Dr. Attardi was born in Sicily and studied medicine at the University of Padua where he obtained his M.D. degree in 1947. He received his graduate training from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, and Washington University in St. Louis. In 1963, Dr Attardi became Associate Professor, Division of Biology at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena where he is currently Grace C. Steele Professor of molecular Biology in the Division of Biology. His many honours include the Antonio Feltrinelli International Prize for Medicine and he is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Guggenheim Fellow.