University of Colorado at Boulder chemistry and biochemistry Distinguished Professor Marvin Caruthers has been named winner of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences Award for Chemistry in Service to Society.
Caruthers was honored for developing several processes to synthesize DNA, the genetic material that makes up the building blocks of life. Caruthers' research in nucleic acid chemistry laid the foundation for the automatic synthesis of DNA achieved with devices popularly known as "gene machines."
Carrying a $20,000 prize, the award is given every two years for "contributions to chemistry, either in fundamental science or its application, that clearly satisfy a societal need." Caruthers' accomplishments have been essential to advancements of applications such as chromosome mapping, sequencing the human genome, the diagnosis of disease and interactions between DNA, RNA and protein.
More recently, Caruthers and his research group have pioneered the development of a new, two-step DNA synthesis approach that is expected to be extremely useful in preparing both DNA chips and large amounts of DNA. The group also has developed new methods for RNA synthesis in recent years.
Caruthers was elected to the National Academy of Sciences and to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1994. He was named a distinguished professor at CU in 1999 and served as chair of CU-Boulder's chemistry and biochemistry department from 1992 to 1995.
Presented since 1991, the National Academy of Sciences award was established by E.I du Ponte Nemours & Co. and was given to Caruthers for contributions made to academia. The award will be presented on May 2 at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., during the National Academy of Sciences 142nd annual meeting.