Daniel Nathans

Daniel Nathans was an American microbiologist who applied newly discovered restriction enzymes to map the genome of a virus, developing the technique of restriction mapping that let researchers determine the physical arrangement of genes along a strand of DNA. Working at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Nathans used the restriction enzymes identified by Hamilton Smith to cut the DNA of the monkey virus SV40 into fragments and order them, establishing methods that became standard tools across molecular biology and genetic engineering. He shared the 1978 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Werner Arber and Hamilton Smith for the discovery of restriction enzymes and their application to problems of molecular genetics. Nathans joined the Johns Hopkins faculty in 1962, became a full professor in 1967, directed its microbiology department from 1972, and was later named a University Professor, the school's highest faculty distinction. He also served as interim president of Johns Hopkins University from 1995 to 1996 and received the National Medal of Science in 1993.