Question

Who got the Nobel Prize in 1978 for working on enzymes?
A) Koshland
B) Arber and Nathans
C) Nass and Nass
D) H. G. Khorana

Answer 1

The Nobel Prize was given for the discovery of restriction enzymes in 1978. Try and remember which ones of these scientists worked on it.

Complete Answer:
Werner Arber is a Swiss microbiologist, he is also a geneticist. He shared the 1978 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for the discovery of restriction enzymes and their application to problems of molecular genetics" along with American researchers Hamilton Smith and Daniel Nathans. Their work led to the development of recombinant DNA technology. Restriction enzymes were discovered by Werner Arber, they cut DNA molecules at sites at a certain sequence of nucleotides. Daniel Nathans combined and applied Arber’s discovery within genetics. Daniel Nathans used various restriction enzymes on the DNA of a virus, studied its components, and mapped the genome of that virus. The virus was the SV40.

Additional information: Restriction enzymes cleaves DNA at or near specific recognition sites within molecules known as restriction sites and divides it into fragments. Restriction enzymes are classified into five categories on the basis of their structure and site of cleavage. All restriction enzymes make two incisions, one through each sugar-phosphate backbone of each strand of the DNA double helix. These enzymes are excessively used for modification of DNA in laboratories, they are a vital tool in molecular cloning. 3,000 restriction enzymes have been studied till now, and more than 600 are available commercially.

Thus the correct answer is- B. Arber and Nathans.

Note: Naturally, restriction enzymes are found in bacteria to provide a defence mechanism against invading viruses. They are being used for recombinant DNA technologies in science experiments.