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Rich Roberts in his lab at Cold Spring Harbor, 1975.
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Rich Roberts in his office at New England Biolabs, 1999.
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Louise Chow and Thom Broker.
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Electron micrograph of RNA/DNA hybrid. This was one of the original photos that Roberts and his group used for analyzing their results.
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Rich Roberts as Dr. December in the 1997 Studmuffins of Science Calendar.
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The Sambrook lab at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory around 1971 where Phil Sharp was a post-doc. (L-R) Arlene Jackson, Phil Sharp and C. Mulder.
Audio Glossary
Adenovirus, Electrophoresis, Exon, Gene, Messenger RNA (mRNA), Ribonucleic acid (RNA)Video Interviews
Rich Roberts is Director of Research for New England Biolabs, one of the first commercial sources for restriction enzymes that is today a leading supplier of molecular biology reagents.
Clip 1 (0:33)
How he first became interested in restriction enzymes - hearing a talk by Dan Nathans.
Clip 2 (0:58)
Describing the early work purifying restriction enzymes.
Clip 3 (0:57)
Describing the early experimental evidence for "interrupted" RNA transcripts that went on to suggest the subsequent electron micrograph studies.
Clip 4 (1:31)
Describing the set up of the electron micrograph experiments.
Clip 5 (1:29)
Performing the electron micrograph DNA/RNA hybridizations, and seeing the results.
Clip 6 (1:09)
Should an aspiring student pursue a career in science? -- finding and developing your passion.
Phil Sharp is the Salvador E. Luria Professor of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His laboratory studies both the catalytic processes responsible for splicing and the nature of the factors conferring specificity.
Clip 1 (1:02)
Recounting how he came to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory to study viruses.
Clip 2 (0:55)
Describing long nuclear versus short cytoplasmic message RNA, and what the differences suggested.
Clip 3 (1:10)
Interpreting the electron micrographs that led to the discovery of the split gene.
Clip 4 (0:52)
Developing the experimental technologies used to study DNA fragments: agarose gel electrophoresis and restriction enzymes.
Clip 5 (1:20)
Commenting on how the real excitement of science comes when you don't know what's going on, and you get to be part of "the chase."
Richard Roberts and Phil Sharp shared the 1993 Nobel Prize for the discovery of the split gene theory. RICHARD JOHN ROBERTS (1943-)
Richard (Rich) Roberts was born in Derby, England. His family moved to Bath when he was four. His father was a mechanic and his mother was a homemaker. His father was very supportive of Roberts' inquisitive nature. He helped him build a chemistry lab in the basement where Roberts made and studied fireworks and other chemicals. This interest in chemistry plus a fascination with games and puzzles led him to pursue a research career. It was a chance to be a detective and solve chemical puzzles in the world of science. He graduated from Sheffield University in 1965 and stayed to do graduate work with his organic chemistry professor - one of the few who used problem solving to emphasize the challenge and not the chore of learning. While finishing his Ph.D., Roberts read John Kendrew's book, Thread of Life: An Introduction to Molecular Biology. This introduction to the early history of crystallography and molecular biology fascinated Roberts. He decided to switch fields and chose a lab that would allow him to go into molecular biology. For a post-doctoral tenure, Roberts went to Harvard to work in Jack Strominger's lab. At Harvard, Roberts learned the jargon of biochemistry. His project involved sequencing a tRNA involved in bacterial cell wall biosynthesis. Based on his readings he decided that the radioactive method of sequencing being developed by Fred Sanger in Cambridge was the best. In 1970, he went to Cambridge, learned the technique and when he came back, Roberts taught many of the area scientists how to sequence the Sanger way. In 1972, after a 10-minute interview, James Watson offered Roberts a position at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Watson wanted him to sequence the DNA of SV40, a virus. Roberts accepted the position and started investigating the enzyme Endonuclease R which he heard about from Dan Nathans. The enzyme cut DNA into specific pieces. Roberts realized that if there were more of these enzymes, he could use them to cut DNA into manageable sizes and thus use them in sequencing. Soon Roberts and his lab had a whole collection of restriction enzymes. During the '70s and early '80s, about 75 out of 100 known enzymes were isolated in Roberts' lab. Some of these restriction enzymes were used to map adenovirus DNA, a project in which Phil Sharp, in Joe Sambrook's lab, was also involved. In 1974, Roberts and Richard Gelinas started working with the adenovirus mRNA. They reasoned they could identify the DNA promoter region