John Sulston (1942–2018) (IMAGE COURTESY of MRC LABORATORY of MOLECULAR BIOLOGY)

Downloaded from genome.cshlp.org on October 2, 2021 - Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press In memoriam John Sulston (1942–2018) (IMAGE COURTESY OF MRC LABORATORY OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY) Any scientist would be proud to have changed the world. John that these deaths must be deliberate, thereby launching the field Sulston changed the way we think about biology not once, not of programmed cell death in the worm. twice, but three times: first with his elucidation of the C. elegans John went on to elucidate the full pattern of cell divisions in cell lineage, then in pioneering genome mapping and sequencing, the worm’s several larval stages, in collaboration with Bob Horvitz. and lastly through his leadership in promoting open data. Along He made a brief foray into embryonic cell lineaging to settle a dis- the way, he showed us how science should be done and how life pute, but because others were attempting to determine the embry- should be lived. onic lineage, he focused on other things. Only when others I met John at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) abandoned their efforts a couple of years later did John take on in the early ’70s, where he was a staff scientist. He had been drawn the seemingly impossible task of following all of the cell divisions to the LMB by Sydney Brenner’s visionary project on C. elegans. of the developing embryo. He shut himself in a dark room every After earning undergraduate and graduate degrees from day for a year and a half while he mapped the full cell lineage of Cambridge University, John did post-doctoral work with Leslie the worm (see Gitschier [2006] for more), an accomplishment rec- Orgel at the Salk Institute probing the origins of life. By the time ognized with a share of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physiology or I arrived at the LMB, John had devised a method for preserving Medicine. worms in liquid nitrogen and estimated the worm genome size I got to know John better when I returned to the LMB on a at 20 times that of E. coli’s. He was applying some of his post-doc- sabbatical in 1985. He and Alan Coulson were developing a toral experience to investigate the neurochemistry of different clone-based map of the entire worm genome. Seeking a new chal- neurons. While looking at dopamine-containing neurons, he lenge, John had left it for others to follow up on his marvelous lin- became interested in how the worm detects light touch. But the eage. Molecular biologists at the time were consumed with sharpened wooden sticks that we used to manipulate the worms recovering DNA clones containing genes they were studying, were blunt instruments, so John devised a simple but elegant whether in yeast, fly, worm, or human, usually by a tedious process tool—one of his eyelashes glued to the end of a toothpick—which dubbed “chromosome walking.” John reasoned that the process allowed him to gently stroke the worm. Soon he had mutants that could be accomplished more effectively and efficiently if one failed to react to this touch, pioneering the study of mechanosen- had a map of clones of the entire genome. That would mean per- sation in the worm. forming restriction enzyme digests on some 17,000 clones cover- In follow-up studies he recognized that the adult worm has ing the worm’s 100 Mb genome, separating the resulting more cells than a newly hatched larva, something that contradict- fragments on high resolution gels and measuring their fragment ed the prevailing view. Because the worm is transparent, John was sizes, and then looking for clones with similar patterns, or finger- able to observe individual cells under a microscope, directly in the prints. John loved solving puzzles, but this was a huge challenge, living animal, and could watch those cells divide. He soon identi- even for John. By the time I arrived, John and Alan had fingerprint- fied 13 cells in the early larva that gave rise to additional neurons ed several thousand clones and were doubling the number of for the ventral cord. He noticed that these cells follow a stereotyp- ical series of divisions—a lineage; in several lineages the equivalent cell in each of the lineages died shortly after birth. He recognized © 2018 Waterston 28:ix–x Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press; ISSN 1088-9051/18; www.genome.org Genome Research ix www.genome.org Downloaded from genome.cshlp.org on October 2, 2021 - Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press In memoriam clones analyzed each year. During that sabbatical year he made John worked to ensure that the Human Genome Project was room for me in his lab and I gradually found ways to help. international in scope. From the very beginning he was also a Where others might have been protective or guarded, he wel- strong advocate of open science. Building on the tradition of comed me warmly and openly into his project, starting a close col- data sharing in the worm community, he made the worm genome laboration that was to last almost two decades. map available well before publication, to allow the worm commu- Completion of that map of clones four years later paved the nity to exploit this resource to find their favorite genes. In this way way for sequencing the worm genome as part of the Human he engaged the entire community in tying together the genetic Genome Project, directed in its early years by Jim Watson, who and physical maps to create a complete genome map. Later, he har- had stepped up to lead the National Center for Human Genome nessed the growing capabilities of the internet to make raw DNA Research. John thrived on solving the myriad challenges that we sequence data available as soon as it came off the machines. He encountered. He attacked whatever step in our process was most convinced the Human Genome Project Consortium members to limiting at the moment; with each improvement implemented, embrace similar policies. Critically, he mounted forceful opposi- he turned to the next nettlesome step. As a result, we were able tion when commercial interests threatened to limit access to hu- to double our sequence output annually. man DNA sequence data. His perseverance paid off, and today We worked more closely than ever, with lots of resulting sto- the human genome DNA sequence is freely available to all. ries. I’ll share just two. Back in 1991 John was sitting in a lounge After the human draft sequence was announced, John chair in his back garden on a Sunday afternoon, pondering a com- stepped down from his leadership role at the Sanger Centre and puter file on his lap. The file—containing worm genomic DNA se- in 2002 John left science, letting others follow up on his accom- quence in digital form—presented a crucial challenge. Our groups plishments. Pursuing his egalitarian moral code, he devoted his were beginning to churn out sequence data to meet our audacious efforts instead to ensuring that genome sequence and related pilot goal of 3 million bases in three years. The sequencing ma- research would benefit humanity broadly. He became founding chines collected the data digitally, but provided the information co-chair of the Institute for Science, Ethics and Innovation at the only on paper, which was piling up on our desks. To make pro- University of Manchester (2008) and chaired the People and the gress, we needed to deal directly with the digital data, but the man- planet report for the Royal Society (2012). Among his many hon- ufacturer refused to release the file format. The only option was to ors, he reluctantly accepted a knighthood in 2001 and last year was break the code. By the end of that lovely summer day John had it made a Companion of Honour. figured out, as he gleefully related to me on one of our regular John remained modest and affable, even after all of his phone calls. accomplishments and honors. Although often working alone, he As we met with success on the worm genome sequence, John delighted in adjourning to the pub to share ideas and reflections was lured into the Human Genome Project by the Wellcome Trust. on the day. He organized summer punting trips up to The Green The human genome, at 30 times the size of the worm genome, and Man pub in Grantchester and each year hosted a Guy Fawkes party filled with repeats that complicate its sequencing, presented a in his back garden, complete with fireworks and later, with home- daunting challenge. Nevertheless, by the fall of 1994 we had the crafted Chinese lanterns. Always an avid gardener, he grew more of beginnings of a realistic plan that the Wellcome Trust directors his own food in later years and firmly embraced local foods to re- agreed to entertain in December. But the weekend before that duce his carbon footprint. He biked everywhere and equipped meeting, while riding to the lab on a Saturday morning to do his his home with solar panels, proudly asserting that he and his share of the lab work, John was hit by a car and thrown from his wife of 50 years, Daphne (Bate) Sulston, were now living carbon- bike, fracturing his pelvis and knocking him unconscious. To my neutral lives. In keeping with that commitment, even when hosts amazement, the next day John was talking to me on the phone, offered, he refused first class travel. telling me that he was going ahead with the meeting on John changed the world.

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