1925-

American Geneticist and Microbiologist

Charles Yanofsky's most significant contributions to genetics and biochemistry developed from his studies of the genetics and biochemistry of tryptophan synthetase. Yanofsky's pioneering investigation of tryptophan synthetase was the first to demonstrate than an enzyme could contain two dissimilar subunits. Eschericia coli tryptophan synthetase catalyzes the final two sequential reactions in the biosynthesis of tryptophan. Yanofsky's work on the relationship between the genes controlling the enzyme and the synthesis and regulation of the enzyme contributed to a more sophisticated version of the "one gene—one enzyme" concept advanced by George Beadle (1903-1989) and Edward Tatum (1909-1975).

Yanofsky was born in New York City. He received his B.S. degree, with a major in biochemistry, from the City College of New York in 1948. He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in microbiology from Yale University in 1950 and 1951, respectively. From 1944 to...