Herschel Kenworthy Mitchell (November 27, 1913 – April 1, 2000) was an American professor of biochemistry who spent most of his career on the faculty at the California Institute of Technology.
He later focused his research on Drosophila (fruit flies), in particular the genetics and biochemistry of the heat shock response.
[1][3][4][5] In 1943 Mitchell moved from Texas to Stanford University to work as a research associate with George Beadle, who at the time was studying the genetics of metabolism in Neurospora (a fungus that served as a model organism[6]: viii ).
[7] Trained as a chemist, Mitchell used this experience to learn about molecular genetics, which he would apply to other model organisms in his future research.
[1] With research fellow Robert P. Wagner, Mitchell coauthored a textbook called Genetics and Metabolism in the 1950s.