:Aziz Sancar

{{Short description|Turkish biochemist and molecular biologist (born 1946)}}

{{Infobox scientist

| name = Aziz Sancar

| image = File:Aziz Sancar 0060.jpg

| caption = Sancar in 2015

| alt =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1946|9|8|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Savur, Mardin, Turkey

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| citizenship = Turkey, United States

| fields = {{Plainlist|

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| education = {{unbulleted list|Istanbul University (MD)|University of Texas at Dallas (PhD)}}

| thesis_title = A study on photoreactivating enzyme (DNA photolyase) of Escherichia coli

| thesis_url = https://www.proquest.com/docview/302873229/

| thesis_year = 1977

| doctoral_advisor = Claud Stan Rupert

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| awards = {{Plainlist|

TÜBİTAK Science Award (1995){{cite web|title=Geçmiş Yıllarda Bilim Ödülü Alanlar|url=https://www.tubitak.gov.tr/tr/kurumsal/oduller/icerik-gecmis-yillarda-bilim-odulu-alanlar|publisher=Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey|language=tr|access-date=9 October 2015}}
Member of the National Academy of Sciences (2005)
Vehbi Koç Award (2007){{cite web|title=Ödül Alanlar |url=http://www.vehbikocodulu.com/odul-alanlar/?dil=en |publisher=Vehbi Koç Award |access-date=9 October 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303195515/http://www.vehbikocodulu.com/odul-alanlar/?dil=en |archive-date=3 March 2016 }}
Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2015)}}

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| spouses = {{marriage|Gwen Sancar|1978}}{{cite web |title=The Aziz & Gwen Sancar Foundation – Carolina Türk Evi – Turkish House, NC |work=carolinaturkevi.org |url=http://www.carolinaturkevi.org/about.htm |access-date=7 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151009200839/http://www.carolinaturkevi.org/about.htm |archive-date=2015-10-09 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|title=A Nobel Partnership|url=https://magazine.utdallas.edu/a-nobel-partnership/|access-date=2021-09-12|website=magazine.utdallas.edu|language=en}}

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Aziz Sancar ({{IPA|tr|aˈziz ˈsandʒaɾ|lang}}; born 8{{nbsp}}September 1946) is a Turkish molecular biologist specializing in DNA repair, cell cycle checkpoints, and circadian clock.{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aziz-Sancar|title=Aziz Sancar | Biography, Facts, & Nobel Prize|date=4 September 2024 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.med.unc.edu/biochem/asancar |title=Aziz Sancar |publisher=UNC School of Medicine |access-date=December 5, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150504215500/http://www.med.unc.edu/biochem/asancar |archive-date=May 4, 2015 |url-status=dead }} In 2015, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with Tomas Lindahl and Paul L. Modrich for their mechanistic studies of DNA repair.{{cite news |last=Broad |first=William J. |title=Nobel Prize in Chemistry Awarded to Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar for DNA Studies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/08/science/tomas-lindahl-paul-modrich-aziz-sancarn-nobel-chemistry.html |date=7 October 2015 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=7 October 2015 }}{{cite news |author=Staff |title=THE NOBEL PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY 2015 – DNA repair – providing chemical stability for life |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2018/06/popular-chemistryprize2015.pdf|date=7 October 2015 |work=Nobel Prize |access-date=7 October 2015 }} He has made contributions on photolyase and nucleotide excision repair in bacteria that have changed his field.

Sancar is currently the Sarah Graham Kenan Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.{{Cite press release |title=UNC-Chapel Hill Scientist Aziz Sancar Wins Nobel Prize for Chemistry |url=http://uncnews.unc.edu/2015/10/07/unc-chapel-hill-scientist-aziz-sancar-wins-nobel-prize-for-chemistry/ |publisher=UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center |date=7 October 2015 |access-date = 11 January 2016}} He is the co-founder of the Aziz & Gwen Sancar Foundation, which is a non-profit organization to promote Turkish culture and to support Turkish students in the United States.

