Reading Life’s Alphabet

From a modest beginning in Punjab to the pinnacle global saga. Repeatedly nominated for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Har Gobind Khorana ultimately shared the 1968 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Robert W. Holley and Marshall W. Nirenberg for deciphering the genetic code—the fundamental language of life. Drawing on rare archival sources, this book traces Khorana’s remarkable journey through Europe, Canada, and the United States, revealing the discoveries that transformed biology, the bold decisions that led him to leave prestigious institutions despite success, the response of his peers and society to his work, and the enduring, provocative question: whether such a scientific revolution could ever have occurred had he pursued his career in India?