions and is, for instance, used for the development of new cancer treatments" the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in a statement awarding the 8 million Swedish crowns ($969,000).

Sancar was born in Savur district of the southeastern province of Mardin in 1946. He completed his M.D. in İstanbul University of Turkey and completed his Ph.D. on the photoreactivating enzyme of E. coli in 1977 in the laboratory of Dr. C. Stan Rupert.

Sancar, who was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2005 and the Turkish Academy of Sciences the following year, also received Vehbi Koç Award in 2007. He is a professor at the University of North Carolina.

Kaynak: Doğan Haber Ajansı