# Why has Alec Jeffreys never won a Nobel prize?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-alec-jeffreys-never-won-a-nobel-prize/778978>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [February 4, 2017, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-alec-jeffreys-never-won-a-nobel-prize/778978 "2017-02-04T09:58:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2017, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-alec-jeffreys-never-won-a-nobel-prize/778978/1 "2017-02-04T09:58:21Z")

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[Sir Alex Jeffreys](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alec_Jeffreys) was the geneticist who first developed DNA fingerprinting and profiling. This has got to be one of the most profound advances in forensic and biological sciences of the last century. Surely the Nobel committee could have recognized him somewhere along the line.

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**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2017, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-alec-jeffreys-never-won-a-nobel-prize/778978/2 "2017-02-04T12:29:08Z")

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the guy who invented the way to amplify DNA won and he holds some strange views.

> **[Kary Mullis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kary_Mullis)**
>
> Kary Banks Mullis (December 28, 1944 – August 7, 2019) was an American biochemist. In recognition of his role in the invention of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique, he shared the 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Michael Smith and was awarded the Japan Prize in the same year. PCR became a central technique in biochemistry and molecular biology, described by The New York Times as "highly original and significant, virtually dividing biology into the two epochs of before PCR and afte

But there are a lot of people nominated.

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**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2017, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-alec-jeffreys-never-won-a-nobel-prize/778978/3 "2017-02-04T12:31:26Z")

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> [@Bijou\_Drains](#):
>
> the guy who invented the way to amplify DNA won and he holds some strange views.
> 
> [Kary Mullis - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kary_Mullis)
> 
> But there are a lot of people nominated.

I worked with Kary Mullis and (even held his Nobel!). He’s a strange fellow.

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**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2017, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-alec-jeffreys-never-won-a-nobel-prize/778978/4 "2017-02-04T15:42:02Z")

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since somebody is bound to bring it up, Mullis improved PCR , he did not have the original idea for it.