Scientists From Minnesota

Born to rich Catholic parents, John Lilly spent his childhood treating science as a hobby. While studying medicine, he performed gruelling medical experiments on himself. He later invented isolating floatation tanks, studied bottlenose dolphins, and researched on psychedelic drug-induced near-death experiences. He also explored yoga and human consciousness.

The son of Russian Jewish immigrants, Melvin Calvin earned scholarships to fund his studies and eventually earned a PhD in chemistry from the University of Minnesota. The University of California, Berkeley professor later won a Nobel for co-discovering the Calvin cycle, which explained the chemical pathways of photosynthesis.

Co-winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, American cell biologist Randy Schekman is best known for his "ground-breaking work on cell membrane vesicle trafficking, a major transport system in our cells." Author of several books on Cell and Developmental Biology, he has also served as the editor of several scientific magazines.

Nobel Prize-winning doctor Peter Agre revolutionized science with his work on the movement of water molecules inside the cell membrane. Born to a chemistry professor, he developed an interest in science early in his life. He was also associated with the medical schools at Johns Hopkins and Duke University.

US geophysicist Marcia McNutt scripted history as the first female director of the US Geological Survey. She has also been the president of the National Academy of Sciences. She has also taught marine geophysics at Stanford and the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her countless awards include the Maurice Ewing Medal.

Brian Kobilka is an American physiologist best known for winning the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2012. He is also credited with co-founding a biotechnology company named ConfometRx. Brian Kobilka is currently working as a professor at Stanford University School of Medicine.

A pioneer of modern immunology, Robert A. Good was partially paralysed in his younger days and completed his medical studies in a wheelchair, though he mostly recovered later. He was the man behind the first bone marrow transplant in the world. He later won the Lasker Award, among other honors.

Frank J. Dixon was an American biomedical researcher who did pioneering research into diseases of the immune system that can damage other organs of the body. He is also remembered for having developed techniques to study proteins. Frank J. Dixon is also credited with co-founding the Scripps Research Institute, where he served as the director. He won several prestigious awards, including the Lasker Award.