Molecular Biology of the Gene

A member of the Yale faculty since 1970 and currently Henry Ford II Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Joan Argetsinger Steitz, Ph.D., has made outstanding contributions to the field of molecular genetics. Her studies have defined the roles of small ribonucleoprotein particles in RNA processing in mammals. She has focused her research on the structure and function of these cellular complexes, which play a key role in some of the most basic biological processes that convert information in the DNA to the active protein molecules of the living cell. Dr. Steitz earned her B.S. in chemistry from Antioch College in 1963. Significant findings emerged from Dr. Steitz's work as early as 1967, when her Harvard Ph.D. thesis examined the test-tube assembly of a ribonucleic acid (RNA) bacteriophage (antibacterial virus) known as R17. This work led to important early insights about how the protein and nucleic-acid components of viruses come together. Dr. Steitz's achievements have led to a host of honors, including the Passano Foundation Young Scientist Award in 1975, the National Medal of Science in 1986, and the Radcliffe Graduate Society's Medal for Distinguished Achievements in 1987. She also holds the 1976 Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry; Carnegie Mellon University's 1988 Dickson Prize for Science; and the 1989 Warren Triennial Prize, which she shared with Thomas R. Cech. In 1994, she was one of ten U.S. scientists to receive the Christopher Columbus Discovery Award in Biomedical Research and also received the American Academy of Achievement Golden Plate Award. In June 1994, Dr. Steitz became the first recipient of the Weizmann Women and Science Award conferred by the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science. In October 1996 she received The City of Medicine Award, established in 1988 to recognize outstanding achievements in medicine throughout the nation and the world.

 

VOLUME I: General Principles.
PART 1: HISTORICAL BACKGROUND.

 1 The Mendelian view of the World.
 2 Cells Obey the Laws of Chemistry.
 3 Nucleic Acids Convey Genetic Information.
PART II: CHEMICAL FACTS AND PRINCIPLES.

 4 A Chemist's Look at the Bacterial Cell.
 5 The Importance of Weak Chemical Interactions.
 6 Coupled Reactions and Group Transfers.
PART III: BACTERIAL GENETICS.

 7 The Genetic Systems Provided by E. Coli and Its Viruses.
 8 The Fine Structure of Bacterial and Phase Genes.
PART IV: DNA IN DETAIL.

 9 The Structures of DNA.
10 The Replication of DNA.
11 Recombination at the Molecular Level.
12 The Mutability and Repair of DNA.
PART V: THE STEPS IN PROTEIN SYNTHESIS.

13 The Synthesis of RNA upon DNA Templates.
14 Involvement of RNA in Protein Synthesis.
15 The Genetic Code.
PART VI: REGULATION OF GENE FUNCTION IN BACTERIAL CELLS.

16 Regulation of Protein Synthesis and Function in Bacteria.
17 The Replication of Bacterial Viruses.
PART VII: FACING UP TO EUKARYOTIC CELLS.

18 Yeasts as the E. coli of Eukaryotic Cells.
19 Recombinant DNA at Work.
PART VIII: THE FUNCTIONING OF EUKARYOTIC CHROMOSOME.

20 The Unexpected Structures of Eukaryotic Genomes.
21 The Functioning of Higher Eukaryotic Genes.
VOLUME II: Specialized Aspects.
PART IX: GENE FUNCTION IN SPECIALIZED EUKARYOTIC SYSTEMS.

22 The Molecular Biology of Development.
23 The Generation of Immunological Specificity.
24 The Extraordinary Diversity of Eukaryotic viruses.
PART X: CANCER AT THE GENETIC LEVEL.

25 The Control of Cell Proliferation.
26 The Genetic Basis of Cancer.
27 The Origins of Human Cancer.
PART XI: EVOLUTION OF THE GENE.

28 The Origins of Life.