Fred Sanger - Double Nobel Laureate
A Biography

The first biography of Fred Sanger, shedding light on his remarkable life and career and exploring his continuing legacy.

George G. Brownlee (Author), Edwin Southern (Foreword by)

9781108794534, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 2 April 2020

224 pages, 94 b/w illus. 8 colour illus.
23 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.5 kg

'This is a great read and one that I would recommend to any student considering a career in the biological sciences - they will find a hero in Sanger and, in doing so, will be inspired.' Andy Squires, The Biologist

Considered 'the father of genomics', Fred Sanger (1918–2013) paved the way for the modern revolution in our understanding of biology. His pioneering methods for sequencing proteins, RNA and, eventually, DNA earned him two Nobel Prizes. He remains one of only four scientists (and the only British scientist) ever to have achieved that distinction. In this, the first full biography of Fred Sanger to be published, Brownlee traces Sanger's life from his birth in rural Gloucestershire to his retirement in 1983 from the Medical Research Council's Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. Along the way, he highlights the remarkable extent of Sanger's scientific achievements and provides a real portrait of the modest man behind them. Including an extensive transcript of a rare interview of Sanger by the author, this biography also considers the wider legacy of Sanger's work, including his impact on the Human Genome Project and beyond.

Foreword Sir Edwin Southern
Acknowledgements
Brief chronology and honours
Introduction
1. A Quaker upbringing
2. How about studying insulin?
3. Radioactive sequencing of proteins and nucleic acids
4. Interview of Fred by the author in 1992. Early life
5. Interview of Fred by the author in 1992. Insulin and the Biochemistry Department, Cambridge University
6. Interview of Fred by the author, 1992. Nucleic Acids at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge
7. Post-Sanger sequencing – high throughput, automated sequencing
8. Cancer – the impact of New Generation Sequencing
9. Commentaries on Fred Sanger's scientific legacy by Paul Berg, Elizabeth Blackburn, Sir John Sulston, David Bentley and Paul Nurse
Epilogue
Endnotes
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Molecular biology [PSD], Biology, life sciences [PS], History of science [PDX], Science: general issues [PD], Mathematics & science [P]