Har Gobind Khorana, Molecular Biologist
Molecular Biologist

Har Gobind Khorana

Born 9 January 1922 · Pakistan — Died 9 November 2011

Shared the 1968 Nobel Prize for deciphering the genetic code's nucleotide sequence.

Har Gobind Khorana was an Indian-American biochemist. While on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, he shared the 1968 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with Marshall W. Nirenberg and Robert W. Holley for research that showed the order of nucleotides in nucleic acids, which carry the genetic code of the cell and control the cell's synthesis of proteins.

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A detail that
surprised us

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Har Gobind Khorana lived off his savings for nearly a year in Switzerland working unpaid in Vladimir Prelog's lab before launching his distinguished scientific career.

The Story

1
🌱 Born in 1922 in Raipur, Punjab (now in Pakistan), Har Gobind Khorana's early education took place under a tree in a village of just 100 people, where his family was among the only literate ones, and he did not own a pencil until age 6.
2
📜 In 1948, Khorana earned his PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Liverpool under Roger J. S. Beer, after which he spent a year working unpaid with Nobel laureate Vladimir Prelog in Switzerland.
3📍 After struggling to find work in post-Partition Delhi in 1949, Khorana moved to Cambridge in 1950, collaborating with George Wallace Kenner and Alexander R. Todd on peptides and nucleotides until 1952.
4🧬 In 1960, he joined the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where his lab played a pivotal role in deciphering the genetic code, culminating in the synthesis of the first artificial gene.

🏅 Awards & Honours

1968
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
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National Medal of Science
—
Padma Vibhushan

🔍 One thing most people don't know

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Khorana's birth date was uncertain; he believed it to be January 9, 1922, a date later officially accepted despite lack of formal records due to rural poverty in British India.

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Through the Years

1 photograph from the archives
Har Gobind Khorana delivering a lecture on gene synthesis at NIH in 1978
Har Gobind Khorana delivering a lecture on gene synthesis at NIH in 1978
1978

🗓️ A Life in Moments

🕊️
Birth
Birth in Raipur, Punjab
Har Gobind Khorana was born in Raipur village, Multan district, Punjab, British India, to a patwari family with limited resources.
c.1922
📚
Education
Bachelor's Degree from Punjab University
Khorana completed his bachelor's degree at Punjab University, Lahore, supported by scholarships.
1943
📚
Education
PhD from University of Liverpool
He earned his doctorate in organic chemistry under Roger J. S. Beer and proceeded to postdoctoral work in Switzerland.
1948
⚡
Career
Move to University of British Columbia
Khorana accepted a position at University of British Columbia to start his own research laboratory.
1952
⚡
Career
Joined University of Wisconsin–Madison
He moved to Wisconsin and led research that would decode the genetic code and synthesize genes.
1960
🏅
Award
Awarded Nobel Prize
Shared Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for elucidating the genetic code and protein synthesis.
1968
🏅
Award
Received National Medal of Science
Honored by the US government for contributions to molecular biology and genetics.
1987
🕊️
Death
Passed away in the USA
Har Gobind Khorana died, leaving a legacy in genetic research.
2011
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🗝️Discoveries

Swipe to uncover hidden stories
01 / 06
🌍HISTORICAL IMPACT

During the 1947 Partition, Khorana's family relocated from Multan to Delhi as refugees, after which he never returned to his birthplace.

02 / 06
🏆ACHIEVEMENT

In 1961, Khorana's lab at University of Wisconsin–Madison helped translate short DNA sequences into amino acid chains in vitro, a key step toward understanding protein synthesis.

03 / 06
🏆ACHIEVEMENT

Khorana was awarded both the Nobel Prize and the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize in 1968, the latter from Columbia University for genetic code research.

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"Although poor, my father was dedicated to educating his children and we were practically the only literate family in the village inhabited by about 100 people."

— Har Gobind Khorana

🌱 What changed because of them

Khorana's work cracking the genetic code directly enabled the birth of genetic engineering and synthetic biology, influencing research protocols at institutions like the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His synthesis of the first artificial gene laid foundations for biotechnology industries and gene therapy advances worldwide. The Khorana Scholars Program continues to encourage collaborations between India and the United States in scientific research.

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