Khorana devoted much of his scientific career to unraveling the genetic code. He earned a Nobel Prize in 1968 for determining the mechanisms by which RNA codes for the synthesis of proteins — and also became interested in replicating the process synthetically. In 1970 he joined MIT, where he continued to work at the forefront of the growing field of genetics. He also investigated biomembranes and rhodopsins, the pigments on the retina that are responsible for the first step in the biological perception of light.