CSHL Research Highlights 1890 to 1989
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Late
1980s
David Beach and his colleagues begin to study the cell cycle in human
cells, which leads to the discovery of many genes associated with human
cancers.
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1989
Carol Greider clones the gene that encodes the RNA component of the telomerase
enzyme. Greider & Blackburn, Nature 1989 Jan 26;337(6205):331-7 abstract
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1988
The two classes of cancer-causing genes—oncogenes and tumor-suppressor
genes—are brought together when Edward Harlow’s group shows
that E1A, an adenovirus oncoprotein, acts by binding to the Rb protein,
the product of a cellular tumor-suppressor gene. Whyte et al., Nature.
1988 Jul 14;334(6178):124-9. abstract
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1985
Douglas Hanahan describes pancreatic cell tumors in transgenic mice
carrying an insulin/SV40 transgene. Hanahan, Nature. 1985 May 9-15;315(6015):115-22.
abstract
Winship Herr and Yakov Gluzman reveal the modular
nature of a eukaryotic transcriptional enhancer. Herr & Gluzman.
Nature. 1985 Feb 21-27;313(6004):711-4. abstract
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1983
Earl Ruley demonstrates oncogene cooperation in cellular transformation.
Ruley, Nature. 1983 Aug 18-24;304(5927):602-6. abstract
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1982
James Hicks, Amar Klar, and Jeffrey Strathern determine the molecular
mechanism of mating-type switching in yeast. Strathern et al., Cell 1982
Nov;31(1):183-92.
abstract
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1981
Yakov Gluzman isolates COS cells. Gluzman, Cell 1981 Jan;23(1):175-82.
abstract
Michael Wigler and his collaborators clone the
first human, tumor-derived oncogene, soon to be identified as ras. Wigler
later identifies the key oncogenic mutation in ras and discovers that
the distantly related budding yeast also has a ras gene. Fasano et al.,
Mol Cell Biol 1984 Sep;4(9):1695-705. abstract
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1978
Robert Tjian reports that SV40 T-antigen binds to DNA in the SV40 origin
of replication. Tjian, Cell. 1978 Jan;13(1):165-79. abstract
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1977
Richard Roberts, Louise Chow, Thomas Broker, and Richard Gelinas discover
"split genes" in adenovirus. Roberts and Sharp share the 1993
Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for their roles in the discovery
of split genes. Chow et al., Cell 1977 Sep;12(1):1-8. abstract
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1976
Michael Botchan, William Topp, and Joe Sambrook use Southern blotting
to define the SV40 DNA sequences in transformed cells. Botchan et al.,
Cell. 1976 Oct;9(2):269-87. abstract
Thomas Maniatis clones b-globin cDNA. Maniatis
et al., Cell. 1976 Jun;8(2):163-82. abstract
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1975
Joe Sambrook, James Williams, Philip Sharp, and Terri Grodzicker use restriction-site
polymorphisms to produce a physical map of genetic mutations in adenovirus
Grodzicker et al., Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol. 1975;39 Pt 1:439-46.
abstract
Willliams et al., Cell. 1975 Feb;4(2):113-9. abstract
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1974
Elias Lazarides and Klaus Weber use immunofluorescence to reveal the elaborate
network of actin filaments in nonmuscle cells. Lazarides & Weber,
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1974 Jun;71(6):2268-72. abstract
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1973
Richard Roberts begins the isolation and purification of large numbers
of restriction enzymes that cut DNA at specific sites and made possible
recombinant DNA technology.
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1972
Phillip Sharp, William Sugden, and Joseph Sambrook develop the technique
of using agarose gels and ethidium bromide staining for detecting restriction-enzyme
fragments. Sharp et al., Biochemistry. 1973 Jul 31;12(16):3055-63. abstract
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1969
Alfred
Hershey , along with Max
Delbruck and Salvador
Luria, is awarded the Nobel
Prize for work that led to understanding the mechanism of replication
and genetic structure of viruses.
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1953
At the CSH Symposium, James Watson gives the first public description
of the newly-discovered structure of DNA. This discovery influences virtually
all subsequent research in molecular biology and genetics. Watson, J.
D. & Crick, F. H. C. Molecular structure of Nucleic Acids. Nature
171, 737-738 (1953) © Macmillan Publishers Ltd.
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1951
At the CSH Symposium, Barbara McClintock describes "controlling elements"
which she found can switch other genes on and off as a consequence of
their movement within the genome. In 1983, McClintock was awarded the
Nobel
Prize for her discoveries concerning controlling elements, commonly
known as "jumping genes."
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1930
Milislav Demerec and his colleagues greatly increased wartime penicillin
production by isolating a high yielding strain of the Penicillium fungus.
CSH researchers invent the “Cold Spring Harbor Aeroliser”
which Vernon Bryson uses to develop aerosol penicillin spray to treat
respiratory infections.
The first treatment for Addison’s disease—adrenal
cortical hormone—is purified at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
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1928
E. Carlton McDowell discovers a strain of mice predisposed
to spontaneous leukemia. Subsequent breeding experiments lead to the development
of mice with increased susceptibility or resistance to the cancer. This
work helped lay the foundation of modern cancer research.
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1908
George Schull finds that by cross-pollinating corn
plants, he can consistently produce higher yielding progeny. This theory
of “hybrid vigor” has become widely known and has found many
applications in agriculture and genetics.
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1890
Biological
Laboratory at Cold Spring Harbor founded. |
