Sheldon Wolff (geneticist)

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Sheldon "Shelly" Wolff (born September 22, 1928 in Peabody , Massachusetts , † May 24, 2008 in Mill Valley , California ) was an American cytogeneticist and radiation biologist .

Life

Wolff earned a bachelor's degree from Tufts College in 1950 , a master's degree from Harvard University in 1951 and a PhD there in 1953 . Initially, he worked as a research fellow at Oak Ridge National Laboratory . From 1982 to 1996 he was Professor of Cytogenetics and Radiobiology at the University of California, San Francisco and Head of the Laboratory of Radiobiology and Environmental Health of the Department of Energy (DOE). From 1996 to 2000 Wolff was Vice President and Research Director of the Radiation Effects Research Foundation in Hiroshima , Japan .

Wolff's research led to the observation that chromosomal damage is the subject of biochemical repair processes, with which he laid the basis for research into the mechanisms of DNA repair . He is considered a pioneer of SCE staining, with which a sister chromatid exchange can be detected. His work suggests that extremely low levels of radiation trigger the performance of the repair mechanisms and that there is then less radiation sensitivity (see hormesis ). Wolff carried out pioneering work on the dose-effect relationship of ionizing radiation, fractionation and other modifications of radiation.

In addition to advising numerous state commissions and editing several scientific journals, Wolff was President of the Environmental Mutagen Society and chairman of the DOE's Health and Environmental Research Advisory Committee for nine years .

In 1973 he was awarded the United States Department of Energy's Ernest Orlando Lawrence Prize .

Wolff was married and had three children.

literature

  • David Perlman: Dr. Sheldon Wolff dies - UCSF scientist. Obituary at sfgate.com on June 5, 2008.
  • James E. Cleaver, William F. Morgan: Sheldon Wolff (1929-2008) In: Radiation Research. Volume 170, Number 4, October 2008, pp. 549-551, PMID 19024662 .
  • Jeffrey L. Schwartz, Sheila Galloway, William F. Morgan: Sheldon Wolff 1928-2008. In: Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis. 50, 2009, p. 79, doi: 10.1002 / em.20453 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sheldon Wolff in the Find a Grave database . Retrieved December 3, 2017.
  2. ↑ Sheldon Wolff, 1973 - US DOE Office of Science (SC). In: science.energy.gov. Retrieved December 3, 2017 .
personal data
SURNAME Wolff, Sheldon
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wolff, Shelly
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American cytogeneticist and radiation biologist
DATE OF BIRTH September 22, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Peabody , Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH May 24, 2008
Place of death Mill Valley