Gerald M. Rubin
Encyclopedia
Gerald M. Rubin is an American biologist, notable for pioneering the use of transposable
P elements in genetics
, and for leading the public project to sequence
the Drosophila melanogaster
genome
. Related to his genomics work, Rubin's lab is notable for development of genomics
tools and whole-genome studies of gene regulation. Rubin also serves as Vice President of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute
and Executive Director of the Janelia Farm Research Campus
.
. Rubin completed his undergraduate degree in biology at MIT
, working at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
during the summer. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge
, at the MRC
in 1974, sequencing yeast
RNA
. He did postdoctoral work at Stanford University
with David Hogness.
Rubin's first faculty position was at Harvard Medical School
, followed by the Carnegie Institution of Washington; in 1983 he accepted a faculty appointment at the University of California, Berkeley
. He was appointed a Howard Hughes Medical Investigator
in 1987. He is currently the MacArthur Professor of Genetics, Genomics and Development, in Berkeley's Department of Molecular and Cell Biology.
Rubin has taken a leading role in a number of high-profile biology projects. As the director of the Berkeley Drosophila Genome Project, he led the public effort to sequence Drosophila melanogaster
. As Vice President of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute
, Rubin led the development of HHMI's Janelia Farm Research Campus
, an independent biomedical research institute in Virginia
.
His lab is particularly known for its development of genomics
tools, studies of gene regulation, and other genome-wide research.
Transposon
Transposable elements are sequences of DNA that can move or transpose themselves to new positions within the genome of a single cell. The mechanism of transposition can be either "copy and paste" or "cut and paste". Transposition can create phenotypically significant mutations and alter the cell's...
P elements in genetics
Genetics
Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....
, and for leading the public project to sequence
DNA sequencing
DNA sequencing includes several methods and technologies that are used for determining the order of the nucleotide bases—adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine—in a molecule of DNA....
the Drosophila melanogaster
Drosophila melanogaster
Drosophila melanogaster is a species of Diptera, or the order of flies, in the family Drosophilidae. The species is known generally as the common fruit fly or vinegar fly. Starting from Charles W...
genome
Genome
In modern molecular biology and genetics, the genome is the entirety of an organism's hereditary information. It is encoded either in DNA or, for many types of virus, in RNA. The genome includes both the genes and the non-coding sequences of the DNA/RNA....
. Related to his genomics work, Rubin's lab is notable for development of genomics
Genomics
Genomics is a discipline in genetics concerning the study of the genomes of organisms. The field includes intensive efforts to determine the entire DNA sequence of organisms and fine-scale genetic mapping efforts. The field also includes studies of intragenomic phenomena such as heterosis,...
tools and whole-genome studies of gene regulation. Rubin also serves as Vice President of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Howard Hughes Medical Institute is a United States non-profit medical research organization based in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It was founded by the American businessman Howard Hughes in 1953. It is one of the largest private funding organizations for biological and medical research in the United...
and Executive Director of the Janelia Farm Research Campus
Janelia Farm Research Campus
The Janelia Farm Research Campus is a research campus of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute that opened in October 2006. The campus is located in Loudoun County, Virginia, near the town of Ashburn...
.
Biography
Rubin was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1950, attending the Boston Latin SchoolBoston Latin School
The Boston Latin School is a public exam school founded on April 23, 1635, in Boston, Massachusetts. It is both the first public school and oldest existing school in the United States....
. Rubin completed his undergraduate degree in biology at MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
, working at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
The Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is a private, non-profit institution with research programs focusing on cancer, neurobiology, plant genetics, genomics and bioinformatics. The Laboratory has a broad educational mission, including the recently established Watson School of Biological Sciences. It...
during the summer. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, at the MRC
Medical Research Council (UK)
The Medical Research Council is a publicly-funded agency responsible for co-ordinating and funding medical research in the United Kingdom. It is one of seven Research Councils in the UK and is answerable to, although politically independent from, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills...
in 1974, sequencing yeast
Yeast
Yeasts are eukaryotic micro-organisms classified in the kingdom Fungi, with 1,500 species currently described estimated to be only 1% of all fungal species. Most reproduce asexually by mitosis, and many do so by an asymmetric division process called budding...
RNA
RNA
Ribonucleic acid , or RNA, is one of the three major macromolecules that are essential for all known forms of life....
. He did postdoctoral work at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
with David Hogness.
