Photo: Dona Mapston / CC BY-SA 3.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Kary Mullis is one of my favorite reminders that genius rarely fits the mold we expect. Inventing PCR earned him the 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and the Japan Prize, yet he remained famously unconventional, a surfer and free spirit as much as a Berkeley-trained biochemist. I admire that he embodied the idea that breakthrough thinking often comes from people who refuse to stay in their lane. Whatever one makes of his eccentricities, his invention quietly underpins modern medicine and saves lives every single day. That is an extraordinary legacy, and it makes him impossible to forget.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Kary Mullis
- Name (Japanese)
- キャリー・マリス
- Reading
- きゃりー・まりす
- Born
- December 28, 1944 – August 7, 2019
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Capricorn / Monkey
- Origin
- Lenoir, North Carolina, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- biochemist / molecular biologist / chemist
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Dreher High School
- University
- University of California, Berkeley
Awards & achievements
- 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- 1991 Canada Gairdner International Award
- 1998 National Inventors Hall of Fame
- 1990 ASHG Lifetime Achievement Award
- 1992 Robert Koch Prize
- 1993 Japan Prize
- 2010 honorary doctorate of the Masaryk University
- 1992 John Scott Award
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
- Official sitehttps://karymullis.com
- Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%AD%E3%83%A3%E3%83%AA%E3%83%BC%E3%83%BB%E3%83%9E%E3%83%AA%E3%82%B9
Frequently asked questions
When was Kary Mullis born?
December 28, 1944 – August 7, 2019.
Where is Kary Mullis from?
Kary Mullis is from Lenoir, North Carolina, United States.
What does Kary Mullis do?
Kary Mullis works as biochemist, molecular biologist, chemist.
Biochemist — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-20
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.