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Kary Mullis Dies

Nobel Laureate Kary Mullis has died, according to South Carolina's The State. He was 74.

Mullis is known for his development of PCR, which now fuels approaches used throughout biological, medical, and forensic sciences. "I thought to myself, 'This is going to make me a famous guy, if it works,'" Mullis told The State in 1993. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1993 for its development.

He subsequently founded a number of biotech companies, The State adds, and was a frequent lecturer on college campuses.

Mullis is also known, however, for questioning established science such as climate change and that HIV causes AIDS, the San Francisco Chronicle notes. It adds Mullis was to be called as a defense witness in the OJ Simpson trial, but that the attorneys involved decided against it when prosecutors noted that "aspects of [Mullis'] personal and professional life" — such as his opinion on HIV and AIDS and past psychedelic drug use — "have caused many members of the scientific community to disregard his opinions about forensic PCR applications."

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