When
Date: Friday, October 5, 2018
Time: 7:00 pm
Location
Grace Auditorium Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Friday, October 5, 2018 – 7:00pm play followed by panel discussion and reception.
PANEL
- Wally Gilbert, Ph.D.
- Matthew Meselson, Ph.D.
- James D. Watson, Ph.D.
- Keith Burridge, Ph.D.
After the discovery of the structure of DNA by Watson and Crick, the race was on to discover how the information encoded in the sequence of DNA is converted into the sequence of amino acids that make up proteins. The race to find the “messenger” culminated in two back-to-back papers describing the discovery of messenger RNA in Nature in 1961. One was from Sydney Brenner’s group (coauthored with Francois Jacob and Matt Meselson) and the other from Jim Watson’s group, with several co-authors, including Wally Gilbert.
The Message uses two fictional characters, one from Brenner’s group and one from Watson’s group, who participated in the discovery. They are meeting in the present time and reminiscing about the race. They are friends but old tensions and rivalries that have simmered for years come back to the surface, including their relationship with a student of one who married the other. The play illustrates the role played by ambition and competition in scientific breakthroughs, and the desire for recognition and credit.
The Panel Discussion after the play is now available on YouTube: