David Baltimore

views updated

David Baltimore

1938

American virologist whose research led to an understanding of the role of viruses in the development of cancer. While working on tumor-causing RNA viruses (now called retroviruses), Baltimore found an unusual enzyme, called reverse transcriptase, that copies DNA. In this way, viral DNA invades the cell, leading to the development of cancer. Baltimore received the 1975 Nobel Prize for physiology in medicine.

More From encyclopedia.com