Reconceiving the Gene: Seymour Benzer's Adventures in Phage GeneticsThis book relates how, between 1954 and 1961, the biologist Seymour Benzer mapped the fine structure of the rII region of the genome of the bacterial virus known as phage T4. Benzer’s accomplishments are widely recognized as a tipping point in mid-twentieth-century molecular biology when the nature of the gene was recast in molecular terms. More often than any other individual, he is considered to have led geneticists from the classical gene into the molecular age. Drawing on Benzer’s remarkably complete record of his experiments, his correspondence, and published sources, this book reconstructs how the former physicist initiated his work in phage biology and achieved his landmark investigation. The account of Benzer’s creativity as a researcher is a fascinating story that also reveals intriguing aspects common to the scientific enterprise. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 29 | |
Chapter Three The Physicist Becomes a Phage Biologist | 75 |
Chapter Four To Paris and Back | 122 |
Chapter Five Teaching and Research at Purdue | 146 |
Chapter Six Entering the rII Region | 179 |
Other editions - View all
Reconceiving the Gene: Seymour Benzer's Adventures in Phage Genetics Frederic Lawrence Holmes,William C. Summers No preview available - 2006 |
Common terms and phrases
amino acids atomic bacteria bacterial strains bacteriophage bacterium Beadle Benzer wrote biology Caltech cells chemical chromosome Cold Spring Harbor coli crossing Delbrück discussion Doermann Drosophila Dulbecco effect enzyme experimental F. L. Holmes factors February frequency gene genetic map geneticists growth H. J. Muller Hershey Hershey-Chase experiment host Ibid induced infected bacteria interview with F. L. irradiation Jacob January laboratory Lark-Horovitz Latarjet latent period later lecture linkage Luria Luria-Latarjet experiment Lwoff lysed lysis lysogenic lysogenic bacteria markers Max Delbrück method molecular molecule Monod Muller multiplicity mutants nucleic acid nucleotide pair organisms paper phage group phage particles phenotypic physicist physics plated Pontecorvo problem produced prophage protein pseudoalleles Purdue radiation recombination reproduce rII mutants rII region segment seminar Seymour Benzer spot tests structure survival curves synthesis T. H. Morgan T4r mutants theory tion unit virus viruses Watson wild type wild-type Wollman