Frederick Sanger(1918 — 2013)
Frederick Sanger
Royaume-Uni, Royaume-Uni de Grande-Bretagne et d'Irlande
6 min read
Frederick Sanger (1918-2013) was a British biochemist, one of the very few scientists to have received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry twice. He developed fundamental methods for determining the sequence of proteins and then of DNA.
Frequently asked questions
Key Facts
- Born on 13 August 1918 in Rendcomb (England) and died on 19 November 2013
- 1958: Nobel Prize in Chemistry for determining the structure (amino acid sequence) of insulin
- 1977: development of the DNA sequencing method known as the “Sanger method” (dideoxy)
- 1980: second Nobel Prize in Chemistry, shared with Walter Gilbert and Paul Berg, for DNA sequencing methods
- One of only four laureates to have received two Nobel Prizes, and the only one to have received the Chemistry prize twice
Works & Achievements
The first determination of the amino acid sequence of a protein, proving that proteins have a precise and ordered structure. This work was crowned with the 1958 Nobel Prize.
The development of a chemical reagent for identifying the amino acid located at the end of a protein chain, a key tool throughout his analysis.
Sanger's first effective approach to reading the order of the bases in DNA, which paved the way for his definitive method.
A technique based on dideoxynucleotides that became the worldwide standard for DNA sequencing for more than thirty years. It earned him his second Nobel Prize.
The first genome of an organism to be sequenced in its entirety (5,386 bases), a spectacular demonstration of the power of his method.
The complete reading of the DNA in human mitochondria, showing that the method could be applied to the genome of our own species.
Anecdotes
Frederick Sanger is one of only four scientists in history to have won two Nobel Prizes, and the only one to have won the Chemistry prize twice: in 1958 for the sequencing of proteins, then in 1980 for that of DNA. Yet he described himself as “someone who tinkered in his laboratory,” not as a genius.
Raised in a Quaker family, Sanger refused to bear arms during the Second World War and was recognized as a conscientious objector. While others went off to the front, he completed his doctoral thesis at Cambridge on the metabolism of amino acids.
Determining the sequence of insulin took him about ten years of relentless work. He cut the protein into small fragments, stained them, separated them on blotting paper, then reassembled the order of the pieces like a gigantic puzzle. In doing so, he proved that a protein has a precise and reproducible sequence.
When he was offered a knighthood (“Sir Frederick Sanger”), he declined, explaining that he did not want to be called “Sir” and preferred to remain an ordinary man. He did, however, accept the Order of Merit in 1986, one of the highest British distinctions.
After retiring in 1983, Sanger gave up science entirely to devote himself to his garden and his boat. The famous genomics institute in Cambridge, the Wellcome Sanger Institute (which took part in sequencing the human genome), bears his name in tribute to his methods.
Primary Sources
It is the proteins, however, that are particularly characteristic of living matter and on which the specificity of living cells ultimately depends.
Of the various methods that we developed the most successful was the 'plus and minus' method... and more recently a method using specific chain-terminating inhibitors.
A new method for determining nucleotide sequences in DNA is described. It is similar to the 'plus and minus' method but makes use of the 2',3'-dideoxy analogues of the normal deoxynucleoside triphosphates.
Of the three main activities involved in scientific research, thinking, talking, and doing, I much prefer the last and am probably best at it.
Key Places
English village where Frederick Sanger was born in 1918 into a well-off family of Quaker tradition.
Where Sanger studied, earned his doctorate in 1943 and carried out his first research on proteins.
Medical Research Council laboratory that Sanger joined in 1962 and where he developed DNA sequencing.
Major genomics centre founded in 1992 near Cambridge and named in honour of Sanger; it took part in the sequencing of the human genome.
City where Sanger lived, retired and died in 2013 at the age of 95.