Early life

File:Savur3-pano cr.jpg, Turkey]]

Aziz Sancar was born on 8 September 1946 to a lower-middle-class family in the Savur district of Mardin Province, southeastern Turkey. His oldest brother Kenan Sancar is a retired brigadier general in the Turkish Armed Forces.{{cite web|url=http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/aziz-sancar-i-emekli-general-agabeyi-anlatti-30264107|title=Aziz Sancar'ı, emekli general ağabeyi anlattı|website=Hurriyet.com.tr|date=8 October 2015 |access-date=3 December 2017}} He is the second cousin of the politician Mithat Sancar, who is a member of parliament from and chairman of HDP.{{cite web|title=Turkish-American scientist among winners of 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry |url=http://www.todayszaman.com/world_turkish-american-scientist-among-winners-of-2015-nobel-prize-in-chemistry_400839.html |publisher=Today's Zaman |access-date=12 October 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151011005639/http://www.todayszaman.com/world_turkish-american-scientist-among-winners-of-2015-nobel-prize-in-chemistry_400839.html |archive-date=October 11, 2015 }} He is the seventh of eight children.

His parents were uneducated; however, they put great emphasis on his education.{{cite news |url=http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/nobel-kimya-odulunu-turk-asilli-aziz-sancar-kazandi-aziz-sancar-kimdir-30255503 |newspaper=Hürriyet |title=Nobel Kimya Ödülü'nü Türk asıllı Aziz Sancar kazandı (Aziz Sancar kimdir) |date=2015-10-07 |language=tr |access-date=2015-10-07 }} He was educated by idealistic teachers who received their education in the Village Institutes, he later stated that this was a great inspiration to him. Throughout his school life, Sancar had great academic success that was noted by his teachers. He wanted to study chemistry whilst at high school, but was persuaded to study medicine after five of his classmates also got into medicine along with him. As such, he studied medicine at the Faculty of Medicine of Istanbul University.

=Origins=

According to his own account, he spoke Arabic with his parents and Turkish with his siblings.{{cite news|title=Nobeli alan Prof. Aziz Sancar konuştu |trans-title=Nobel Prize winner Prof. Aziz Sancar speaks out |url=http://www.cnnturk.com/dunya/nobeli-alan-prof-aziz-sancar-konustu |publisher=CNN Türk |date=11 October 2015 |access-date=12 December 2015 |language=tr |quote=Anne babayla Arapça konuşurduk ama çocuklar kendi aramızda Türkçe konuşarak büyüdük.}} Translation: "We spoke in Arabic with our parents but as the children we grew up speaking in Turkish with one another."{{cite news|title=Nobel Prize in Chemistry: how our DNA repairs itself|url=http://www.dw.com/en/nobel-prize-in-chemistry-how-our-dna-repairs-itself/a-18766543|agency=Deutsche Welle|date=7 October 2015}} However, when asked about his origins, Sancar only underlined his Turkish nationality. Still, his cousin, Mithat Sancar, mentioned that their family is of Arab origins.{{cite web |title=Aziz Sancar ailesi şaşırttı Arap mı Kürt mü? |url=https://www.internethaber.com/aziz-sancar-ailesi-sasirtti-arap-mi-kurt-mu-818475h.htm |website=İnternetHaber |date=9 October 2015 |access-date=8 July 2022}} Aziz Sancar's brother Tahir claimed in an interview that their family descended from Oghuz Turks from Central Asia, also mentioning that they are idealists.{{cite web |title=Aziz Sancar ailesi şaşırttı Arap mı Kürt mü? |url=https://www.internethaber.com/aziz-sancar-ailesi-sasirtti-arap-mi-kurt-mu-818475h.htm |website=İnternetHaber |date=9 October 2015 |access-date=8 July 2022}} During his years at Istanbul University, he was involved with the Turkish nationalist organization Idealist Hearths (Ülkü Ocakları).{{cite web|url=https://serbestiyet.com/featured/aziz-sancar-turkesin-kizina-besiktas-ulku-ocaklarindaki-fotografini-gosterdi-74072/|title=Aziz Sancar, Türkeş'in kızına Beşiktaş Ülkü Ocakları'ndaki fotoğrafını gösterdi |publisher=Serbestiyet |date=2021-01-11 |accessdate=2024-08-01}}{{cite web|url=https://t24.com.tr/haber/nobelli-prof-aziz-sancar-lise-yillarinda-ulkucuydum-sinema-ve-tiyatroya-hic-gitmedim,312534|title=Nobel'li Prof. Aziz Sancar:Lise yıllarında ülkücüydüm |publisher=T24 |date=2015-11-10 |accessdate=2024-10-02}}

