by Roberto
Here's an unorthodox version of my Curriculum Vitae:
Seven years of retirement (2018-present)
Thirty-five years of the Kolter Lab (1983-2018)
Three years of alternative RNA structures (1980-1983)
Four years of plasmid replication (1975-1979)
Three years of DNA polymerase I (1972-1975)
A moment of fascination from a glimpse into DNA (1964)
A lifetime derived from a moment of fascination!
It used to be that, when I closed my eyes and thought back, searching for a defining moment that sparked my life-long passion for molecular biology, these images came vividly to mind. Most memories lie buried, coming back only mysteriously, and often without cue. This one, though, is clear and easy to recall.
Photographs by Fritz Goro
There's the 11-year-old boy lying on his bed, reading through "The Cell," the fifth volume of the Life Science Library series. How that volume traveled from the publisher in the United States to Guatemala and into the child's hands remains an enigma. Fortunate for him that it did because he finds all content fascinating. Yet, when he comes to the graphic essay "The Basic Blueprint of Life," all else disappears and time holds still as the images mesmerize him. The double helix, the four-base alphabet, the molecule unzipping and making two copies, DNA into RNA then RNA into protein. And for the grand finale, "from outer space, a cosmic ray strikes one of the rungs in the ladder of a DNA molecule and charges it with glowing energy."
Mutation!
It used to be that these images were only a memory. With the advent of online used book sellers, I purchased a copy of The Cell and relived the moment. Having lived many years with the desire to tell the story alongside the actual images, being able to do so is happiness.
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