Kary Mullis, quirky Nobel laureate whose DNA discovery changed the science world, dies

Kary B. Mullis was an LSD-dropping, climate-change-denying, astrology-believing, board surfing, Nobel Prize-winning chemist who was both widely respected and equally criticized for his controversial views. Deemed an “untamed genius” by fellow researchers, Mullis shared a 1993 Nobel for developing a technique called polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, that allowed scientists to create millions of copies of a single DNA molecule. It’s the technique that Hollywood used to revive dinosaurs from fossilized DNA in the 1993 movie “Jurassic Park.” Mullis died Aug. 7 in his Newport Beach, Calif., home from heart and respiratory failure, said his wife Nancy Cosgrove Mullis. Mullis’ lifestyle was a point of controversy during the case, with prosecutors attacking his “credibility, competency, and sobriety.” Soon after completing his PhD in 1973, he took an unusual path: he dropped out of the science world to pursue fiction writing and later, for about two years, worked at a bakery. Reflecting on his success years later, Mullis told Parade magazine: “I think really good science doesn’t come from hard work.