Education

File:Istanbul Tip Fakultesi 03.jpg

Sancar received his primary education near his hometown of Savur. He then completed his MD degree in Istanbul University of Turkey in 1969 and he graduated from school as the top student. He completed his PhD degree on the photoreactivating enzyme of E. coli in 1977 at The University of Texas at Dallas{{cite web |title=Aziz Sancar |url=http://www.med.unc.edu/biochem/people/faculty/primary/asancar |publisher=UNC School of Medicine |access-date=2015-10-07}} in the laboratory of Claud Stan Rupert,{{cite thesis |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/302873229/ |title=A study on photoreactivating enzyme (DNA photolyase) of Escherichia coli |date=1977 |publisher=University of Texas at Dallas |degree=Ph.D. |last=Sancar |first=Aziz |via=ProQuest |url-access=subscription |oclc=4432179}} now Professor Emeritus.

Career

Sancar is an honorary member of the Turkish Academy of Sciences{{cite web|title=Prof. Dr. Aziz Sancar|url=http://www.tuba.gov.tr/member/tuba-seref-uyeleri/id/22/mid/61/lang/eng/|publisher=Turkish Academy of Sciences|access-date=9 October 2015|archive-date=23 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160423071403/http://www.tuba.gov.tr/member/tuba-seref-uyeleri/id/22/mid/61/lang/eng/|url-status=dead}} and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.{{cite web|title=American Academy Announces 2004 Fellows and Foreign Honorary Members|url=https://www.amacad.org/content/news/pressReleases.aspx?pr=59|publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences|access-date=9 October 2015}}

After graduating from Istanbul University, Sancar returned to Savur. Although he wanted to go to the United States, he was recommended to try out being a doctor, and he worked as a doctor in the region for 1.5 years. He then won a scholarship from TÜBİTAK to pursue further education in biochemistry at Johns Hopkins University, but returned to Savur in 1973 as a doctor after spending 1.5 years there due to having social difficulties and inability to adapt to the American way of life. He only spoke French when he arrived in the US, but learned English during his education at Johns Hopkins.

Soon after, he wrote to Rupert, who had been involved in the discovery of DNA repair and was at Johns Hopkins during Sancar's time there but had since moved to the University of Texas at Dallas. He was accepted and completed his PhD in molecular biology there. His interest had been stimulated by the recovery of bacteria, which had been exposed to deadly amounts of ultraviolet radiation, upon their illumination with blue light. In 1976, as part of his doctoral dissertation, he managed to replicate the gene for photolyase, an enzyme that repairs thymine dimers that result from ultraviolet damage.{{cite web|title=DNA repair – providing chemical stability for life|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2015/popular-chemistryprize2015.pdf|publisher=Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences|access-date=10 March 2017}}

After completing his PhD, Sancar had three rejected applications for postdoctoral positions and then took up work at Yale University as a laboratory technician. He worked at Yale for five years. Here, he started his field-changing work on nucleotide excision repair, another DNA mechanism that works in the dark. In the laboratory of Dean Rupp, he elucidated the molecular details of this process, identifying UvrABC endonuclease and the genes that code for it, and furthermore discovering that these enzymes cut twice on the damaged strand of DNA, removing 12–13 nucleotides that include the damaged part.

Following his mechanistic elucidations of nucleotide exchange repair, he was accepted as a lecturer at the University of North Carolina, the only university that he got a positive response from out of the 50 he applied to. He has stated that his accent of English was detrimental to his career as a lecturer. At Chapel Hill, Sancar discovered the following steps of nucleotide excision repair in bacteria and worked on the more complex version of this repair mechanism in humans.

