For related information, see the articles on History of RNA Biology, History of Molecular Biology, and History of Genetics.
| Name | Dates | Institution | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abelson, John | born 1938 | University of California, San Francisco | 1985 National Academy of Sciences (US) |
| Altman, Sidney | 1939–2022 | Yale University | 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1990 National Academy of Sciences (US) |
| Ambros, Victor | University of Massachusetts Medical School | 2007 National Academy of Sciences (US), 2008 Lasker Award, 2009 Horwitz Prize | |
| Atkins, John | University College Cork | 2007 Royal Irish Academy Gold Medal Award | |
| Baltimore, David | born 1938 | California Institute of Technology | 1974 National Academy of Science (US), 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| Barré-Sinoussi, Françoise | born 1947 | Pasteur Institute | 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| Bartel, David | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 2005 National Academy of Science Award in Molecular Biology | |
| Baulcombe, David | born 1952 | Cambridge University | 2008 Lasker Award |
| Belfort, Marlene | born 1945 | Wadsworth Center | 1999 National Academy of Sciences (US) |
| Benzer, Seymour | 1921–2007 | California Institute of Technology | 1961 National Academy of Science (US), 1971 Lasker Award, 1976 Horwitz Prize |
| Birnstiel, Max | 1933–2014 | University of Zurich | 1983 National Academy of Science (US) |
| Blackburn, Elizabeth | born 1948 | University of California, San Francisco | 1993 National Academy of Sciences (US), 2006 Lasker Award, 2007 Horwitz Prize, 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| Breaker, Ronald R. | born 1964 | Yale University | 2006 National Academy of Science Award in Molecular Biology |
| Brenner, Sydney | 1927–2019 | Salk Institute | 1971 & 2000 Lasker Award, 1977 National Academy of Science (US), 2002 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| Brown, Donald D. | Carnegie Institution for Science | 1973 National Academy of Science (US), 1985 Horwitz Prize | |
| Bruening, George | University of California, Davis | 1992 National Academy of Science (US) | |
| Burge, Christopher | born 1968 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 2001 Overton Prize, 2003 Searle Scholar Award |
| Carthew, Richard | born 1956 | Northwestern University | 1995 Pew Biomedical Scholar |
| Caruthers, Marvin | born 1940 | University of Colorado, Boulder | 1994 National Academy of Science (US) |
| Cech, Thomas | born 1947 | University of Colorado, Boulder | 1987 National Academy of Sciences (US), 1988 Lasker Award, 1988 Horwitz Prize, 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry |
| Chambon, Pierre | born 1931 | Institute for Genetics and Cell and Molecular Biology, Strasbourg | 1985 National Academy of Science (US), 1999 Horwitz Prize |
| Crick, Francis | 1916–2004 | Salk Institute | 1960 Lasker Award, 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| Dahlberg, James E. | University of Wisconsin, Madison | 1996 National Academy of Sciences (US) | |
| Darnell, James | born
1930 |
Rockefeller University | 1973 National Academy of Science (US), 2002 Lasker Award |
| Darnell, Robert | 1957 | Rockefeller University | 2010 National Academy of Medicine (US), 2014 National Academy of Science (US) |
| Doolittle, W. Ford | 1942 | Dalhousie University | 2002 National Academy of Science (US) |
| Doudna, Jennifer | born 1964 | University of California, Berkeley | 2002 National Academy of Sciences (US), 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (US) |
| Dulbecco, Renato | 1914-2012 | CNR Institute of Biomedical Technologies (Italy) | 1961 National Academy of Science (US), 1964 Lasker Award, 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| Feigon, Juli | University of California, Los Angeles | 2009 National Academy of Science (US) | |
| Fire, Andrew | born 1959 | Stanford University | 2004 National Academy of Science (US), 2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| Gall, Joseph G. | born 1928 | Carnegie Institution | 1972 National Academy of Science (US), 2006 Lasker Award, 2007 Horwitz Prize |
| Gallo, Robert | born 1937 | National Institutes of Health (US) | 1982 & 1986 Lasker Award |
| Gilbert, Walter | born 1932 | Harvard University | 1976 National Academy of Sciences (US), 1979 Lasker Award, 1979 Horwitz Prize, 1980 Nobel Prize in Chemistry |
| Greider, Carol | born 1961 | Johns Hopkins University | 2003 National Academy of Sciences (US), 2006 Lasker Award, 2007 Horwitz Prize, 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| Guthrie, Christine | University of California, San Francisco | 1993 National Academy of Science (US) | |
| Hannon, Greg | Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory | 2007 National Academy of Science Award in Molecular Biology | |
| Henkin, Tina M. | Ohio State University | 2006 National Academy of Science Award in Molecular Biology | |
| Hoagland, Mahlon | 1921–2009 | Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research | 1984 National Academy of Sciences (US) |
| Holley, Robert | 1922–1993 | Cornell University | 1965 Lasker Award, 1968 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| Hurwitz, Jerard | Sloan-Kettering Institute | 1974 National Academy of Sciences (US) | |
| Jacob, François | 1920–2013 | Pasteur Institute | 1965 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1969 National Academy of Science (US) |
