Dr. Curtis " Curt" Connors was born and raised in Coral Gables, Florida. He attended Medical school graduating with twin doctorates in biology and biochemistry. It was in college he met Martha and together they had a son Billy.
He became a gifted surgeon who enlisted in the U.S. Army. He performed emergency battlefield surgery on wounded soldiers. However, his right arm was terribly injured in a wartime blast, resulting in its amputation. After returning to civilian life, Doc Connors devoted his life to creating a serum to regenerate lost limbs. Using DNA from reptiles, who naturally re-grew lost limbs, Connors created a serum he was sure would work.
Using himself as the first test subject, Connors injected himself with a dose of his formula and was ecstatic when his arm began to regenerate. However, the reptilian DNA his serum was based on mixed with, and altered, his own DNA, and turned him into a vicious creature known as The Lizard. While Connors was eventually "cured" by Spider-Man and returned to his human appearance. Another attempt to develop this serum for safe use again resulted in Connors transforming into the Lizard, but on this occasion, he was saved thanks to his former colleague Professor Charles Xavier and his first team of X-Men.
