George Smith (chemist) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
George Smith
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Smith during Nobel press conference in Stockholm, December 2018
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George Pearson Smith
10 March 1941 Norwalk, Connecticut, U.S.
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| Known for | Phage display |
| Spouse(s) | Marjorie Sable |
| Awards | 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry |
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| Thesis | The variation and adaptive expression of antibodies. (1970) |
| Doctoral advisor | Edgar Haber |
George Pearson Smith (born March 10, 1941) is an American biologist. He won a Nobel Prize for his important work. He used to be a professor of biological sciences at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri, USA.
Contents
George Smith's Career and Discoveries
Early Life and Education
George Smith was born in Norwalk, Connecticut. He studied biology at Haverford College. After college, he worked as a high school teacher and lab technician for one year. Later, he earned his PhD degree from Harvard University. His studies focused on bacteria and how the body fights off germs (immunology).
Research and Phage Display
Before joining the University of Missouri in 1975, he worked at the University of Wisconsin. In 1983, he spent a year at Duke University. It was there that he started the research that would later earn him a Nobel Prize.
Smith is famous for inventing a method called phage display. This is a clever way to study proteins. Imagine a tiny virus called a bacteriophage (or "phage"). These viruses infect bacteria. Smith found a way to make these phages show specific proteins on their outside surface.
He did this by adding the instructions for a protein into the phage's genetic code. This makes the phage "display" the protein. He first described this method in 1985. He showed how to display small pieces of proteins called peptides on filamentous phage.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
For his amazing work on phage display, George Smith received the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He shared this important award with two other scientists, Greg Winter and Frances Arnold. Their discoveries have helped create new medicines and treatments.
Awards and Honors for George Smith
George Smith has received many awards for his scientific contributions:
- 2000 – He became a Curators' Professor at the University of Missouri.
- 2001 – He was chosen as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
- 2007 – He received the Promega Biotechnology Research Award from the American Society for Microbiology.
- 2018 – He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
- 2020 – He was elected as a Member of the United States National Academy of Sciences (NAS).
- 2023 – He received the first Mizzou Medal of Distinction from the University of Missouri College of Arts and Sciences.
See also
In Spanish: George P. Smith para niños
