1980 Nobel Prize in Chemistry[Paul Berg].pdf

DISSECTIONS AND RECONSTRUCTIONS OF GENES AND CHROMOSOMES Nobel lecture, 8 December, 1980 by PAUL BERG Department of Biochemistry, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stan- ford, California 94305 A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S The Nobel lecture affords a welcome opportunity to express my gratitude and admiration to the numerous students and colleagues with whom I have worked and shared, alternately, the elation and disappointment of venturing into the unknown. Without their genius, perseverance and stimulation much of our work would not have flourished. Those who have worked with students and experienced the discomfort of their curiosity, the frustrations of their obstinacy and the exhilaration of their growth know first hand the magnitude of their contributions. Each in our common effort left a mark on the other and, I trust, each richer from the experience. I have also been fortunate to have two devoted research assistants, Ms. Marianne Dieckmann and June Hoshi, who have labored diligently and effectively, always with understanding and sympathy for my idiosyncracies. I have also been blessed with an amazing group of colleagues at Stanford University who have created as stimulating and liberating an environment as one could long for. Their many achievements have been inspirational and without their help - intellectually and materially - my efforts would have been severely handicapped. I am part icularly grateful to Arthur Kornberg and Charles Yanofsky, both longtime close personal friends, for their unstinting interest, encouragement, support and criticism of my work, all of which en- abled me to grow and thrive. And finally, there is my wife, Millie, without whom the rare triumphs would have lost their lustre. Her strength, assent and encouragement freed me to immerse myself in research. Certainly my work could not have taken place without the generous and enlightened support of the U. S. National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the