Aziz Sancar
A meticulous scientist who mapped how cells mend UV-damaged DNA, work that earned him a Nobel Prize and deepened our understanding of cancer and aging.
Born 1946 (age 80)·Turkish biochemist and molecular biologist·Birthday: September 8·Baby Boomers
Biography
Aziz Sancar's path from a small town in Turkey to a Nobel podium in Stockholm is a story of sheer determination. The first Turkish scientist to win a Nobel in a scientific field, his career was built on a fascination with life's fundamental repair kits. Focusing on the havoc wreaked by ultraviolet light, Sancar spent decades in his lab at the University of North Carolina meticulously charting the molecular choreography of nucleotide excision repair—the process cells use to cut out and replace damaged segments of DNA. His work provided a blueprint for understanding how failures in these mechanisms lead to mutations and diseases like cancer. In a parallel line of inquiry, he helped unravel the structure of photolyase, an enzyme that uses light to directly reverse UV damage. Sancar is also deeply committed to his homeland, establishing a foundation to support Turkish students and gifting his Nobel medal to the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Aziz was born in 1946, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Aziz Was Born
The biggest hits of 1946
#1 Movie
The Best Years of Our Lives
Best Picture
The Best Years of Our Lives
Aziz's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1946Born
United Nations holds its first General Assembly
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $5,150Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Prisoner of Love" — Perry ComoBest Picture: The Best Years of Our Lives
1951Started school
First color TV broadcast in the US
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,925Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Too Young" — Nat King ColeBest Picture: An American in Paris
1959Became a teenager
Fidel Castro takes power in Cuba
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $12,400Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"The Battle of New Orleans" — Johnny HortonBest Picture: Ben-Hur
1962Could drive
Cuban Missile Crisis brings the world to the brink
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,800Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Stranger on the Shore" — Acker BilkBest Picture: Lawrence of Arabia
1964Could vote
Civil Rights Act signed; Beatles arrive in America
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $13,450Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"I Want to Hold Your Hand" — The BeatlesBest Picture: My Fair Lady
1967Turned 21
Summer of Love in San Francisco; first Super Bowl
Gas: $0.33/galHome: $14,250Min wage: $1.40/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"To Sir, with Love" — LuluBest Picture: In the Heat of the Night
1976Turned 30
Apple Computer founded; US bicentennial
Gas: $0.59/galHome: $29,300Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Silly Love Songs" — WingsBest Picture: Rocky
1986Turned 40
Challenger disaster; Chernobyl nuclear meltdown
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $66,600Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"That's What Friends Are For" — Dionne & FriendsBest Picture: Platoon
1996Turned 50
Dolly the sheep cloned
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $99,700Min wage: $4.75/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Macarena" — Los del RioBest Picture: The English Patient
2006Turned 60
Twitter launches; Pluto reclassified as dwarf planet
Gas: $2.59/galHome: $174,700Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Bad Day" — Daniel PowterBest Picture: The Departed
2016Turned 70
Donald Trump elected president; Brexit vote
Gas: $2.14/galHome: $181,700Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Love Yourself" — Justin BieberBest Picture: Moonlight
2026Turned 80
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for mapping how cells repair UV-induced DNA damage at the molecular level.
- Cloned the gene for photolyase, a photoactive enzyme that repairs DNA using light energy.
- Elucidated the mechanisms of nucleotide excision repair in bacteria and humans, a critical cellular defense.
- Founded the Aziz & Gwen Sancar Foundation, which promotes Turkish culture and supports students in the United States.
Did You Know?
He kept the Nobel Prize announcement call on his answering machine because he thought it was a prank.
He donated his original Nobel gold medal to the Anıtkabir mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in Ankara.
Before his breakthrough in biochemistry, he attended medical school and practiced as a physician in Turkey.
He is a passionate collector of Atatürk memorabilia.
“I did not do anything spectacular. I just went to my lab every day and worked hard.”
