Joachim Messing

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Joachim Messing (2008)

Joachim Wilhelm "Jo" Messing (born September 10, 1946 in Duisburg ; † September 13, 2019 in Somerset , New Jersey ) was a German-American molecular biologist , biochemist and agricultural scientist . He was Director of the Waksman Institute of Microbiology and Selman A. Waksman Professor of Molecular Genetics at Rutgers University . He is one of the pioneers of genetic engineering and one of the most cited scientists.

Life

Joachim Messing is the son of the civil engineer Heinrich Messing and his wife Martha, a housewife. His interest in chemistry was aroused early on. In 1968 he completed a two-year apprenticeship in a pharmacy in Duisburg as a prerequisite for studying pharmacy. From 1968 studied pharmacy in Berlin. His commitment as a student representative was rewarded with an invitation to the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting, where he met Selman A. Waksman along with other Nobel Laureates . In 1971 he passed the state examination. In 1975 he received his doctorate in biochemistry from the LMU in Munich. He accepted an offer from Feodor Lynen to do research at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Munich and also his advice to research viruses here , a project that was quickly rewarded with a Nature paper. This was followed by positions at the University of California, Davis , one of the centers of plant genetics, and the University of Minnesota , St. Paul . Since 1985 he has been Professor of Molecular Genetics at Rutgers University and since 1988 Director of the Waksman Institute of Microbiology at Rutgers University. Messing was married and has a son with his wife of German descent who received his doctorate from Johns Hopkins University . He died on September 13, 2019 at the age of 73.

research

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Joachim Messing and his colleagues developed the Shotgun DNA sequencing method using synthetic universal primers . The method relies on fragmenting DNA , followed by cloning and sequencing from the end. The fragmentation results in overlapping sequence information that can be reconstructed into continuous sequences ( contigs ). The first proof he provided with the elucidation of the sequence of the cauliflower mosaic virus ( English Cauliflower Mosaic Virus, CaMV). The M13 and pUC vectors developed for this work , such as M13mp18 and pUC19, were a prerequisite for the development of site-specific mutagenesis but also for the sequencing of entire chromosomes. In 1982 he developed the first PC program to process overlapping sequence data. He also generated the first E. coli strain ( JM101 ) suitable for blue-white screening . The six critical publications on vectors and shotgun sequencing have been cited over 31,000 times. In the decade between 1981 and 1990, brass was the world's most cited scientist. Brass did not patent the methods, vectors and bacterial strains he developed and made them freely accessible.

At Rutgers University he devoted himself to molecular biology and bioinformatics, plant development and plant genomics. He also researched epigenetic phenomena, such as non-Mendelian inheritance , which is not based on the DNA sequence . Genome sequencing and RNA interference experiments in his laboratory allowed him to study the organization and evolution of genes that control the content of proteins as a food source or for biofuels. The research into sugar millet led to the discovery of a natural variant that is more sugar-rich. He also examined the duckweed for use as an alternative bioenergy source.

Honors and memberships

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dr. Joachim Messing - Waksman Institute of Microbiology. In: waksman.rutgers.edu. February 16, 2000, accessed November 6, 2016 .
  2. ^ PH Schreier, RW Davies, DE Buchell, B. Gronenborn, TG Fanning, B. von Wilcken, J. Messing: Precise location of the crossover region in the lambda attachment sequence. In: Nature. Volume 267, Number 5611, June 1977, pp. 555-557, PMID 876378 .
  3. ↑ Donna Gialanella / The Star-Ledger: Jo Messing. In: blog.nj.com. January 21, 2007, accessed November 6, 2016 .
  4. ↑ Joachim Messing, Renowned Rutgers Scientist, Dead at 73. In: Rutgers Today. September 18, 2019, accessed on September 19, 2019 .
  5. ↑ J. Messing, R. Crea, PH Seeburg: A system for shotgun DNA sequencing. In: Nucleic acids research. Volume 9, Number 2, January 1981, pp. 309-321, PMID 6259625 , PMC 326694 (free full text).
  6. ↑ RC Gardner, AJ Howarth, P. Hahn, M. Brown-Luedi, RJ Shepherd, J. Messing: The complete nucleotide sequence of an infectious clone of cauliflower mosaic virus by M13mp7 shotgun sequencing. In: Nucleic acids research. Volume 9, Number 12, June 1981, pp. 2871-2888, PMID 6269062 , PMC 326899 (free full text).
  7. ↑ C. Yanisch-Perron, J. Vieira, J. Messing: Improved M13 phage cloning vectors and host strains: nucleotide sequences of the M13mp18 and pUC19 vectors. In: Genes. Volume 33, Number 1, 1985, pp. 103-119, PMID 2985470 .
  8. ↑ Joachim Messing. In: academy.asm.org. Retrieved November 6, 2016 .
  9. ↑ World's most cited scientists, 1981-1990. In: science.sciencemag.org. October 4, 1991, accessed January 25, 2017 .
  10. ↑ Yongrui Wu, Joachim Messing: Proteome balancing of the maize seed for higher nutritional value. In: Frontiers in Plant Science. 5, 2014, doi: 10.3389 / fpls.2014.00240 .
  11. ↑ W. Wang, J. Messing, K. Appenroth: Status of duckweed genomics and transcriptomics. In: Plant Biology. 17, 2015, p. 10, doi: 10.1111 / plb.12201 .
  12. ^ Elected Fellows. In: aaas.org. October 21, 2016, accessed January 25, 2017 .
  13. ↑ Member entry of Joachim Messing (with picture and CV) at the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina , accessed on November 25, 2016.
  14. ^ Search Results - Wolf Prize. In: wolffund.org.il. Retrieved January 25, 2017 (English).
  15. ↑ 2014 Promega Biotechnology Research Award Laureate. In: asm.org. Retrieved January 25, 2017 (English).
  16. ↑ Joachim Messing. In: nasonline.org. Retrieved January 25, 2017 .
  17. ↑ Joachim Messing. In: academy.asm.org. Retrieved January 25, 2017 (English).
  18. ^ Newly Elected Fellows. In: amacad.org. Retrieved January 25, 2017 .
personal data
SURNAME Messing, Joachim
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Brass, Jo (nickname); Messing, Joachim Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-American molecular biology, biochemist and agricultural scientist
DATE OF BIRTH September 10, 1946
PLACE OF BIRTH Duisburg
DATE OF DEATH 13th September 2019
Place of death Somerset , New Jersey