Kary Mullis Inventor of PCR Technique & Noble Laureate, Dies
Kary Mullis at TED2009, Session 8: Discover, Feb. 6, 2009, Long Beach, CA
credit: TED / Asa Mathat

Kary Mullis Inventor of PCR Technique & Noble Laureate, Dies

Kary Mullis, Ph.D., an eminent researcher who received the 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his development of the technique known as Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) at Cetus in the 1980s, passed away due to pneumonia at the age of 74. Karry Mullis leaves behind his wife, Nancy, three children, and two grandchildren.

Kary Mullis was born in North Carolina in 1944. He went on to pursue a chemistry degree from Georgia Tech and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. In the 1980s, while working for the biotech company called Cetus Corp in Emeryville, he developed the DNA replication technique known as polymerase chain reaction (PCR). It is one of the most widely used methods in molecular biology and genetics today.

He was also a controversial figure in the scientific community, who reportedly believed in astrology. He disagreed with the scientific community in that he did not accept that climate change was a major threat to our world or that HIV caused AIDS.

Rich Robbins, the founder, and CEO of Wareham Development, a real estate developer for various biotech companies said that Kary Mullis was one

of the most iconic personalities the scientific community ever witnessed. He is known to be an advocate of LSD usage and also famous for founding a company that infused jewelry with celebrities’ DNA. While writing for The Scientist, The Nobel Laureate said that it took him several months to design the PCR protocol to arrive at a convincing result. He describes this journey as a ‘Long- Short Experiment’. Nature and Science, leading Scientific Journals had rejected his idea of PCR. Ultimately, it got published in Methods in Enzymology in 1987. Around this Time Kary Mullis had left Cetus, and went on to Consult for various Biotech firms such as Abbott Labs and Eastman Kodak.

Kary Mullis – the Inventor of PCR Technique, was also the founder of a company called Altermune with the goal of developing a therapeutic to redeploy a person’s existing antibodies against new pathogens.

Rahul Mishra
Rahul Mishra
Rahul Mishra is a Science enthusiast and eager to learn something new each day. He has a degree in Microbiology and has joined forces with Biotecnika in 2019 due to his passion for writing and science.

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