Azerbaijan honors Nobel laureate Aziz Sancar with ‘Shohrat’ Order

BAKU

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev has awarded Turkish scientist Aziz Sancar the country’s “Shohrat” (Glory) Order for his contributions to strengthening international scientific and humanitarian cooperation.

The decree, signed by Aliyev, recognizes Sancar’s role in advancing scientific ties and relations between countries.

Born in 1946 in Savur, in Türkiye’s southeastern Mardin province, Sancar is a biochemist and biophysicist at the University of North Carolina. He shared the 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Tomas Lindahl and Paul Modrich for mapping the molecular mechanisms through which cells repair damaged DNA and preserve genetic information.

Sancar’s research specifically elucidated nucleotide excision repair, a process that fixes DNA damage caused by ultraviolet radiation and certain carcinogens, work that has implications for understanding and treating cancer.

Sancar’s legacy is also preserved in his hometown. His family’s historic, three-story, 36-room house in Savur, where he was born and raised, has been restored as a museum dedicated to his life and scientific achievements, with personal belongings, documents and material related to his Nobel-winning work on display.