Paul Modrich And The Dna Mismatch Repair System Essay

Claire Wisener Paul Modrich and the DNA Mismatch Repair System On December 10, 2015, three profound individuals received the Nobel Prize in chemistry for their work on DNA repair systems. Paul Modrich, Thomas Lindahl, and Aziz Sancar studied how the cell repairs and protects the information held in its DNA; specifically, Paul Modrich focused on DNA mismatch repair. Since DNA constantly replicates, damage and incorrect pairings are expected, but enzymes watch over DNA as it replicates and repair any errors that occur. In the mismatch repair system, enzymes find the mismatch in the copy of DNA, cut the incorrect section out, and replace it with the correct sequence. Paul Modrich’s study of the mismatch repair system has provided the medical field with important information regarding cancer growth and the possibility of a cure. Paul Modrich was born June 13, 1946. Growing up in the small town of Raton in northern New Mexico caused Modrich to have an interest in science since childhood (HHMI). The large amount of biodiversity surrounding him sparked his interest in biology and DNA, and his father, the biology teacher at the local high school, encouraged Modrich to pursue his interests in DNA. After graduating from Raton High School, Modrich went on to receive his bachelor’s degree in biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1968 and later went to Stanford University to get his PhD in biochemistry in 1973 (Duke University School of Medicine). In the late 1970s,