| Joyce, Gerald | born 1956 | Scripps Research Institute | 2001 National Academy of Sciences (US) |
| Kaesberg, Paul | University of Wisconsin, Madison | 1991 National Academy of Sciences (US) | |
| Khorana, H. Gobind | 1922–2011 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 1966 National Academy of Sciences (US), 1968 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1968 Horwitz Prize, 1968 Lasker Award |
| Klug, Aaron | 1926–2018 | Medical Research Council (UK) | 1981 Horwitz Prize, 1982 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1984 National Academy of Science (US) |
| Kornberg, Roger | born 1947 | Stanford University | 1993 National Academy of Sciences (US), 2006 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2006 Horwitz Prize |
| Lambowitz, Alan | University of Texas, Austin | 2004 National Academy of Sciences (US) | |
| Maquat, Lynne | born 1952 | University of Rochester | 2011 National Academy of Sciences (US), 2015 Canada Gairdner International Award, 2017 National Academy of Medicine (US), 2018 Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences |
| Mello, Craig | born 1960 | University of Massachusetts Medical School | 2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| Montagnier, Luc | 1932-2022 | Pasteur Institute | 1986 Lasker Award, 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| Moore, Peter | born 1939 | Yale University | National Academy of Sciences (US) |
| Nirenberg, Marshall | 1927–2010 | National Institutes of Health (USA) | 1967 National Academy of Sciences (US), 1968 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1968 Lasker Award, 1968 Horwitz Prize |
| Noller, Harry | born 1939 | University of California, Santa Cruz | 1992 National Academy of Sciences (US) |
| Nomura, Masayasu | 1927-2011 | University of California, Irvine | 1978 National Academy of Sciences (US) |
| Ochoa, Severo | 1905–1993 | New York University | 1959 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| Orgel, Leslie | 1927–2007 | Salk Institute | 1990 National Academy of Sciences (US) |
| Pace, Norman R. | University of Colorado, Boulder | 1991 National Academy of Science (US) | |
| Ptashne, Mark | Sloan-Kettering Institute | 1985 Horwitz Prize, 1997 Lasker Award | |
| Ramakrishnan, Venkatraman | born 1952 | Medical Research Council (UK) | 2004 National Academy of Sciences (US), 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry |
| Roberts, Richard | born 1943 | New England Biolabs | 1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| Rich, Alexander | 1924-2015 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 1970 National Academy of Sciences (US) |
| Roeder, Robert | born 1942 | Rockefeller University | 1988 National Academy of Science (US), 1999 Horwitz Prize, 2003 Lasker Prize |
| Rosbash, Michael | Brandeis University | 2003 National Academy of Science (US), 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (US) | |
| Ruvkun, Gary | Harvard University | 2008 Lasker Award, 2008 National Academy of Sciences, 2009 Horwitz Prize | |
| Schimmel, Paul | Scripps Research Institute | 1990 National Academy of Sciences (US) | |
| Sharp, Philip | born 1944 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 1983 National Academy of Science (US), 1988 Lasker Award, 1988 Horwitz Prize, 1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| Shatkin, Aaron | Rutgers University | 1981 National Academy of Science (US) | |
| Singer, Maxine | born 1931 | Carnegie Institution of Washington | 1979 National Academy of Sciences (US), 1992 National Medal of Science (US) |
| Söll, Dieter | born 1935 | Yale University | 1997 National Academy of Sciences (US) |
| Spiegelman, Sol | 1914–1983 | Columbia University | 1974 Lasker Award |
| Steitz, Joan | born 1941 | Yale University | 1983 National Academy of Sciences (US) |
| Steitz, Thomas | 1940-2018 | Yale University | 1990 National Academy of Sciences (US), 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry |
| Stevens, Audrey | 1932-2010 | Oak Ridge National Laboratory | 1998 National Academy of Science (US) |
| Szostak, Jack | born 1952 | Harvard University | 1998 National Academy of Sciences (US), 2006 Lasker Award, 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| Temin, Howard | 1934–1994 | University of Wisconsin, Madison | 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| Tinoco, Ignacio | 1930–2016 | University of California, Berkeley | 1985 National Academy of Sciences (US) |
| Tjian, Robert | born 1949 | University of California, Berkeley | 1991 National Academy of Sciences (US), 1999 Horwitz Prize |
| Todd, Alexander | 1907–1997 | University of Cambridge | 1957 Nobel Prize in Chemistry |
| Turner, Douglas | University of Rochester | 2011 Gordon Hammes Lectureship | |
| Uhlenbeck, Olke | Northwestern University | 1993 National Academy of Sciences (US) | |
| Watson, James | born 1928 | Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory | 1960 Lasker Award, 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1962 National Academy of Science (US) |
| Yanofsky, Charles | 1925–2018 | Stanford University | 1966 National Academy of Science (US), 1971 Lasker Award, 1976 Horwitz Prize |
| Yonath, Ada | born 1939 | Weizmann Institute of Science | 2003 National Academy of Sciences (US), 2005 Horwitz Prize, 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry |
| Zamecnik, Paul | 1912–2009 | Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research | 1968 National Academy of Sciences (US), 1996 Lasker Award |
| Zinder, Norton | 1928–2012 | Rockefeller University | 1969 National Academy of Science (US) |