- Sol Spiegelman
Infobox_Scientist
name = Sol Spiegelman
image_width = 130px
caption = Sol Spiegelman
birth_date = birth date|1914|12|14|df=y
birth_place =Brooklyn ,New York , U.S.
residence =
nationality = flagicon|USA American
death_date = death date and age|1983|1|20|1914|12|14|df=y
death_place = Columbia,New York , U.S.
field = molecular biologist
work_institution =Columbia University
alma_mater =City College of New York
doctoral_advisor =
doctoral_students =
known_for = DNA structure,Cancer
prizes =
religion =
footnotes =Sol Spiegelman (
14 December ,1914 -20 January ,1983 ) was an American molecular biologist. He developed the technique of nucleic acid hybridization, which helped to lay the groundwork for advances inrecombinant DNA technology.Spiegelman was born and educated in
New York City , and earned abachelor's degree inmathematics from theCity College of New York in 1939. He began his graduate studies atColumbia University in 1940, looking into cellular physiology. He completed his graduate studies atWashington University (1942-44) in St. Louis where he also lectured in physics and applied mathematics, receiving his doctorate there in 1944. After a year as aU.S. Public Health Service Fellow at theUniversity of Minnesota , he joined the faculty of the University of Illinois and later became a professor of microbiology where he stayed for 20 years.In 1962, he developed a technique that allowed the detection of specific RNA and DNA molecules in cells. Called nucleic acid hybridization, it was the combination of viral DNA and viral RNA which helped to lay the groundwork for advances in
recombinant DNA technology. [cite journal
author=Gillespie D
coauthors=Spiegelman S
title=A quantitative assay for DNA-RNA hybrids with DNA immobilized on a membrane
journal=J Mol Biol
year=1965
month=Jul
volume=12
issue=3
pages=829–42
pmid=4955314 ]In 1969 he became a professor of human genetics and development at the
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons as well as director of the Institute of Cancer Research in 1969. In 1975, he was named University Professor.He investigated how cells form
enzymes ,DNA andRNA structures,virology and the molecular basis ofcancer . He is credited with an experiment with self reproducing RNA structures called Spiegelman's Monster.He received the
Lasker Award in 1974 for his 1965 work on Qβ RNA. In 1981 he received theAntonio Feltrinelli International prize in Biology for his contributions to molecular biology. He published more than 350 papers.References
External links
* [http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/manuscripts/ead/spiegelman561.html Sol Spiegelman Papers, 1929-1983]
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