Evelyn M. Witkin

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Evelyn M. Witkin 2012

Evelyn M. Witkin , b. Evelyn Maisel (born September 9, 1921 in New York City ) is an American geneticist . She is known for her work on DNA repair .

Life

Witkin obtained a Ph.D. in 1947 from Theodosius Dobzhansky at Columbia University for a thesis on the radiation resistance of a certain strain of Escherichia coli. in zoology. She initially worked as a postdoctoral fellow with Milislav Demerec and Salvador Luria at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory , later as an independent research group leader there. In 1955 she moved to the medical faculty of the State University of New York , where she initially worked alone. In 1971 she moved to Rutgers University , where she stayed until her retirement in 1991.

Evelyn Witkin was married to Herman Witkin (1916-1979), a psychologist , since 1943 . The couple had two children, including computer scientist Andrew Witkin (1952-2010).

Act

Witkin dealt mainly with mutagenesis , DNA repair and the genetic effects of ultraviolet radiation .

She was able to show that bacteria must have a mechanism to repair genetic damage by showing that slowing down bacterial growth in the dark prevents the occurrence of mutants under ultraviolet radiation (dark repair mechanism) . She later described this mechanism as a series of processes that are co-induced, including DNA repair, filamentation , mutagenesis, and the induction of prophages . She took the idea of Miroslav Radman an SOS replication and developed it with him to the model of the SOS response further involved in at least 40 genes.

Her work has had a significant impact on the life sciences in general and medical radiation therapy in particular.

Beyond biology in the narrower sense, Witkin deals with the influence of Nathaniel Wanley on the poet Robert Browning and on the naturalist Charles Darwin .

Awards (selection)

Evelyn M. Witkin receives a National Medal of Science for 2002 from US President George W. Bush (November 2003).

Web links

Commons : Evelyn M. Witkin  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Evelyn Witkin. In: nasonline.org. Retrieved February 21, 2015 .
  2. ^ Prix ​​Charles-Léopold Mayer. List of award winners (PDF, 1.8 MB, status 2014) at academie-sciences.fr; accessed on February 1, 2016.
  3. ↑ Book of Members, 1780 – present (PDF, 741 kB) of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (amacad.org); accessed on February 21, 2015.
  4. ^ CA Gross: The 2000 Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal. Evelyn M. Witkin. In: Genetics. Volume 157, Number 2, February 2001, ISSN  0016-6731 , pp. 459-461, PMID 11370620 , PMC 1461505 (free full text).
  5. ↑ nsf.gov - National Science Foundation (NSF) News - "Vital Information" - Laureates of the 2002 National Medal of Science - US National Science Foundat. In: nsf.gov. October 29, 2003, accessed February 21, 2015 .
  6. ^ Wiley: The 14th Annual Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences Awarded for DNA Damage Response. In: eu.wiley.com. February 17, 2015, accessed February 21, 2015 .
personal data
SURNAME Witkin, Evelyn M.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Witkin, Evelyn; Maisel, Evelyn (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American geneticist
DATE OF BIRTH September 9, 1921
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City