Mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA was discovered in the 1960s by Margit M. K. Nass and Sylvan Nass by electron microscopy as DNase-sensitive threads inside mitochondria, and by Ellen Haslbrunner, Hans Tuppy and Gottfried Schatz by biochemical assays on highly purified mitochondrial fractions.
Albert L. Lehninger
Albert Lester Lehninger (February 17, 1917 – March 4, 1986) was an American biochemist in the field of bioenergetics. He made fundamental contributions to the current understanding of metabolism at a molecular level. In 1948, he discovered, with Eugene P. Kennedy, that mitochondria are the site of oxidative phosphorylation in eukaryotes, which ushered in the modern study of energy transduction. He is the author of a number of classic texts, including: "Biochemistry, The Mitochondrion, Bioenergetics " and, most notably, his series "Principles of Biochemistry". The latter is a widely used text for introductory biochemistry courses at the college and university levels.