Paul Berg shared the 1980 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his fundamental studies of the biochemistry of nucleic acids, with particular regard to recombinant-DNA.
Berg developed methods for joining DNA molecules from different sources, producing recombinant DNA. In 1972, his laboratory created a hybrid DNA molecule involving viral and bacterial genetic material, demonstrating that genetic information could be combined experimentally.
The technology became central to molecular biology, genetic engineering and biotechnology. It enabled researchers to study genes in new hosts and eventually supported the production of medicines such as recombinant human insulin.
The 1980 prize was shared with Walter Gilbert and Frederick Sanger, who were honored for determining base sequences in nucleic acids. Berg was not the sole inventor of all recombinant-DNA methods.