US scientist Roger Kornberg wins Nobel, 47 years after his father

0 Comments | AFP, October, 2006

STOCKHOLM (AFP) — Roger Kornberg of the United States has won the Nobel Chemistry Prize for work on a key process of life called genetic transcription, building on Nobel prizewinning discoveries by his own father. Kornberg, 59, received the distinction "for his fundamental studies concerning how the information stored in the genes is copied, and then transferred to those parts of the cells that produce proteins", the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in its citation Wednesday.

Understanding the transcription process is vital for coaxing stem cells into different kinds of specific cells -- the dream that, one day, scientists will be able to grow transplant tissue in a lab. Kornberg's award wraps up a clean sweep for the United States in the Nobel science prizes, with...