The obituary article discusses the life and scientific achievements of Michael Smith who lived from 1932 to 2000. Smith grew up in Blackpool, England. In his lifetime he made major contributions to science and earned himself many awards. He is credited for developing ‘site-specific’ mutagenesis. Before he began his work on nucleotide chemistry, Smith graduated from the University of Manchester and became a post Doctoral fellow. This helped him to discover how to change a genetic base. Because of his dedication to science, he received the Nobel Peace Prize. His efforts greatly improved research in Canada. In the late 1980s, he helped found the Biotechnology Laboratory located at the University of British Columbia. He also founded a Center of Excellence in Protein Engineering in Canada. At 64 years of age, Smith worked on genomic, and DNA sequencing at the University of Washington. Since he was a firm believer in genomic research, he accepted the appointment by Victor Ling to become the director of the newly founded Genome Sequence Center. This was at the British Columbia Cancer Agency. Apart from science, people also recognized him for being generous, friendly to family, and zealous for life.
One can see that this article is very resourceful, informative, and inspirational having highlighted the major landmarks in Smith’s intellectual biography. Evidently, the ideas posted are well-structured. This provides readers with constructive insights about the author. The fact that Smith was passionate about science and equally devoted much of his time to society and his country of residence is critical. Most ideologies presented in the article are very enlightening especially in the areas of gene sequencing, other scientific discoveries, and his relationship with colleagues.
Works Cited
Hayden, Michael, and Victor Ling. “Michael Smith (1932–2000).” Nature, vol. 408, 2000, p. 786.