His longest-running study has involved photolyase and the mechanisms of photo-reactivation. In his inaugural article in the PNAS, Sancar captured the photolyase radicals he has chased for nearly 20 years, thus providing direct observation of the photocycle for thymine dimer repair.{{cite journal

| last1 = Zagorski | first1 = N.

| title = Profile of Aziz Sancar

| doi = 10.1073/pnas.0507558102

| journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

| volume = 102

| issue = 45

| pages = 16125–16127

| year = 2005

| pmid = 16263927

| pmc =1283445

| bibcode = 2005PNAS..10216125Z

| doi-access = free

}}

File:1QNF Photolyase 190721.jpg based on 1QNF]]

Aziz Sancar was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2005 as the first Turkish member. He is the Sarah Graham Kenan Professor of Biochemistry, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is married to Gwen Boles Sancar, who graduated the same year and who is also a professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.{{cite web|url=http://www.utdallas.edu/biology/news/2005/aziz.html|title=Biology : Aziz Sancar elected to the National Academy of Sciences|work=utdallas.edu|access-date=7 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303194151/http://www.utdallas.edu/biology/news/2005/aziz.html|archive-date=3 March 2016|url-status=dead}} Together, they founded Carolina Türk Evi, a permanent Turkish Center in close proximity to the campus of UNC-CH, which provides graduate housing for four Turkish researchers at UNC-CH, short term guest services for Turkish visiting scholars, and a center for promoting Turkish-American interchange.

Research on circadian clock

Sancar and his research team have discovered that two genes, Period and Cryptochrome, keep the circadian clocks of all human cells in proper rhythm, syncing them to the 24 hours of the day and seasons.{{cite journal|last1=Ye|first1=Rui|last2=Selby|first2=Cristopher P.|last3=Chiou|first3=Yi-Ying|last4=Ozkan-Dagliyan|first4=Irem|last5=Gaddameedhi|first5=Shobhan|last6=Sancar|first6=Aziz|title=Dual modes of CLOCK:BMAL1 inhibition mediated by Cryptochrome and Period proteins in the mammalian circadian clock|journal=Genes & Development|date=15 September 2014|volume=28|issue=18|pages=1989–1998|doi=10.1101/gad.249417.114|pmid=25228643|ref=geneDev|issn=1549-5477|pmc=4173159}} Their findings were published in the Genes and Development journal on September 16, 2014. Sancar's research has provided a complete understanding of the workings of Circadian clocks in humans, which may be used to treat a wide range of different illnesses and disorders such as jet-lag and seasonal affective disorder, and may be useful in controlling and optimizing various cancer treatments.{{cite web|last1=Derewicz|first1=Mark|title=Sancar lab finds final pieces to the circadian clock puzzle|url=https://www.med.unc.edu/biochem/news/sancar-lab-circadian-clock-puzzle|website=UNC SCHOOL of MEDICINE|date=16 September 2014|publisher=The University of North Carolina|access-date=19 April 2016|ref=circadian}}

Personal life

Sancar is married to Gwen Boles Sancar, with whom he met during his PhD in Dallas, where she was also studying molecular biology. They got married in 1978.{{cite web|title=For Aziz Sancar, long hours in lab lead to triumph|url=http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article51568735.html|publisher=The News and Observer|access-date=9 March 2016|date=25 December 2015}}{{cite web |url=https://www.med.unc.edu/biochem/news/2009/aziz-sancar-receives-2009-distinguished-alumni-award-from-university-of-texas-dallas |title=Aziz Sancar receives 2009 Distinguished Alumni Award from University of Texas, Dallas |date=17 June 2009 |publisher=UNC School of Medicine |access-date=16 May 2016}}

