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Interview with Seymour Benzer

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Interview with Seymour Benzer SEYMOUR BENZER (1921-2007) INTERVIEWED BY HEIDI ASPATURIAN September 11, 1990–February 1991 Photo by Floyd Clark ARCHIVES CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Pasadena, California Subject area Biology, biophysics Abstract Interview conducted in eleven sessions between September 1990 and February 1991 with Seymour Benzer, James G. Boswell Professor of Neuroscience in the Division of Biology. Benzer received his PhD in physics from Purdue in 1947. His interests had already turned to biophysics, after he read Erwin Schrödinger’s What is Life? In this lengthy interview he recounts his peripatetic life visiting Oak Ridge National Laboratory (1948-49); Max Delbrück at Caltech (1949-51); the Pasteur Institute with André Lwoff, François Jacob, and Jacques Monod (1951-52); the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge, with Francis Crick and Sydney Brenner (1957-1958); Roger Sperry’s lab at Caltech (1965-67); and intermittently Woods Hole and Cold Spring Harbor—all while he was also a member first of the physics and then the biology faculty at Purdue (1945-1967). In the early 1960s, he participated for a while in the establishment of the Salk Institute. In 1967 he became a professor of biology at Caltech, meanwhile spending summers in the early 1970s at the Salk Institute; recollections of the Biology Division and of Salk during that time. He discusses the early years and flourishing of molecular biology, including recollections of such pioneers as http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Benzer_S Salvador Luria, Renato Dulbecco, Francis Crick, James Watson, Gunther Stent, and Delbrück’s phage group. He discusses his own work on r mutants of bacteriophage, genetic fine structure, behavioral mutants of Drosophila, and monoclonal antibodies. Administrative information Access The interview is unrestricted. Copyright Copyright has been assigned to the California Institute of Technology © 2002. All requests for permission to publish or quote from the transcript must be submitted in writing to the University Archivist. Preferred citation Benzer, Seymour. Interview by Heidi Aspaturian. Pasadena, California, September 11–February 1991. Oral History Project, California Institute of Technology Archives. Retrieved [supply date of retrieval] from the World Wide Web: http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Benzer_S Contact information Archives, California Institute of Technology Mail Code 015A-74 Pasadena, CA 91125 Phone: (626)395-2704 Fax: (626)793-8756 Email: [email protected] Graphics and content © California Institute of Technology. http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Benzer_S Seymour Benzer with mega-Drosophila, 1974. http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Benzer_S California Institute of Technology Oral History Project Interview with Seymour Benzer by Heidi Aspaturian Pasadena, California Caltech Archives, 2002 Copyright © 2002 by the California Institute of Technology http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Benzer_S TABLE OF CONTENTS SEYMOUR BENZER Session 1: pp. 1-20 Family background and childhood in Bensonhurst, New York; early interest in science; undergraduate years at Brooklyn College. Graduate study at Purdue; World War II radar project with department chair K. Lark-Horovitz; thesis research in solid state physics; joins Purdue faculty in 1947. Schrödinger’s What Is Life? deepens longstanding interest in biology; attends M. Delbrück’s biology course at Cold Spring Harbor; leave of absence to pursue biology research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Caltech, and Pasteur Institute; impressions of R. Dulbecco, S. Luria, J. Watson, and other founding molecular biologists. Session 2: pp. 21-30 Impressions of Delbrück and his group at Caltech—G. Stent, Dulbecco, J. Weigle, E. Wollman, M. (Peggy) Lieb. Meeting with A. Lwoff at Caltech; impact of Lwoff’s early work with bacteriophage; Delbrück’s opinionated qualities; brief return to Purdue before departing for Pasteur Institute. Session 3: pp. 31-44 Postwar living conditions in Paris and environs; atmosphere and personalities at Pasteur Institute: Lwoff, Wollman, F. Jacob, J. Monod. Roots of Jacob’s interest in biology; his personality and social background. Independent research on enzymatic adaptation. Monod’s work on induced enzyme synthesis; social life among Pasteur molecular biologists; recollections of Watson’s visit from Cambridge, where he was working with F. Crick on DNA structure. Social and scientific atmosphere in Lwoff’s lab; interactions with Lwoff and Mme. Lwoff; Stent’s Parisian adventures; gastronomic forays; return to Purdue and official move into biophysics research. Session 4: pp. 45-57 Background to research with r mutants of bacteriophage; “eureka moment” leads