Bacteria's molecular scissors for slicing invading DNA built the entire biotech industry

In the 1960s and 70s, Werner Arber, Hamilton Smith and Daniel Nathans found bacteria defend themselves with enzymes that cut DNA at specific short sequences, destroying invading viruses. Isolating these restriction enzymes gave scientists a precise tool to cut and splice DNA, making recombinant DNA technology possible. The trio shared the 1978 Nobel Prize.

— Werner Arber, Daniel Nathans, Hamilton O. Smith, The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1978 — Nobel Prize citation, 1978