Arthur Kornberg

Arthur Kornberg (March 3, 1918 – October 26, 2007) was an American biochemist renowned for his pioneering work on DNA synthesis, particularly the discovery and isolation of the enzyme DNA polymerase I, which enabled the first in vitro replication of DNA and laid foundational insights into the mechanisms of genetic replication and repair. He shared the 1959 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Severo Ochoa for their discoveries of the enzymatic processes involved in the biological synthesis of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA).

Born in Brooklyn, New York, to Joseph and Lena Katz Kornberg, Russian Jewish immigrants, Kornberg grew up in a working-class family and attended public schools before earning a B.S. in science from the City College of New York in 1937. He then pursued medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, receiving his M.D. in 1941, where he developed an early interest in enzymes and metabolism during his internship. From 1942 to 1953, Kornberg served in the U.S. Public Health Service, initially as a Navy ship's doctor during World War II, before joining the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a research scientist, where he established the Enzyme Section and conducted foundational studies on nucleotide coenzymes.

Arthur Kornberg was born on March 3, 1918, in Brooklyn, New York, to Joseph and Lena (née Katz) Kornberg, Jewish immigrants from Austrian Galicia, a region now part of Poland and Ukraine. His parents emigrated to the United States in 1900, before their marriage in 1904, seeking better opportunities after facing hardships in Eastern Europe. Joseph Kornberg, who had no formal education but spoke at least six languages, worked for over 30 years in New York City sweatshops as a tailor before health issues prompted him to open a small hardware and home furnishings store. Lena Kornberg managed the household, though she also lacked formal schooling.