MARSHALL NIRENBERG, 82

Won Nobel Prize for work in genetics

Marshall Nirenberg, a scientist whose groundbreaking work untangling fundamental genetic processes earned him a Nobel Prize, died of cancer Jan. 15 in Manhattan.

He was "one of science's great titans," said Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, in a statement on its Web site.

Dr. Nirenberg was working at the NIH when he conducted an experiment with a colleague in 1961. The experiment showed them the way genetic information in DNA is translated into proteins in cells.

For his efforts, he earned the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1968, sharing the award with two other scientists.

Nirenberg was aware of the broader societal impact of his work, writing that the general public needed to become aware of and understand scientific advances to make the best decisions on how to use them.