'Publish or Perish'

the rule of academia, has become

'Patent and Profit'

'When we spliced the profit gene into academic culture, we created a new organism -- the recombinant university. We reprogrammed the incentives that guide science. The rule in academe used to be "publish or perish." Now bioscientists have an alternative -- "patent and profit." ' Paul Berg, Stanford in a 13aug01 SF Chronicle interview

The 1980 Nobel Prize in Chemistry 
Kungl. Vetenskapsakademien 
The Royal Swedish Adademy of Sciencies 
Press Release 14 October 1980

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 1980 Nobel Prize in chemistry by one half to Professor Paul Berg, Stanford University, USA, for his fundamental studies of the biochemistry of nucleic acids, with particular regard to recombinant-DNA, and the other hair jointly to Professor Walter Gilbert, Harvard University, USA, and Professor Frederick Sanger, Cambridge University, Great Britain, for their contributions concerning the determination of base sequences in nucleic acids.NOBEL PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY TO NUCLEIC-ACID INVESTIGATORS The attributes of life and living organisms, such as reproductive ability, growth, motility and response to external stimuli, are outward manifestations of a very complicated network of coupled chemical reactions. The chemical machinery of a living cell is governed by DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) in its chromosomes. DNA carries out its task by determining which enzymes a cell shall manufacture. The enzymes impart to the cell its characteristic chemical pattern by their ability to speed up (catalyze) given chemical reactions in a specific manner. The scientists who have been awarded this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry have developed methods making it possible to map in considerable detail the structure and function of DNA.

Nucleic acids (e.g. DNA) and proteins (e.g. enzymes) consists of giant molecules (macromolecules), which are built up by smaller molecules, functioning as building blocks, linked together into long chains. The building blocks of DNA are called nucleotides, and in enzymes they are named amino acids. We know through investigations which have led to earlier Nobel Prize Awards, that DNA expresses its genetic message by the sequence of its building blocks determining the sequence of amino acids in an enzyme. But different cells differ in their chemical machinery, and there are consequently parts of the DNA molecule which control how much of its message which shall be copied. In higher organisms the chromosomes have in addition DNA with an hitherto unknown function.

The scientific contributions which are now awarded with Nobel Prizes have to a considerable degree increased our knowledge of the way in which DNA as carrier of the genetic traits govern the chemical machinery of the cell. Berg was the first investigator to construct a recombinant-DNA molecule, i.e. a molecule containing parts of DNA from different species, e.g. a chromosome from a virus combined which genes from a bacterial chromosome. His pioneering experiment has resulted in the development of a new technology, often called genetic engineering or gene manipulation, which has already had important practical applications, e.g. the manufacture of human hormone with the aid of bacteria. Berg performed his experiment, however, as part of an incisive analysis of the chromosome of an ape virus (called SV 40) Viruses contain DNA (or sometimes RNA, another nucleic acid). They cause disease by introducing foreign genetic information in a cell and in this way disturbing its chemical machinery. As DNA molecules from viruses are relatively small, they are excellent objects of investigation for the study of the relationship between the chemical structure and biological function of DNA.

Gilbert and Sanger have independently developed different methods to determine the exact sequence of the nucleotide building blocks in DNA. Among applications of sequence methods may be mentioned that Gilbert has investigated the structure of those parts of a bacterial chromosome which control the reading (transcription) of the genetic message. Sanger is responsible for the first complete determination of the sequence of a DNA molecule. He has established the sequence of the 5375 building blocks in DNA from a bacterial virus called phi-X174. Sanger's method has also been used to determine the sequence of DNA from humans, which led to the surprising discovery that the genetic code is not universal, i.e. it is not the same in all living organisms, from viruses and bacteria to man.

Sequence investigations with the methods of Gilbert and Sanger together with the recombinant-DNA technique make excellent tools for continued investigations of the structure and function of the genetic material. Sequence determinations are also important for the planning of a rational and efficient recombinant-DNA technology. Consequently there is a close relation between the contributions of the three scientists, the reason for having them share a Nobel Prize. The investigations of Berg, Gilbert and Sanger have given us a detailed insight into the chemical basis of the genetic machinery in living organisms. They have already formed the foundation for important technical applications. In an extended perspective they will certainly play a decisive role in our efforts to understand the nature of cancer, as in this disease there is a malfunction in the control, by the genetic material, of the growth and division of cells. Curriculum Vitae of Paul Berg

Born June 30, 1926 to Harry and Sarah (Brodsky) Berg in Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A. Siblings - Jack (aged 53) and Irving (deceased).

Married September 13, 1947 to Mildred Levy. One son - John Alexander born September 30, 1958.

Attended public grade- and high-school (Abraham Lincoln) in New York, graduating early in 1943. Studied biochemistry at Pennsylvania State College from 1943 until 1948 (B. S. in Biochemistry). Served in U.S. Navy (1944 - 46).

Graduate studies in biochemistry at Western Reserve University (Ph. D. 1952). Postdoctoral training with Herman Kalckar, Institute of Cytophysiology, Copenhagen, Denmark (1952 - 53), and Arthur Kornberg, Washington University, St. Louis, MO (1953 - 54). Scholar in Cancer Research, Washington University (1954 - 57).

Professional positions: Assistant professor of microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine (1955 - 59); Associate professor and professor of biochemistry at Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA (1959- present); named Willson Professor of Biochemistry, Stanford University (1970). Chairman of Department of Biochemistry (1969 - 74). Non-resident Fellow of Salk Institute (1973-present).

Awards: Eli Lilly Prize in Biochemistry (1959); California Scientist of the Year (1963); V. D. Mattia Award of the Roche Institute for Molecular Biology (1974); Sarasota Medical Award (1979); Gairdner Foundation Annual Award (1980); Albert Lasker Medical Research Award (1980); New York Academy of Sciences Award (1980).

Honors: Elected to U. S. National Academy of Sciences and American Academy of Sciences (1966); Distinguished Alumnus Award Pennsylvania State University (1972); President of American Society of Biological Chemists (1975); Honorary D.Sc. Yale University and University of Rochester (1978); Foreign member of Japan Biochemical Society (1978).

Selected Bibliography

1. Physical and Genetic Characterization of Deletion Mutants of Simian Virus 40 Constructed In Vitro. Charles Cole, Terry Landers, Stephen Goff, Simone Manteuil-Brutlag, and Paul Berg. J. Virol., 24: 277 - 294 (1977).

2. A Biochemical Method for Inserting New Genetic Information into SV40 DNA: Circular SV40 DNA Molecules Containing Lambda Phage Genes and the Galactose Operon of E. coli. David A. Jackson, Robert H. Symons, and Paul Berg. Proc. Nat. Sci. USA, 69, 2904 (1972).

3. Construction of Hybrid Viruses Containing SV40 and Lambda Phage DNA Segments and Their Propagation in Cultured Monkey Cells. Stephen P. Goff, and Paul Berg. Cell, 9:695 (1976).

4. Synthesis of Rabbit beta-Globin in Cultured Monkey Kidney Cells Following Infection with a SV40 beta-Globin Recombinant Genome. R. C. Mulligan, B. H. Howard, and Paul Berg. Nature, 277, 108 - 114 ( 1979).

5. Expression of a Bacterial Gene in Mammalian Cells. R. C. Mulligan and Paul Berg, Science 209, 1422 - 1427 (1980).

From Les Prix Nobel 1980.