How The Weirdest Guy Won The Nobel Prize

LSD-fiend, surfer, maverick — Kary Mullis might be the weirdest person ever to win the Nobel Prize. Get a little smarter every day with Brilliant. Visit https://brilliant.org/veritasium to get 20% off your annual premium subscription. A massive thank you to Tom White, Hudson Freeze, and Henry Erlich for their time and expertise on the subject. A huge thank you to Eleni Kleanthous, Jan Novoselec, Kieran Sparkes, Andrew Garcia, and UCSD’s Pride Lab for reviewing the science. For great coverage of the PCR story, check out ‘Making PCR’ by Paul Rabinow - https://ve42.co/Rabinow1996 00:00 DNA under a microscope 01:17 Kary Mullis at Berkeley 02:50 Cetus and early biotech 04:16 How to detect sickle cell anemia 09:12 Kary Mullis at Cetus 10:39 Infinite DNA glitch explained 15:29 Kary Mullis struggles 18:10 Thermus Aquaticus to the rescue 23:53 Going public 26:59 The quirky genius, Kary Mullis ▀▀▀ Special thanks to our Patreon supporters! Join the community to help us keep our videos free, forever: https://ve42.co/PatreonDE Adam Foreman, Albert Wenger, Alexander Tamas, Anton Ragin, Autodidactic Studios, Bertrand Serlet, Blake Byers, Bruce, Dave Kircher, David Johnston, Evgeny Skvortsov, Farbod Mansorian, Garrett Mueller, Gnare, gpoly, Greg Scopel, I. H., Juan Benet, KeyWestr, Kyi, Lee Redden, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Matthias Wrobel, Meekay, meg noah, Michael Krugman, Orlando Bassotto, Paul Peijzel, Richard Sundvall, Sam Lutfi, Spilmann Reed, Tj Steyn, TTST, Ubiquity Ventures, and wolfee If you’re looking for a molecular modeling kit, try Snatoms, a kit I invented where the atoms snap together magnetically - https://ve42.co/SnatomsV ▀▀▀ References: Mullis, K. (1968). Cosmological Significance of Time Reversal. Nature - https://ve42.co/Mullis1968 Mullis, K. (1997). Dancing Naked in the Mind Field. Vintage - https://ve42.co/Mullis1997 McDonald, C. (2019). Intolerable Genius. Cal Alumni Association - https://ve42.co/McDonald2019 Conner, B. J. et al. (1983). Detection of sickle cell beta S-globin allele by hybridization with synthetic oligonucleotides. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - https://ve42.co/Conner1983 Human Beta-globin gene via UniProt - https://ve42.co/BetaGlobin Saiki, R. K. et al. (1985). Enzymatic Amplification of β-Globin Genomic Sequences and Restriction Site Analysis for Diagnosis of Sickle Cell Anemia. Science - https://ve42.co/Saiki1985 Mullis, K. B. (1990). The Unusual Origin of the Polymerase Chain Reaction. Scientific American - https://ve42.co/Mullis1990 Kary B. Mullis via The Nobel Prize - https://ve42.co/Nobel1993 Restriction Enzymes via The Nobel Prize - https://ve42.co/Nobel1978 Saiki, R. K. et al. (1988). Primer-Directed Enzymatic Amplification of DNA with a Thermostable DNA Polymerase. Science - https://ve42.co/Saiki1988 Smith, T. C. (2024). HIV Denial in the COVID Era. AIDS and Behavior. - https://ve42.co/Smith2024 Mullis, K. B., Faloona, F. A. (1987). Specific synthesis of DNA in vitro via a polymerase-catalyzed chain reaction. Methods in Enzymology - https://ve42.co/Mullis1987 Dr. Kary Mullis about LSD via RadioIciMaintenant Rim - https://ve42.co/MullisLSD Brock, T. D., & Freeze, H. (1969). Thermus aquaticus gen. n. and sp. n., a Nonsporulating Extreme Thermophile. Journal of Bacteriology - https://ve42.co/Brock1969 Rediscovering Yellowstone via UW-Madison - https://ve42.co/Madison2017 Presidential Aids Advisory Panel Report via gov.za - https://ve42.co/Mbeki2001 Nattrass, N. (2008). AIDS and the Scientific Governance of Medicine in Post-Apartheid South Africa. African Affairs - https://ve42.co/Nattrass2008 Chigwedere, P. et al. (2008). Estimating the Lost Benefits of Antiretroviral Drug Use in South Africa. JAIDS Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes - https://ve42.co/Chigwedere2008 Images & Video: Available here - https://ve42.co/PCRVisuals ▀▀▀ Directed by Gregor Čavlović and Latif Nasser Written by Gregor Čavlović, Latif Nasser, and Derek Muller Edited by Peter Nelson Animated by Ivy Tello, Emma Wright, Fabio Albertelli, Andrew Neet, and Alex Drakoulis Illustrated by Emma Wright, Maria Gusakovich, and Jakub Misiek, Filmed by Derek Muller, Alex Gorosh, and Gregor Čavlović Additional research by Geeta Thakur and Gabriel Bean Produced by Derek Muller, Latif Nasser, Gregor Čavlović, Rob Beasley Spence, Emily Lazard, Tori Brittain, James Horsley, Luke Lewis, Matthew Cavanagh, Barbara Abraul, Henry Van Dyck, Petr Lebedev, and Casper Mebius Thumbnail contributions by Ben Powell, Ren Hurley, Peter Sheppard, Maria Gusakovich, Emma Wright, Jakub Misiek, and Tommy Steven Additional video/photos supplied by Getty Images and Storyblocks Music from Epidemic Sound


View on YouTube.