Born in Poland in 1924, Michael immigrated to British-mandate ruled Palestine at the age of 17. He studied chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (M.Sc. 1946) and received his Ph.D. (1954) for work performed at The Weizmann Institute of Science in protein chemistry under the guidance of Prof. Ephraim Katzir. In 1998, Prof. Sela and colleague Prof. Ruth Arnon received the Wolf Prize in Medicine.