born June 30, 1926, New York, N.Y., U.S.
U.S. biochemist.
He received his Ph.D. from Western Reserve University. While studying the actions of isolated genes, he devised methods for splitting DNA molecules at selected sites and attaching the resulting segments to the DNA of a virus or plasmid, which could then enter bacterial or animal cells. The foreign DNA was incorporated into the host and caused the synthesis of proteins not ordinarily found there. One of the earliest practical results of this research was the development of a strain of bacteria that contained the gene for producing insulin. In 1980 Berg shared a Nobel Prize with Walter Gilbert (b. 1932) and Frederick Sanger .