On August 13, 1844, Friedrich Miescher was born in Basel. He was a Swiss physician and biologist who isolated nucleic acid in 1869 while working in Tübingen, a discovery that laid the groundwork for understanding DNA as the carrier of inheritance. Born into a scientific family in Basel, he studied medicine there and later contributed to physiological chemistry, including the discovery of protamine. His legacy continues in Basel, where the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research honors his contributions to science. See wikipedia for more information.