Editing Maclyn McCarty (section)

{{Short description|Biology research scientist, focused on DNA}}
{{use mdy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{use American English|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox scientist
| known_for = Role in the discovery that [[DNA]] is the carrier of [[gene]]s
| name = Maclyn McCarty
| image = Maclyn McCarty with Francis Crick and James D Watson - 10.1371 journal.pbio.0030341.g001-O.jpg
| caption = Maclyn McCarty with [[Francis Crick]] and [[James D Watson]]
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1911|6|9|mf=yes}}
| birth_place = [[South Bend, Indiana]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2005|1|2|1911|6|9|mf=yes}}
| death_place = 
| awards = [[Eli Lilly and Company-Elanco Research Award]] {{small|1946}}<br>[[Robert Koch Prize]] {{small|(Gold, 1981)}}<br>[[Wolf Prize]] for Medicine {{small|(1990)}}
}}
'''Maclyn McCarty''' (June 9, 1911 – January 2, 2005)<ref name=MacMcC.NYTobit>{{cite news |newspaper=[[New York Times]]
   |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/06/obituaries/maclyn-mccarty-dies-at-93-pioneer-in-dna-research.html
   |title=Maclyn McCarty Dies at 93; Pioneer in DNA Research
   |author=Lawrence K. Altman |date=January 6, 2005}}</ref> was an American [[geneticist]], a research scientist described in 2005 as "the last surviving member of a Manhattan scientific team that overturned medical dogma in the 1940s and became the first to demonstrate that [[gene]]s were made of [[DNA]]." He had worked at [[Rockefeller University]] "for more than 60 years."<ref name=MacMcC.NYTobit/> 1994 marked 50 years since this work's release.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=[[New York Times]]
   |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/02/style/chronicle-052540.html
   |title=CHRONICLE  |author=Nadine Brozan  |date=February 2, 1994}}</ref>

McCarty devoted his life as a physician-scientist to studying infectious disease organisms, and was best known for his part in the monumental discovery that [[DNA]], rather than protein, constituted the chemical nature of a gene. Uncovering the molecular secret of the gene in question — that for the capsular polysaccharide of pneumococcal bacteria — led the way to studying heredity not only through genetics but also through chemistry. The team responsible for this feat is known as the [[Avery–MacLeod–McCarty experiment]]. He died from congestive heart failure.