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Walter Gilbert

 
Walter Gilbert

 
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Walter Gilbert
 
 
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Walter Gilbert (born March 21, 1932) is an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 physicist
Physics

Physics is the natural science which examines basic concepts such as energy, force, and spacetime and all that derives from these, such as mass, charge, matter and its Motion ....
, biochemist
Biochemistry

Biochemistry is the study of the chemistry processes in living organisms. It deals with the structure and function of cellular components such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids and other biomolecules....
, molecular biology
Molecular biology

Molecular biology is the study of biology at a molecule level. The field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry....
 pioneer, and Nobel laureate.

ert was born in Boston, Massachusetts
Boston, Massachusetts

Boston is the State capital and largest city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is considered the economic and cultural center of the region, and is sometimes regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England." Boston city proper had a 2007 est...
 and educated at the Sidwell Friends School
Sidwell Friends School

Sidwell Friends School is a prestigious K-12 Religious Society of Friends private school located in Washington, D.C. and Bethesda, Maryland in the United States....
, Harvard University
Harvard University

Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the Colonial Colleges institution of higher learning in the United States....
 and the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge , located in Cambridge, England, is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation university in the Anglosphere....
, later joining the faculty at Harvard. Together with Allan Maxam
Allan Maxam

Allan Maxam is one of the pioneers of molecular genetics. He was one of the contributors to develop a DNA_sequencing method at Harvard University, while working as a student in the laboratory of Walter Gilbert ....
 he developed a new DNA sequencing method. His approach to the first synthesis of insulin
Insulin

Insulin is a hormone with extensive effects on both metabolism and several other body systems . Insulin causes most of the body's cells to take up glucose from the blood , storing it as glycogen in the liver and muscle, and stops use of fat as an energy source....
 lost out to Genentech
Genentech

Genentech Inc. , a composite of Genetic Engineering Technology, Inc., is a leading biotechnology corporation, which was founded in 1976 by venture capitalist Robert A....
's approach which used genes built up from the nucleotides rather than from natural sources.

In 1979, Gilbert was awarded the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize
Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize

Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize for Biology or Biochemistry is an annual prize awarded by Columbia University to a researcher or group of researchers that have made an outstanding contribution in basic research in the fields of biology or biochemistry....
 from Columbia University
Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York , is a private university in the United States and a member of the Ivy League. Columbia's main campus lies in the Morningside Heights, Manhattan neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, in New York City....
 together with Frederick Sanger
Frederick Sanger

Frederick Sanger, Order of Merit , Order of the Companions of Honour, Order of the British Empire, Royal Society is an England biochemistry and twice a Nobel laureate in chemistry....
.






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Quotations


I would not be surprised if there were another cause of AIDS and even that HIV is not involved.

Omni (June 1993)

Duesberg is absolutely correct in saying that no one has proven that AIDS is caused by the AIDS virus. And he is absolutely correct that the virus cultured in the laboratory may not be the cause of AIDS.

Hippocrates (Sept./Oct. 1988)

The community as a whole doesn't listen patiently to critics who adopt alternative viewpoints. Although the great lesson of history is that knowledge develops through the conflict of viewpoints.

Meditel (1990)





Encyclopedia


Walter Gilbert (born March 21, 1932) is an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 physicist
Physics

Physics is the natural science which examines basic concepts such as energy, force, and spacetime and all that derives from these, such as mass, charge, matter and its Motion ....
, biochemist
Biochemistry

Biochemistry is the study of the chemistry processes in living organisms. It deals with the structure and function of cellular components such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids and other biomolecules....
, molecular biology
Molecular biology

Molecular biology is the study of biology at a molecule level. The field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry....
 pioneer, and Nobel laureate.

