Phillip A. Sharp has conducted research into the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA--the chemical blueprint that synthesizes proteins) which has altered previous views on the mechanism of genetic change. For his work in this area, Sharp was presented with the 1977 Nobel Prize in medicine along with Richard J. Roberts. In addition to the Nobel Prize, Sharp has received honors from the American Cancer Society and the National Academy of Science, and is the recipient of the Howard Ricketts Award, the Alfred P. Sloan Jr. Prize, the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award, and the Dickson Prize.

Born in Falmouth, Kentucky, Sharp grew up on a small agricultural farm owned by his parents, Katherin Colvin and Joseph Walter Sharp. Earnings from tobacco land given to him by his parents allowed him to attend Union College in Barbourville, Kentucky, where he received a B.A. degree in chemistry and mathematics...