Frederick Sanger

Most scientists would consider a Nobel Prize the crowning achievement of a life's work; Frederick Sanger has won this honor not once, but twice. He received his first Nobel in 1958 for successfully determining the exact sequence of the 51 amino acids that make up a molecule of insulin. The method he pioneered can be used for the analysis of all proteins, and made the synthesis of insulin possible for the first time, with far-reaching effects for the treatment of diabetes. Dr. Sanger then set out to do for DNA what he had done for proteins. Methods he devised have enabled scientists to determine the sequence of hundreds of base compounds in a single day, work that had previously taken years to accomplish. Dr. Sanger demonstrated his method by performing the first complete analysis of an entire organism, a microscopic bacteriophage. In 1980, Dr. Sanger received a second Nobel for this work, which lies at the heart of contemporary genetic research, such as the Human Genome Project. Only four other people in history have won two Nobel Prizes. Two were past honorees of the Academy of Achievement, John Bardeen and Linus Pauling. The others were Marie Curie and Winston Churchill. Dr. Frederick Sanger is the only living member of this illustrious company. In this podcast, recorded at the 2000 International Achievement Summit in London, England, Dr. Sanger recalls a half-century of work as a biochemist. He recalls the techniques he developed for sequencing proteins and DNA, and shares the excitement of discovery with the Academy's student delegates.