Biography

Gilbert was born in Boston, Massachusetts
Boston, Massachusetts

Boston is the State capital and largest city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is considered the economic and cultural center of the region, and is sometimes regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England." Boston city proper had a 2007 est...
 and educated at the Sidwell Friends School
Sidwell Friends School

Sidwell Friends School is a prestigious K-12 Religious Society of Friends private school located in Washington, D.C. and Bethesda, Maryland in the United States....
, Harvard University
Harvard University

Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the Colonial Colleges institution of higher learning in the United States....
 and the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge , located in Cambridge, England, is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation university in the Anglosphere....
, later joining the faculty at Harvard. Together with Allan Maxam
Allan Maxam

Allan Maxam is one of the pioneers of molecular genetics. He was one of the contributors to develop a DNA_sequencing method at Harvard University, while working as a student in the laboratory of Walter Gilbert ....
 he developed a new DNA sequencing method. His approach to the first synthesis of insulin
Insulin

Insulin is a hormone with extensive effects on both metabolism and several other body systems . Insulin causes most of the body's cells to take up glucose from the blood , storing it as glycogen in the liver and muscle, and stops use of fat as an energy source....
 lost out to Genentech
Genentech

Genentech Inc. , a composite of Genetic Engineering Technology, Inc., is a leading biotechnology corporation, which was founded in 1976 by venture capitalist Robert A....
's approach which used genes built up from the nucleotides rather than from natural sources.

In 1979, Gilbert was awarded the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize
Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize

Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize for Biology or Biochemistry is an annual prize awarded by Columbia University to a researcher or group of researchers that have made an outstanding contribution in basic research in the fields of biology or biochemistry....
 from Columbia University
Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York , is a private university in the United States and a member of the Ivy League. Columbia's main campus lies in the Morningside Heights, Manhattan neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, in New York City....
 together with Frederick Sanger
Frederick Sanger

Frederick Sanger, Order of Merit , Order of the Companions of Honour, Order of the British Empire, Royal Society is an England biochemistry and twice a Nobel laureate in chemistry....
. In the following year, he was awarded the 1980 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Nobel Prize in Chemistry

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Pri...
 with Frederick Sanger
Frederick Sanger

Frederick Sanger, Order of Merit , Order of the Companions of Honour, Order of the British Empire, Royal Society is an England biochemistry and twice a Nobel laureate in chemistry....
 and Paul Berg
Paul Berg

Paul Naim Berg is an United States biochemist and professor emeritus at Stanford University. He graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School in 1943, received his B.S....
. Gilbert and Sanger were recognized for their pioneering work in devising methods for determining the sequence of nucleotide
Nucleotide

Nucleotides are molecules that comprise the structural units of RNA and DNA. Additionally, nucleotides play central roles in metabolism. In that capacity, they serve as sources of chemical energy , participate in cell signaling , and are incorporated into important cofactors of enzymatic reactions ....
s in a nucleic acid
Nucleic acid

A nucleic acid is a macromolecule composed of chains of monomeric nucleotides. In biochemistry these molecules carry genetic information or form structures within Cell ....
. Walter Gilbert also first proposed the term RNA world hypothesis
RNA world hypothesis

The RNA world hypothesis proposes that a world filled with life based on ribonucleic acid predated current life based on deoxyribonucleic acid ....
 for the origin of life, for a concept first proposed by Carl Woese
Carl Woese

Carl Richard Woese is an American microbiologist and physicist. Woese is famous for defining the Archaea in 1977 by phylogenetic taxonomy of Svedberg ribosome RNA, a technique pioneered by Woese and which is now standard practice....
 in 1967. He is a co-founder of the biotech start-up companies Biogen and Myriad Genetics
Myriad Genetics

Myriad Genetics is a biopharmaceutical company. It was co-founded in 1992 by Mark Skolnick and Nobel laureate Dr. Walter Gilbert. The company markets cancer predictive medicine products and develops therapeutics including drug candidates in the areas of Alzheimer's disease and cancer....
, and was the first chairman on their respective boards of directors. He is also a member of the Board of Scientific Governors at The Scripps Research Institute
The Scripps Research Institute

The Scripps Research Institute is a medical research facility that focuses on research in the basic biomedical sciences. Primarily located in La Jolla, California, with a sister facility in Jupiter, Florida, the institute is home to 3,000 scientists, technicians, graduate students, and administrative and other staff, making it among the la...
. Dr. Gilbert is currently the chairman of the Harvard Society of Fellows
Harvard Society of Fellows

The Harvard Society of Fellows is a collection of luminaries selected by Harvard University to be given special honors, upon whom distinctive academic and intellectual opportunities are bestowed....
.

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