Stewart Shuman

Leader in nucleic acid enzymology who made important discoveries in three areas: messenger RNA processing, DNA topology, and DNA/RNA repair. He illuminated the structures and mechanisms of the enzymes that perform mRNA capping. His elegant dissection of the structure and function of vaccinia topoisomerase was a biochemical tour-de-force and led to his invention of the TOPO-cloning technology. His rigorous analysis of DNA and RNA ligases revealed fundamental principles of damage recognition and ligation. Finally, his discovery and characterization of bacterial RtcB ligase overturned the textbook view of how nucleic acid phosphodiesters are synthesized by enzymes.