Rubin's first faculty position was at Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
, followed by the Carnegie Institution of Washington; in 1983 he accepted a faculty appointment at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. He was appointed a Howard Hughes Medical Investigator
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Howard Hughes Medical Institute is a United States non-profit medical research organization based in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It was founded by the American businessman Howard Hughes in 1953. It is one of the largest private funding organizations for biological and medical research in the United...
in 1987. He is currently the MacArthur Professor of Genetics, Genomics and Development, in Berkeley's Department of Molecular and Cell Biology.
Rubin has taken a leading role in a number of high-profile biology projects. As the director of the Berkeley Drosophila Genome Project, he led the public effort to sequence Drosophila melanogaster
Drosophila melanogaster
Drosophila melanogaster is a species of Diptera, or the order of flies, in the family Drosophilidae. The species is known generally as the common fruit fly or vinegar fly. Starting from Charles W...
. As Vice President of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Howard Hughes Medical Institute is a United States non-profit medical research organization based in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It was founded by the American businessman Howard Hughes in 1953. It is one of the largest private funding organizations for biological and medical research in the United...
, Rubin led the development of HHMI's Janelia Farm Research Campus
Janelia Farm Research Campus
The Janelia Farm Research Campus is a research campus of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute that opened in October 2006. The campus is located in Loudoun County, Virginia, near the town of Ashburn...
, an independent biomedical research institute in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
.
His lab is particularly known for its development of genomics
Genomics
Genomics is a discipline in genetics concerning the study of the genomes of organisms. The field includes intensive efforts to determine the entire DNA sequence of organisms and fine-scale genetic mapping efforts. The field also includes studies of intragenomic phenomena such as heterosis,...
tools, studies of gene regulation, and other genome-wide research.
Awards
- 2000 AAAS-Newcomb Cleveland PrizeNewcomb Cleveland PrizeThe Newcomb Cleveland Prize of the American Association for the Advancement of Science is annually awarded to author of outstanding scientific paper published in the Research Articles or Reports sections of Science...
, AAASAmerican Association for the Advancement of ScienceThe American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
(with Craig VenterCraig VenterJohn Craig Venter is an American biologist and entrepreneur, most famous for his role in being one of the first to sequence the human genome and for his role in creating the first cell with a synthetic genome in 2010. Venter founded Celera Genomics, The Institute for Genomic Research and the J...
) for his March 24, 2000, review paper on sequencing the Drosophila geome - 2003 George W. Beadle Medal (with Allan C. SpradlingAllan C. SpradlingAllan C. Spradling is an American scientist and principal investigator at the Carnegie Institution for Science and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute who studies egg development in the model organism, Drosophila melanogaster, a fruit fly...
) - Helen Hay Whitney FellowHelen Hay Whitney FoundationThe Helen Hay Whitney Foundation is a New York City based charitable foundation which supports early postdoctoral research training in all basic biomedical sciences....
- Phi Beta Kappa
- Phi Lambda Epsilon
- National Science FoundationNational Science FoundationThe National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
, predoctoral Fellow - United States Churchill Foundation Fellow
- Co-winner, Passano FoundationPassano FoundationThe Passano Foundation, established in 1945, provides an annual award of $ 100 000 to an American research scientist whose work is thought to have immediate practical benefits. Many Passano laureates have subsequently won the Nobel Prize....
Young Scientist Award - American Chemical SocietyAmerican Chemical SocietyThe American Chemical Society is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 161,000 members at all degree-levels and in all fields of chemistry, chemical...
Eli LillyEli LillyEli Lilly was the founder of Eli Lilly and Company.Eli Lilly may also refer to:* Eli Lilly and Company, a global pharmaceutical company...
Award in Biological Chemistry - Co-winner, National Academy of Sciences U.S. Steel Foundation Award in Molecular Biology
- Genetics Society of America Medal
- Member, National Academy of SciencesUnited States National Academy of SciencesThe National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
- Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of ScienceAmerican Association for the Advancement of ScienceThe American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
- Fellow, American Academy of Arts and SciencesAmerican Academy of Arts and SciencesThe American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
- Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology
- Howard Taylor RickettsHoward Taylor RickettsHoward Taylor Ricketts was an American pathologist after whom the Rickettsiaceae family and the Rickettsiales are named....
Award from The University of ChicagoUniversity of ChicagoThe University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890... - Member, Institute of MedicineInstitute of MedicineThe Institute of Medicine is a not-for-profit, non-governmental American organization founded in 1970, under the congressional charter of the National Academy of Sciences...