In 1947, Arthur Kornberg served as research investigator in the Department of Biological Chemistry at the University with professors Carl and Gerty Cori, who won the Nobel Prize in medicine that year for their discovery of the course of the catalytic conversion of glycogen. Kornberg chaired the Department of Microbiology at the University from 1952-59, and shared the 1959 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine with former WUSTL colleague Severo Ochoa for their work in the discovery of the mechanisms in the biological synthesis of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA). The biological sciences have been among the University's great strengths, garnering 18 Nobel Prizes over the years. Examples of outstanding work in the sciences at the University include the first faithful in vitro eukaryotic gene transcription, the use of transgenic plants to combat viral diseases, and investigations into neural development and brain mapping.
Washington University is celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2003-04.
