Awards '05
Professor Frederick Sanger: Science & Innovation
The judges described this outstanding biochemist as "a giant". In 1975 Professor Sanger developed the chain termination method of DNA sequencing, also known as the Sanger Method. Two years later, he used his technique to fully sequence the genome. Although his work was not carried out in 2005, the judges felt that its full magnitude is only now being felt and that the awards should raise the profile of an extraordinary man who is a revered figure. His work was described as "critical" by the judges, with his insight and findings "lasting the test of time".
Professor Sanger was born towards the end of the First World War in Gloucestershire. He took his first degree, in biochemistry, at Cambridge University. In the 1940s and 1950s Professor Sanger developed methods to determine the order (sequence) of the building blocks of the protein insulin. In 1958 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for his work in sequencing proteins. The work for his second Nobel Prize (awarded in 1980) centred around developing the technique of reading DNA - "dideoxy" or "Sanger" sequencing. Professor Sanger finds it remarkable that the method he developed nearly 25 years ago is still in use today.
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Sanger Institute
Nobel Prize
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