George Beadle
George Wells Beadle (October 22, 1903 – June 9, 1989) was an American geneticist. In 1958 he shared one-half of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Edward Tatum for their discovery of the role of genes in regulating biochemical events within cells.[3][4] He also served as the 7th President of the University of Chicago.[5]
For New Zealand rugby league international, see George Beadle (rugby league).
George Beadle
June 9, 1989 (aged 85)
- One gene-one enzyme hypothesis
- Gene regulation of biochemical events within cells
- Franklin D. Keim[1]
- Thomas Hunt Morgan (post-doc)[1]
- Norman Horowitz (post-doc)
- Herschel K. Mitchell (post-doc)
- William D. McElroy (post-doc)
- Clement Markert (post-doc)
Beadle and Tatum's key experiments involved exposing the bread mold Neurospora crassa to x-rays, causing mutations. In a series of experiments, they showed that these mutations caused changes in specific enzymes involved in metabolic pathways. These experiments led them to propose a direct link between genes and enzymatic reactions, known as the One gene-one enzyme hypothesis.[6][7][8]
Education and early life[edit]
George Wells Beadle was born in Wahoo, Nebraska. He was the son of Chauncey Elmer Beadle and Hattie Albro, who owned and operated a 40-acre (160,000 m2) farm nearby.[9] George was educated at the Wahoo High School and might himself have become a farmer if one of his teachers at school had not directed his mind towards science and persuaded him to go to the College of Agriculture in Lincoln, Nebraska. In 1926 he earned his Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Nebraska and subsequently worked for a year with Professor F.D. Keim, who was studying hybrid wheat. In 1927 he earned his Master of Science degree, and Professor Keim secured for him a post as Teaching Assistant at Cornell University, where he worked, until 1931, with Professors R.A. Emerson and L.W. Sharp on Mendelian asynapsis in Zea mays.[10] For this work he obtained, in 1931, his Doctor of Philosophy degree.[10]
Personal life[edit]
Beadle was married twice. By his first wife he had a son, David, who now lives at The Hague, the Netherlands. His second wife, Muriel McClure (1915–1994), a well-known writer, was born in California. Beadle's chief hobbies were rockclimbing, skiing, and gardening. He is credited with the first ascent of Mount Doonerak in Alaska.[18] He was a member of FarmHouse fraternity while at the University of Nebraska.
Beadle died on June 9, 1989. He was an atheist.[19]