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Alexander Rich

Alexander Rich

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
National Academy of Sciences National Medal of Science

Alexander Rich was the Sedgwick Professor of Biophysics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he was a faculty member since 1958. As well as discovering polynucleotide hybridization and the structure of double stranded RNA, Rich showed that protein synthesis occurs in a cluster of ribosomes (the polysome), he determined the structure of yeast tRNAPhe, and he discovered the existence of left-handed DNA. Rich received many honors and awards for his work including the National Medal of Science in 1995. Rich was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine.

Sadly, Alex Rich died on April 27, 2015.  He was 90 years old.

Talks with this Speaker

The Discovery of Polynucleotide Hybridization

Alexander Rich talks about the discovery and story of how polynucleotide hybridization has become the foundation of much of modern biotechnology. (Talk recorded in July 2014)

Alexander Rich
Audience:
  • Student
  • Researcher
  • Educators of H. School / Intro Undergrad
  • Educators of Adv. Undergrad / Grad
Duration: 14:32

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