Gerald R. Fink

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Gerald Ralph Fink (* 1940 in Brooklyn , New York City ) is an American geneticist at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Life

Fink received a bachelor's degree in biology from Amherst College in Amherst , Massachusetts and a Ph.D. in 1965 from Norman H. Giles at Yale University in New Haven , Connecticut . in molecular biology and genetics . His dissertation was Gene-enzyme relationships in histidine biosynthesis in yeast . As a postdoctoral fellow , he worked with Bruce Ames at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda , Maryland . In 1967 Fink became a member of the faculty at Cornell University in Ithaca , New York , most recently as professor of genetics and professor of biochemistry . 1982 moved to the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research , whose director he was between 1990 and 2001, and at the same time became Professor of Molecular Genetics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His professorship there is donated by the American Cancer Society .

Fink is - together with Fred Sherman - an international leader in the genetics of yeasts , especially Saccharomyces cerevisiae . Fink is one of the founders of molecular cloning in yeasts ( transformation ), with which the basis for the industrial genetic engineering production of numerous drugs such as insulin and vaccines was created. Fink was able to elucidate various factors that determine the pathogenicity of yeasts. He contributed to the spread of Arabidopsis thaliana (pod cress) as a model organism in plant biology and genetics . By genetically operating could develop Fink plants to salt or drought are especially tolerant ( salt tolerance , drought tolerance ). For many years, Fink gave courses in yeast genetics at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on Long Island and introduced many researchers to this field of research.

In 2002/2003 Fink was chairman of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Research Standards and Practices to Prevent the Destructive Use Application of Biotechnology , a research committee that drafted guidelines to minimize the risk of misuse of biotechnology for terrorist purposes ( bioterrorism ) without hindering biotechnological research as a whole.

Awards (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ NAS Award in Molecular Biology. In: nasonline.org. Retrieved January 13, 2016 .
  2. ↑ a b Past GSA Award Recipients at the Genetics Society of America (genetics-gsa.org); Retrieved April 12, 2012
  3. ↑ Book of Members 1780 – present (PDF, 222 kB) of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (amacad.org); Retrieved April 12, 2012
  4. ^ T. Orr-Weaver, EW Jones: The 2001 George W. Beadle Medal. Gerald R. Fink. In: Genetics. Volume 160, No. 2, February 2002, pp. 371-372, ISSN  0016-6731 . PMID 11894820 . PMC 1461974 (free full text).
  5. ↑ http://wi.mit.edu/news/archive/2002/whitehead-member-gerald-fink-receives-lifetime-achievement-award
  6. ↑ Dr. Gerald R. Fink at the American Philosophical Society (amphilsoc.org); Retrieved April 12, 2012
  7. ↑ Gerald Fink at the Gruber Foundation (gruberprizes.org); Retrieved April 12, 2012
  8. ↑ http://wi.mit.edu/people/faculty/fink website of the Whitehead Institute. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
personal data
SURNAME Fink, Gerald R.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Fink, Gerald Ralph (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American geneticist
DATE OF BIRTH 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH Brooklyn , New York City