Mahlon Bush Hoagland is an American biochemist who, along with Paul Zamecnik, first isolated an important nucleic acid called transfer RNA (ribonucleic acid), or t(RNA). Transfer RNA is an adaptor that carries amino acids to messenger RNA, which transports information from DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) in the nucleus to ribosomes in the cytoplasm. RNA is studied in protein synthesis because it is the intermediary between DNA and protein. Hoagland also studied the carcinogenic effects of beryllium and the biosynthesis of coenzyme A, but the main focus of his research was protein synthesis.

Born in Boston, Hoagland was educated at Williams College and Harvard. He had decided to be a surgeon and studied at Harvard Medical School until he was diagnosed with tuberculosis; finally receiving his M.D. from Harvard in 1948. His health, however, forced him to forego a career as a surgeon. Instead, he accepted a research position...