Audrey Stevens Niyogi
| Audrey Stevens Niyogi | |
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Audrey Stevens Niyogi, co-discoverer of RNA polymerase, at home in Oak Ridge, TN, February 12, 2002
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| Born | Audrey Louise Stevens 21 July 1932 Leigh, Nebraska, United States |
| Died | 28 February 2010 (aged 77) Oak Ridge, Tennessee, US |
| Education |
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| Known for | Co-discoverer of RNA polymerase |
| Notable awards | Election to the National Academy of Sciences |
| Spouse | Salil Kumar Niyogi |
| Children | Kris Kumar Niyogi Dev Kumar Niyogi |
Audrey Stevens Niyogi (July 21, 1932 – February 28, 2010) was an American biochemist, best known as a co-discoverer of RNA polymerase.
Audrey Stevens Niyogi was born on a farm near Leigh, Nebraska, the third child of Louise and John Stevens. She had an older brother Travis and a fraternal twin sister Ardyce. Later the family moved to another farm about 10 miles from Wayne, Nebraska. When teenagers, Audrey and Ardyce boarded with a family in town so they could attend high school without the long commute.
Audrey pursued the study of chemistry following in her older brother’s footsteps, who pursued a career in organic chemistry. After 2 years at the Nebraska State Teachers College (now Wayne State College), she earned her BS in chemistry from Iowa State College (now Iowa State University) in 1953, and her PhD in biochemistry from Case Western Reserve University in 1958.
While a postdoctoral researcher at NIH, Audrey Stevens independently conducted original experiments demonstrating the synthesis of RNA in E. coli cells. Thus, she is one of 4 researchers credited with the discovery of RNA polymerase. From there, Audrey became a professor at St. Louis University School of Medicine and then spent time at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, before settling at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where she spent the rest of her career.
In 1972, Stevens isolated a 10 kDa protein from E.coli infected with T4 bacteriophage which inhibited RNA polymerase. This protein is an anti-sigma factor which has been named "Audrey Stevens' Inhibitor".
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