Marshall Warren Nirenberg was born on April 10, 1927 in New York to Harry and Minerva Nirenberg. At the age of twelve, he and his family moved to Orlando, Florida, where he discovered a passion for bird watching which introduced him to the world of zoology. In 1948, Nirenberg earned a bachelor of science degree from the University of Florida and went on to earn a master's degree in zoology. He continued his studies at the University of Michigan where he received his Ph.D. In 1960 he married his wife Perola Zaltzman but had no children. HI's wife was a chemist at the University of Brazil and a biochemist at the National Institute of Health. From 1957 to 1959, he received predoctoral training under DeWitt Stetten Jr. and William Jakoby at the National Institute of Health. In 1960, he was awarded a Public Health Service fellowship and was offered a position as a research biochemist in metabolic enzymes at the National Institute of Health. It was there that he began his studies on deciphering the RNA code. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Marshall Warren Nirenberg and his partners published a paper containing the first piece of genetic code in 1961. In 1962, he was promoted to director of the department of biochemical genetics at the National Institutes of Health. He received a National Medal of Science in 1965 for his paper on the first piece of genetic code. Soon after, he discovered the rest of the genetic code. In 1968 he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, with his partners Har Gobind Khorana and Robert Holley. He then began to be interested in the development of the nervous system of Drosophilamelanogaster. In 1980, new genes were essential to his studies, called homeobox genes, which truly advanced the world of neurobiology. In 2001, his wife died after 40 years of marriage. He later remarried Myrna M. Weissman in 2005 and had four stepchildren. She was a professor of epidemiology and psychiatry at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons. On January 15, 2010, at the age of 82, Marshall Warren Nirenberg died of cancer..