Smith, Hamilton Othanel

Smith, Hamilton Othanel, 1931–, American biologist, b. New York City, M.D. Johns Hopkins Univ., 1956. A professor at the Univ. of Michigan and Johns Hopkins Univ., Smith worked with Daniel Nathans and Werner Arber studying the nature of genes. The trio discovered and used certain enzymes that break down genetic material in order to study hereditary mutation in bacteria. For their work the three received the 1978 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with David H. Hubel and Tosten N. Wiesel.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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