born Oct. 15, 1921, New York, N.Y., U.S.
U.S. molecular biologist.
He received his Ph.D. from Purdue University. He developed a method for determining the detailed structure of viral genes and coined the term cistron to denote functional subunits of genes. He did much to explain the nature of genetic oddities, called nonsense mutations, in terms of the nucleotide sequence of DNA, and he discovered a reversal, or suppression, of these mutations in certain bacteria.