Aziz Sancar was born in in Savur in southeast of Turkey. His family was a middle-class family. His family had no education, however, they consider education as a must and Sancar had to educate. Aziz Sancar studied at Istanbul University and then he studied at the University of Texas, Dallas, where his received his doctorate in 1977. He was a professor at Chapel Hill, North Carolina Medical School. Aziz Sancar is married to Gwen Boles Sancar, a professor of biochemistry and biophysics at the same time.
His works are about living cells have DNA molecules that carry an organism’s genes. In order to living and developing of an organism ,the DNA of the organism cannot change. DNA molecules are not perfectly stable, so it is possible to take a damage. In 1983, through studies of bacteria, Aziz Sancar showed how certain protein molecules, certain repair enzymes, repair DNA damaged by ultraviolet (UV) light. Thanks to these discoveries we have increased our understanding of how the living cell works, the causes of cancer and aging processes.