Sancar is a practicing Muslim. {{cite web|date=2017-06-16|title=Aziz Sancar'dan dini tartışmalara tepki|url=https://www.yenicaggazetesi.com.tr/-166103h.htm|access-date=2021-12-06|website=Yeni Çağ Gazetesi|language=tr}}{{cite web|title=Aziz Sancar: 'Evrim gerçektir, inanç meselesi değildir'|url=https://www.cnnturk.com/turkiye/aziz-sancar-evrim-gercektir-inanc-meselesi-degildir|access-date=2021-12-06|website=CNN Türk|date=11 December 2018 |language=tr}}{{cite web|last=|date=2017-06-29|title=Aziz Sancar: Müslümanım ve Allah'a inanıyorum|url=https://www.haber3.com/guncel/aziz-sancar-muslumanim-ve-allaha-inaniyorum-haberi-4637046|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-06|website=Haber3|language=tr-TR|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211206170005/https://www.haber3.com/guncel/aziz-sancar-muslumanim-ve-allaha-inaniyorum-haberi-4637046 |archive-date=2021-12-06 }} In an interview, he stated: "I am proud to be Muslim, but I can not state this fact in many regions of the United States due to ongoing issues."{{cite web|last=|first=|date=2015-12-21|title=Aziz Sancar: I am proud of being a Muslim but I cannot say it|url=https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/21/12/2015/aziz-sancar-i-am-proud-of-being-a-muslim-but-i-cannot-say-it|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-06|website=The Peninsula Newspaper|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211206152026/https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/21/12/2015/aziz-sancar-i-am-proud-of-being-a-muslim-but-i-cannot-say-it |archive-date=2021-12-06 }}{{cite web|title=Aziz Sancar: Müslüman olduğumu ABD'de söyleyemem|url=https://www.ahaber.com.tr/yasam/2015/12/20/aziz-sancar-musluman-oldugumu-abdde-soyleyemem|access-date=2021-12-06|website=Ahaber|language=tr}}{{cite web|title=Müslüman olduğumu Amerika'da söyleyemem|url=https://www.ensonhaber.com/gundem/aziz-sancar-musluman-oldugumu-abdde-soyleyemem-2015-12-20|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-06|website=Ensonhaber|date=20 December 2015 |language=tr|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124154536/https://www.ensonhaber.com/gundem/aziz-sancar-musluman-oldugumu-abdde-soyleyemem-2015-12-20 |archive-date=2020-11-24 }} In the immediate aftermath of being awarded the Nobel Prize, his ethnicity was questioned in social media.{{cite news |last1=Arango |first1=Tim |title=Deadly Ankara Attack Not Enough to Unify a Polarized Turkey |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/13/world/europe/ankara-terror-attack-turkey-nobel-prize-chemistry.html |work=The New York Times |date=12 October 2015 |access-date=23 November 2015}} Sancar said he was "disturbed by some of the questions he received," particularly by questions about his ethnic background. When asked as to whether he is "a Turk or half-Arab" by the BBC, Aziz Sancar responded: "I told them that I neither speak Arabic nor Kurdish and that I was a Turk," he said. "I'm a Turk, that's it."{{cite news |author=Esra Kaymak |author2=Erkan Avci |title=Turkish Nobel Prize winner happy most for his country |url=http://www.aa.com.tr/en/turkey/turkish-nobel-prize-winner-happy-most-for-his-country/436261 |agency=Anadolu Agency |date=8 October 2015 |access-date=23 November 2015}} Aziz Sancar's brother Tahir informed in an interview that their family descended from Oghuz Turks who once migrated from Central Asia. He also said that his brother's Nobel Prize was an honor for all of Turkey, including the Kurds.{{cite news |title=Nobel ödüllü Sancar'ı ailesi anlattı |agency=Anadolu Agency |via=TRT Haber |url=http://www.trthaber.com/haber/turkiye/nobel-odullu-sancari-ailesi-anlatti-207941.html |date=8 October 2015 |access-date=23 November 2015 |language=tr}}