to development of system for fine genetic mapping; key paper demonstrating divisibility of gene; E. Chargaff’s failure to discover DNA structure; mixed reaction and controversy greet rII mutant studies; begins using chemicals to induce mutations; joins Purdue’s Biology Dept. and continues rII work; begins research on RNA translation machinery, transfer RNA, and degeneracy in genetic code. http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Benzer_S Session 5: pp. 58-66 1957-58 at Cambridge with Crick research group; work with S. Brenner on relationship of structure to function in genetic code; personalities in Cavendish lab: Brenner, L. Bragg, G. Streisinger, S. Champe; impressions of Crick; Cavendish laboratory research projects— “fingerprinting” bacteriophage, poly-A structure, unstable spots on rII gene; lifestyle and atmosphere in Cambridge; recollections and impressions of Watson’s The Double Helix; encounters with physicist P. A. M. Dirac; the Crick family at home. Session 6: pp. 67-78 Recollections of International Genetics Congress, Japan 1956; impressions of postwar Japan and biology research there; recollections of G. Beadle, J. B. S. Haldane; Japanese lifestyle and hospitality. Participation in Woods Hole embryology program; growing reputation in biology community; “Seymour Benzer,” “Sydney Brenner” mix-up anecdotes; accepts, then declines appointment from Harvard; turns down offer from Yale. Session 7: pp. 79-90 In 1960s, interest in genetic basis of behavior sparked by personality differences in daughters; commences 1966 sabbatical year at Caltech in R. Sperry lab; Sperry’s personality and research interests; experiments with frog optic nerves; embarks on Drosophila research; advice from E. Lewis; begins phototaxis experiments with Drosophila in effort to isolate mutants; designs experimental apparatus to increase experimental populations; starts to isolate wide spectrum of mutants. First seminar on behavioral genetics research creates uproar in Sperry’s lab; Caltech neurophysiologists react negatively to research; accepts job offer from Caltech. Session 8: pp. 91-101 Becomes founding member of Salk Institute; Jonas Salk’s history with polio vaccine; meets with other founding Salk scientists—L. Szilard, Dulbecco, M. Meselson, Watson, et al.; cost, design, and construction of Salk Institute in La Jolla; additional Salk scientists recruited: L. Orgel, J. Bronowski, and outside fellows Crick, Luria, Monod. Scientists and Salk disagree over decision- making authority at institute; Salk’s personality and outlook; ambivalence over permanent membership in institute—resigns, rejoins, resigns again; accepts permanent faculty position at Caltech, with summers at Salk; Salk Institute’s subsequent history and current role as a research center. Session 9: pp. 102-113 Joins Caltech faculty, fall ’67; early impressions of Biology Division organization and support structure; interactions with colleagues Lewis, H. Mitchell; named Boswell Professor of http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Benzer_S Neuroscience; how Dulbecco got interested in animal viruses; contacts with A. Sturtevant, J. Bonner. Circadian rhythm research in Drosophila with graduate student R. Konopka; phototaxis experiment yields many types of other mutants; with graduate student Y. Hotta starts mapping relationship of Drosophila mutant behavior to visible body parts and parts of nervous system; first analysis of the drop-dead mutant. Impressions of colleagues J. Bonner, C. Wiersma, A. Van Harreveld, F. Strumwasser. Develops method to measure bulk electrical properties of bacteria with Hotta and J. Adler in early 1970s. Original Delbrück group at Caltech disperses. Early discovery of homologous genes in humans and Drosophila; genetic establishment questions value of genetic studies in invertebrates; molecular behavioral studies in Drosophila vs. those in humans. Session 10: pp. 114-125 Impressions of Caltech graduate and undergraduate students, work with SURF (Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship) students. Biology Division’s musical satire productions and faculty performances. H. Brown presidency at Caltech; proposal to create Caltech-UCLA medical school opposed by Biology Division; similar opposition greets proposal to establish institutional links with women’s Immaculate Heart College. M. Goldberger presidency at Caltech; dismissal of R. Vogt as provost; departure of L. Hood as Biology Division chair and faculty member. M. Tanouye tenure case. Disputes within subdisciplines in division; future prospects for Caltech biology; increased emphasis on human biology. Session 11: pp. 126-139 Growing number of women on Caltech biology faculty; caliber of Caltech students unchanged; growing tendency toward “big science” and quantitative focus in biology may jeopardize creative breakthroughs in field; career-long history of moving into new research areas.
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