Aziz Sancar

This biography will introduce you to Aziz Sancar, a great Turkish scientist and one of the winners of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his outstanding contribution to the discovery of the DNA Repair Mechanism through a 45 year saga. Beyond a mere biography, this is an extraordinary story depicting a dedicated basic scientist within the process of discovery. Sancar concluded his work of 40 years on the Photolyase enzyme, which is activated by light and repairs DNA. When he discovered how the Nucleotide Excision Repair works on DNA in bacteria and in humans, he said, “I have discovered a secret that only God and now I know of”. His professor Rupp praised Sancar for his “complete dedication”. A friend asking Sancar, “would you sell this discovery for 10 million dollars?” received the response, “no, because this discovery grants me the kind of peace that is priceless”.

Sancar’s discoveries continued: the DNA repair map... The “Eureka!” moment during a flight, his hypothesis and the circadian rhythm gene – the discovery of the Cryptochrome… the connection between circadian oscillation chemotherapy drugs… chronotherapy... the DNA damage map of smoking…

You will get to know a great basic scientist, his feelings, his excitement and his discoveries. He says, “the research on the way to the Nobel is much more exciting than the Nobel itself. One must work not to get the Nobel but to do good work that will benefit society and humanity.”