In an interview, Sancar stated that in his youth, he was an idealist but he didn't participate in activities.{{cite news|title=Nobel'li Prof. Aziz Sancar: Lise yıllarında ülkücüydüm; sinema ve tiyatroya hiç gitmedim|url=http://t24.com.tr/haber/nobelli-prof-aziz-sancar-lise-yillarinda-ulkucuydum-sinema-ve-tiyatroya-hic-gitmedim,312534|agency=T24|date=11 October 2015}}{{cite news|title=Aziz Sancar – Ropörtaj|url=http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/nobel-panteri-aziz-sancar-kizlar-hep-beni-terk-etti-30282793|date=10 October 2015|access-date=13 January 2016|publisher=Hürriyet}} In another interview, Sancar stated that he supports moderate Pan-Turkism.Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/g1jpWhTITtg Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20210615145441/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1jpWhTITtg Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1jpWhTITtg| title = Aziz Sançar – En Büyük Hayalim Türk Birliği | website=YouTube| date = 19 July 2018 }}{{cbignore}}{{cite web|date=2019-10-18|title=Prof. Aziz Sancar'dan Özbekistan'a çıkarma: Hayalim Türk birliğini görmek|url=https://qha.com.tr/haberler/prof-aziz-sancar-dan-ozbekistan-a-cikarma-hayalim-turk-birligi-ni-gormek/101195/|access-date=2021-12-06|website=Kırım Haber Ajansı – QHA|language=tr}} On September 26, 2021, Sancar was the honorary guest of the Turkic Council on occasion of the meeting of the foreign secretaries from member states and has given a presentation titled "Knowledge and the National Awakening of the Turkic World", as announced by Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.{{cite news |title=Nobel ödüllü bilim insanı Sancar, Türk Konseyi dışişleri bakanlarının onur konuğu oldu |url=https://www.trtavaz.com.tr/haber/tur/avrasyadan/nobel-odullu-bilim-insani-sancar-turk-konseyi-disisleri-bakanlarinin-onur-konug/61515b3401a30a4eb02a975a |access-date=27 September 2021 |publisher=TRT Avaz |date=26 September 2021}}{{cite web |last1=Çavuşoğlu |first1=Mevlüt |title=#TürkKonseyi Dışişleri Bakanları toplantımızın akşam yemeğinde onur konuğumuz, en büyük hayali Türk Dünyası'nın birliğini görmek olan Nobel ödüllü bilim insanımız Aziz Sancar'dı. @AzizGwenSancar 'ın yaptığı "Bilgi ve Türk Dünyası'nın Milli Uyanışı" konulu sunumu ilgiyle dinledik. |url=https://twitter.com/MevlutCavusoglu/status/1442214685797912578/photo/1 |website=Twitter |access-date=27 September 2021}}

Awards

He was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with Tomas Lindahl and Paul L. Modrich for their mechanistic studies of DNA repair. He was granted Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation in Molecular Biophysics in 1984.[https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8351212&HistoricalAwards=false Award Abstract #8351212], National Science Foundation Sancar is the second Turkish Nobel laureate after Orhan Pamuk, who is also an alumnus of Istanbul University.

Aziz Sancar donated his original Nobel Prize golden medal and certificate to the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, with a presidential ceremony on 19 May 2016, which is the 97th anniversary of Atatürk initiating the Turkish War of Independence.{{cite web |url=http://news.unchealthcare.org/news/2016/april/unc-nobel-laureates-oliver-smithies-and-aziz-sancar-donate-medals-to-unc |title=UNC Nobel laureates Oliver Smithies and Aziz Sancar present medals to UNC |publisher=UNC Healthcate |access-date=16 May 2016 |archive-date=10 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610050841/http://news.unchealthcare.org/news/2016/april/unc-nobel-laureates-oliver-smithies-and-aziz-sancar-donate-medals-to-unc |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://www.tccb.gov.tr/haberler/410/43976/cumhurbaskani-erdogan-nobel-odulunun-anitkabir-komutanligina-takdim-torenine-katildi.html |title=Cumhurbaşkanı Erdoğan, Nobel Ödülü'nün Anıtkabir Komutanlığına Takdim Törenine Katıldı |publisher=Presidency of the Republic of Turkey |access-date=21 May 2016 |date=19 May 2016}} He delivered a replica of his Nobel medal and certificate to Istanbul University, from which he earned his MD.{{cite web |url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/Default.aspx?pageID=238&nID=99422&NewsCatID=374 |title=Nobel laureate Sancar donates his award to Anıtkabir |publisher=Hürriyet Daily News |access-date=21 May 2016 |date=19 May 2016}}

On January 19, 2025, during a ceremony held at the Sancar Cultural Center in the state of North Carolina, USA, TÜRKSOY General Secretary Sultan Raev presented Sancar with the Order of Cultural Ambassador of the Turkic World.{{Cite web |title=Title of "Cultural Ambassador of the Turkic World" awarded to Prof. Dr. Aziz Sancar |url=https://www.turksoy.org/en-US/news/title-of-cultural-ambassador-of-the-turkic-world-awarded-to-prof-dr-aziz-sancar |access-date=2025-01-23 |website=TURKSOY}}