Subdivision
| • | 201. Molecular Biology and Biochemistry | [X] |
| | 1 | Name: | Dr. Marianne Grunberg-Manago | | | Institution: | Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique | | | Year Elected: | 1992 | | | Class: | 2. Biological Sciences | | | Subdivision: | 201. Molecular Biology and Biochemistry | | | Residency: | International | | | Living? : |
Deceased
| | | Birth Date: | 1921 | | | Death Date: | January 4, 2013 | | | | | | |
French biologist Marianne Grunberg-Manago had a profound effect on the development of molecular biology. She discovered polynucleotide phosphorylase, the first enzyme capable of synthesizing macromolecules with nucleic acid-like structures, which was subsequently used to elucidate the genetic code. In extending this work, Dr. Grunberg-Manago contributed to the understanding of the translation of the genetic code in the synthesis of protein, in particular as pertains to the role of initiation factors and the dynamic role of ribosomes. She opened a new field of investigation concerning the mechanisms responsible for the initiation of protein synthesis, eludicating the role of several essential protein factors involved in selection of initiation codons. Not only was her research of international stature, but her activities were international in scope as president of the International Union of Biochemistry, president of the French delegation of the French-Soviet Exchanges, a member of the A.S.I. committee of NATO and a Fogarty scholar at the National Institutes of Health, to name a few. Dr. Grunberg-Manago was the first woman to direct the International Union of Biochemistry and was a member of the French Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts & Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences. She was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1992. She had been Emeritus Director of Research at the French National Center for Scientific Research at the time of her death on January 4, 2013, at age 91. | |
| 2 | Name: | Dr. Frederic M. Richards | | | Institution: | Yale University | | | Year Elected: | 1992 | | | Class: | 2. Biological Sciences | | | Subdivision: | 201. Molecular Biology and Biochemistry | | | Residency: | Resident | | | Living? : |
Deceased
| | | Birth Date: | 1925 | | | Death Date: | January 11, 2009 | | | | | | |
A pioneer in crystallography and structural biology, Frederic M. Richards has been Sterling Professor Emeritus of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University since 1991. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1952 and, aside from a year in Copenhagen with Linderstrom Lang and a year in Cambridge with A.C. Chibnell, he has spent his entire academic career at Yale, chairing the department of molecular biology, biophysics and chemistry from 1969-73. A member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Dr. Richards has received honors such as the Pfizer-Paul Lewis Award in Enzyme Chemistry (1965), the Kai Linderstrom-Lang Prize in Protein Chemistry (1978) and the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology-Merck Award (1988). An intellectual leader, Dr. Richards is admired not only for his meticulous science, which has relevance to many fields, but for his generous, open and warm scientific style. | |
| 3 | Name: | Dr. Joan A. Steitz | | | Institution: | Yale University | | | Year Elected: | 1992 | | | Class: | 2. Biological Sciences | | | Subdivision: | 201. Molecular Biology and Biochemistry | | | Residency: | Resident | | | Living? : |
Living
| | | Birth Date: | 1941 | | | | | | |
Joan A. Steitz is Sterling Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University as well as an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She has made important research contributions to the study of the role of small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs) in eukaryotic cells, and she is credited with discovering that complexes containing these snRNAs reacted specifically with sera from autoimmune patients. She then recognized that sequences in one of these snRNAs were complementary to sequences important in splicing of RNA in the nucleus of cells. This hypothesis proved correct and played a critical role in directing the field. Dr. Steitz is the recipient of prestigious awards such as the Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry (1982), the National Medal of Science (1987), the Dickson Prize for Science (1989), the Cristopher Columbus Discovery Award in Biomedical Research (1992), the Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award (2002), the Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research (2008), the Connecticut Medal of Science (2015), the William Clyde DeVane Medal (2016), and the Wolf Prize in Medicine (2021). A graduate of Antioch College (B.S., 1963) and Harvard University (Ph.D., 1967), she was elected to the membership of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 1982 and the National Academy of Sciences in 1983. | |
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