by sequencing the 5' end of the mRNA and then mapping it to the DNA. The promoter would be upstream of the 5' end of the mRNA. Through the course of their experiments, they discovered biochemical proof that the genes in adenovirus were split. Roberts then devised the electron microscope experiments that proved visually that this was true. In 1993, Roberts shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Phil Sharp for the discovery of the split gene. Roberts also helped develop one of the first computer programs that maps and analyzes DNA restriction enzyme fragments. He was an early advocate of computer use in molecular biology. In 1992, Roberts moved to New England Biolabs - a company where he is now one of two Research Directors. In addition to basic research, the company makes and sells research reagents and is noted for its production of restriction enzymes. Roberts is still fascinated by puzzles and games. His favorite is croquet, which he says combines the skill of snooker with the strategy of chess. His problem-solving nature is tempered with a dry sense of humor as evidenced by his appearance in "The Stud Muffins of Science 1997 Calendar," and his annual trip to the Ig Nobel Awards (the "opposite" of the Nobels) at Harvard University. PHILLIP ALLEN SHARP (1944-)
Phillip (Phil) Sharp was born in rural Kentucky. He grew up on a farm, and while not particularly interested in biology, Sharp did enjoy his science and math classes in school. His parents encouraged him to go to college, and Sharp earned his tuition by raising cattle and growing tobacco. Sharp went to Union College, a small liberal arts school. He majored in chemistry and math and went on to the University of Illinois for graduate school. His thesis project was on the description of DNA. It was more physical chemistry as opposed to experimental molecular biology. In 1966, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory held a symposium on The Genetic Code. Sharp read the symposium volume and became interested in molecular biology and genetics. When he started looking for a post-doc in 1969, Sharp applied and was accepted to work with Norman Davidson at the California Institute of Technology - a lab working on problems relating to the phage and bacterial genomes. Sharp learned how to use techniques like electron microscopy to experiment and test theories. Sharp worked with and studied bacterial plasmids, and figured out that plasmids that confer sex or drug resistance have transposable elements. In 1971, Sharp did another post-doc at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. James Watson was his supervisor, but because he was still at Harvard, Sharp worked more closely with Joe Sambrook. Sharp was interested in gene expression and worked with simple viruses, like SV40 and adenovirus. Using restriction enzymes, which had just been discovered, and an adapted gel electrophoresis technique, Sharp mapped the adenovirus genome. He and his colleagues then mapped the adenoviral mRNAs and linked them to function. These experiments were started at Cold Spring Harbor and continued at Massachusetts Institute of Technology where in 1974, Sharp was offered a job at the Center for Cancer Research. Sharp and his colleagues noticed that long nuclear RNA did not exist in the cytoplasm. They speculated that these long nuclear RNAs were processed into shorter mRNAs. Using RNA/DNA hybrids, they showed that cytoplasmic mRNA was processed and edited. This led to the split gene theory for which Sharp shared the 1993 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. In 1978, Sharp and a group of other scientists, including Walter Gilbert, founded Biogen Inc., one of the first biotech companies. It is now centered in Boston and is currently the only non-conglomerated biotech company. Sharp is the Chairman of the Scientific Board at Biogen and a member of its Board of Directors. In 1985, Sharp became the director of the Center for Cancer Research after Salvador Luria retired. In 1991, he stepped down as director and became the head of the Department of Biology at MIT. His tenure as head of the department ended in 1999 and he is currently Institute Professor. In addition to the Nobel, Sharp has won numerous prizes for his work. Until 1995, Sharp was on the editorial board for the journal Cell and is a member of many scientific organizations like the National Academy and the American Philosophical Society. He has served as a member of the President's Advisory Council on Science and Technology and on a number of search committees and peer-review government granting agencies like the NIH. | |
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LinksWebcutterThis site allows you to input any nucleotide sequence and it will give you a map that tells you where and which restriction enzymes will cut the sequence. Rebase: The Restriction Enzyme DatabaseMaintained by Dr. Rich Roberts and Dana Macelis at the New England Biolabs, Rebase is a searchable database of all the known restriction enzymes. You can find information about the enzymes, their cutting specificities and journal references. Bibliography
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