Francais | English | Espanõl

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Image:WalterGilbert2.jpg

Walter Gilbert (born March 21, 1932) is an American physicist, biochemist, entrepreneur, and molecular biology pioneer.

He was born in Boston, Massachusetts and educated at Harvard University and the University of Cambridge, later joining the faculty at Harvard. Together with Allan Maxam he developed a new DNA sequencing method<ref> Maxam AM, Gilbert W., A new method for sequencing DNA, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Feb;74(2):560-4.</ref>. His approach to the first synthesis of insulin lost out to Genentech's approach which used genes built up from the nucleotides rather than from natural sources.

Gilbert was awarded the 1980 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Frederick Sanger. Gilbert and Sanger were recognized for their pioneering work in devising methods for determining the sequence of nucleotides in a nucleic acid. Walter Gilbert also first proposed the term RNA world hypothesis for the origin of life, for a concept first proposed by Carl Woese in 1967. He is a co-founder of the biotech start-up company Biogen and was the first chairman on the board of directors. He is currently the chairman of the Harvard Society of Fellows.

In the late 1980s, Walter Gilbert expressed skepticism about the role of HIV in AIDS. The effects of modern antiretroviral treatment have since convinced him that HIV does cause AIDS.<ref name="mosgilbert">Moment of Science, containing Richard Jefferys' reposting of Walter Gilbert's email stating that he considers HIV the cause of AIDS. Accessed 8 Nov 2006.</ref>

[edit] External links

• Nobel Prize autobiography

[edit] References

<references/>

de:Walter Gilbert

es:Walter Gilbert id:Walter Gilbert pt:Walter Gilbert sv:Walter Gilbert