In 1993, Dr. Michael Smith from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver was awarded one half the 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry “for his fundamental contributions to the establishment of oligonucleotide-based, site-directed mutagenesis and its development for protein studies.”

Around 1980, Michael Smith developed a method by which combined DNA building blocks could be artificially bonded with DNA molecules that were then inserted into an organism where they were copied. The result was an artificial mutation; the genetic code was altered so that specific amino acids in the proteins were replaced.