EDWARD LAWRIE TATUM

Edward L. Tatum's contributions to the founding of biochemical genetics and of bacterial genetics were instrumental in the transformation of modern biology, which increasingly has focused on the flow of information through nucleic acids and the protein structure of the cell.

Tatum was most effective in collaborative investigations, in which he played the role of microbiologist and biochemist, meeting challenges of profound genetic interest. In these studies, he was instrumental in the development of microorganisms such as Neurospora and Escherichia coli as tools for fundamental genetic investigations. In 1958, he shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine with G. W. Beadle and J. Lederberg, having been a principal partner in these separate, major lines of research.