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ADVANCING OUR KNOWLEDGE IN BIOCHEMISTRY, GENETICS, AND MICROBIOLOGY THROUGH STUDIES ON TRYPTOPHAN METABOLISM
I was fortunate to practice science during the last half of the previous century, when many basic biological and biochemical concepts could be experimentally addressed for the first time. My introduction to research involved isolating and identifying intermediates in the niacin biosynthetic pathway....
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Published in: | Annual review of biochemistry 2001-01, Vol.70 (1), p.1-37 |
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Main Author: | |
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Subjects: | |
Citations: | Items that this one cites Items that cite this one |
Online Access: | Get full text |
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Summary: | I was fortunate to practice science during the last half of the previous
century, when many basic biological and biochemical concepts could be
experimentally addressed for the first time. My introduction to research
involved isolating and identifying intermediates in the niacin biosynthetic
pathway. These studies were followed by investigations focused on determining
the properties of genes and enzymes essential to metabolism and examining how
they were alterable by mutation. The most challenging problem I initially
attacked was establishing the colinear relationship between gene and protein.
Subsequent research emphasized identification and characterization of
regulatory mechanisms that microorganisms use to control gene expression. An
elaborate regulatory strategy, transcription attenuation, was discovered that
is often based on selection between alternative RNA structures. Throughout my
career I enjoyed the excitement of solving basic scientific problems. Most
rewarding, however, was the feeling that I was helping young scientists
experience the pleasure of performing creative research. |
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ISSN: | 0066-4154 1545-4509 |
DOI: | 10.1146/annurev.biochem.70.1.1 |