Born in Blackpool, England on April 26, 1932, Michael Smith struggled through hard times when he was a young child to become the successful scientist he is today. When he was seven years old, the Second World War began, causing great hardships in England. At eleven years of age, he received a scholarship that allowed him to continue his education up to the university level. He found school difficult, and many of his happiest times during his school years were spent with the Boy Scouts, an organization he is still involved with today. He attended Manchester University in Manchester, England where he took both an honours degree and his Ph.D. in Chemistry.

After finishing those degrees, he wanted to go to North America to study more. He moved to Vancouver B.C. where he found his mentor Har Gobind Khorana. Gobind Khorana was a molecular biologist studying molecules that are important to research into genetics. It was in Gobind Khorana's lab that Michael Smith began learning the chemistry that would form the basis of his future research. Michael Smith was especially happy in Vancouver because of the natural, unspoiled beauty of the land in British Columbia.

After completing his education, Michael Smith worked at the Fisheries Research Board of Canada Laboratory. Though the work he was doing there was not related to genetics, Michael Smith continued his research into that subject on the side. In 1966 he became a professor of biochemistry at the University of British Columbia. Undoubtedly, his greatest accomplishment in the field of chemistry came in 1993 when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering a process called site-directed mutagenesis. This is very important for molecular biology; it is a process for making a genetic mutation at any spot in a DNA molecule. It is now used by researchers from around the world to understand the function of cancer and virus genes in order to create new medicines.

Of course, Michael Smith had to work hard for his success. In science, being accepted by your peers is often difficult. When Michael Smith first submitted a paper to a scientific journal describing his discovery of mutagenesis, it was rejected. It was only through his perseverance that it finally got published and he received the recognition he deserved.

Even after winning his Nobel Prize, however, Michael Smith is still doing research in biochemistry. Right now he is working on genomics. Genomics is the investigation of the sequence, or order, of the DNA of an organism in order to understand how it works.

In addition to all this, Michael Smith is a very generous man. For winning the Nobel Prize, he received half a million dollars. Instead of keeping it, he gave it all away to his favorite charities. He contributed to science education by supporting Science World in British Columbia. He also contributed to the Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology, and to researchers working on finding out the genetic causes of schizophrenia. Michael Smith is also the patron of many award programs in Canada, like the Michael Smith Awards for Science Promotion sponsored by Industry Canada.

You can learn more about Michael Smith here.