Abstract:Marshall W. Nirenberg is best known for his work on deciphering the genetic code by discovering the unique code words for the twenty major amino acids that make-up DNA, for which he won the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology in 1968. This collection of correspondence, laboratory administrative and research materials, and publications documents Nirenberg's career as a researcher in biochemical genetics at the National Institutes of Health.

Abstract:Lederberg won the 1958 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Edward Tatum and George Beadle "for his discoveries concerning genetic recombination and the organization of the genetic material of bacteria." He was professor of genetics at Stanford University, president of Rockfeller University, and public servant to presidents, national groups, and governmental organizations.

Abstract:Sol Spiegelman (1914-1983) was an American microbiologist who made several important contributions in the fields of microbial genetics and cancer research, particularly the discovery of RNA/DNA hybridization and the first synthesis of an infectious nucleic acid. Biographical material, correspondence, laboratory notebooks, published and unpublished writings, academic course material, subject files, memoranda, and illustrations document Sol Spiegelman's professional career as a microbiologist.

Abstract:Correspondence, speeches, administrative files, photographs, and audiovisual materials document the professional career of Harold Eliot Varmus, who shared the 1989 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for the discovery of the cellular origins of cancer, and who later served as Director of the National Institutes of Health from 1993-2000 and President of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer from 2000-2010. The bulk of the collection consists of Varmus' speeches and professional activities at NIH and MSKCC.

Abstract:Donald Sharp Fredrickson (1924-2002) was an American physiologist and science administrator who made contributions to American medicine over the course of four decades, first as a laboratory scientist, then as a leader of several prominent medical research institutions. As director of the National Institutes of Health from 1976 to 1981, Fredrickson mediated between scientists and the federal government during contentious, far-ranging debates over the direction of medical research policy, research funding, and the dangers of genetic engineering. The collection consists of a wide range of materials related to Fredrickson's scientific and administrative careers

Abstract:DeWitt Stetten, Jr., informally know as Hans, was a noted biochemist and Deputy Director of the National Institutes of Health. The collection primarily documents Stetten's post-NIH activities between 1979 and 1990 when he acted as a consultant to the NIH, especially through his personal correspondence which makes up the bulk of the collection.

Abstract:Correspondence, email and electronic records, laboratory notebooks and workpapers, grant files, reports and journal articles, notes, lectures, awards, honors, and memorabilia document the academic and professional career of Stanford University geneticist Stanley N. Cohen. The collection comprehensively covers the many facets of Cohen's career from his early work in computational medical diagnosis, to the discovery of recombinant DNA technology, to contemporary research on degenerative neurological diseases.