CREDIT: BRYCE RICHTER
Microbiologist Thomas Brock, whose bacterial discovery led to the creation of a transformative technique for molecular biology, died on April 4 at the age of 94. Brock’s wife Katherine tells The New York Times that the cause of death was complications after a fall.
Born in 1926, Brock grew up in Ohio near Lake Erie and developed a love of the natural world early on. His parents supported his scientific curiosity, and after spending a year in the US Navy during World War II, he attended the Ohio State University for a bachelor’s in botany, then earned a master’s and PhD in mycology, also at Ohio State.
After working for a few years in industry, Brock accepted a teaching position at Indiana University in 1960. In 1964, his field studies took him to Yellowstone National Park, where he was immediately drawn to the microbes living in the ...
