Honours Programma Achtste Bijeenkomst 18 november 2004 Denkstijlen Zichtbare Wetenschappers

Honours ProgrammaAchtste Bijeenkomst18 november 2004

DenkstijlenZichtbare Wetenschappers

James Watson

James Watson (1928 - )• 1928 – Born in Chicago• High school hobby: bird watching• 1950 – Ph.D. Zoology (the effect of X-rays on bacteriophage

multiplication)• 1951 – Cavendish Laboratory• 1953 – Article in Nature• 1953 – California Institute of Technology• 1956 – Harvard• 1962 – Nobel Prize• 1968 – The Double Helix• 1968 – Cold Spring Harbor (Cancer genes)• 1988 – Human Genome Project• 1989 – Director Human Genome project• 1992 – Watson left HUGO• 2003 – Genes, girls and gamow

James Watson

Molecular structure of Nucleic AcidsWATSON, J. D. & CRICK, F. H. C.Medical Research Council Unit for the Study of Molecular Structure of Biological Systems, Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge.

A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid

We wish to suggest a structure for the salt of deoxyribose nucleic acid (D.N.A.). This structure has novel features which are of considerable biological interest.A structure for nucleic acid has already been proposed by Pauling and Corey1. They kindly made their manuscript available to us in advance of publication. Their model consists of three intertwined chains, with the phosphates near the fibre axis, and the bases on the outside. In our opinion, this structure is unsatisfactory for two reasons: (1) We believe that the material which gives the X-ray diagrams is the salt, not the free acid. Without the acidic hydrogen atoms it is not clear what forces would hold the structure together, especially as the negatively charged phosphates near the axis will repel each other. (2) Some of the van der Waals distances appear to be too small.Another three-chain structure has also been suggested by Fraser (in the press). In his model the phosphates are on the outside and the bases on the inside, linked together by hydrogen bonds. This structure as described is rather ill-defined, and for this reason we shall not comment on it.

Michael Crichton

Michael Crichton (1942 - )

• 1942: Chicago• 1965 – Harvard Anthropology• 1969 - Harvard Medical School• 1969 – The Andromeda Strain• 1969/70 - Institute for Biological Science, La

Jolla, California• 1983 – Electronic Life• 1990 – Jurassic Park• 2003 - Prey

Andromeda Strain

Jurassic Park

Prey

Jurassic Park

Craig Venter

Craig Venter (1946 - )

• 1946: Salt Lake city• 1967/68 – Vietnam (intensive care ward)• Hobby: Surfing• 1975 - Ph.D in Physiology and Pharmacology (University of

California, San Diego)• 1984 – National Institutes of Health (gene expression)• 1986 – Gene sequencing• 1987 – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences – “The

very first genes sequenced by automated DNA sequencing”• 1992 – Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR)• 1998 – Celera Genomics• 2001 – HGP: Nature (15 February); Celera: Science (16 February)• Now: DNA Collector

Craig Venter

Craig Venter

Craig Venter

Craig Venter

"The sequence of the human genome,“By J. Craig Venter and 284 othersScience, 291(5507):1304-51, 16 February 2001.

Drosophila Melanogaster

Bill Gates

Bill Gates (1955 - )

• 1955 – Seattle

• 1973 Harvard

• 1975 – Microsoft

• 1981 – IBM: Personal Computer

• 1999 – Business @ the speed of thought

• Wealthiest person in the world

Bill Gates

Bill Gates