CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> <title>Paul Charles Zamecnik :: DNA from the Beginning</title> <meta name="description" content="Biography of Paul Charles Zamecnik from Concept 21: RNA is an intermediary between DNA and protein, DNA from the Beginning" /> <link rel="preload" as="style" src="/css/main.css"> <link rel="preload" as="script" src="/js/swfobject.js"> <link rel="preload" as="script" src="/js/prototype-1.6.1.js"> <link href="/css/main.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link href='https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Droid+Serif' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'/> <link href='https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Droid+Sans' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'/> <script type="text/javascript" src="/js/swfobject.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/js/prototype-1.6.1.js"></script> </head> <body> <div id="container"> <div id="content"> <div id="header"> <div class="rollover-home"> <a href="/" class="rollover-home" title="DNA from the Beginning Home"><span class="displace">Home</span></a> </div> </div>  <div id="content-container"> <h1><span> Concept 21</span> RNA is an intermediary between DNA and protein.</h1> <div id="nav"> <ul> <li class="menu1"><a href="index.html" title="CONCEPT" ><span class="displace">CONCEPT</span></a></li> <li class="menu2"><a href="animation.html" title="ANIMATION"><span class="displace">ANIMATION</span></a></li> <li class="menu3"><a href="gallery.html" title="GALLERY"><span class="displace">GALLERY</span></a></li> <li class="menu4"><a href="av.html" title="VIDEO"><span class="displace">VIDEO</span></a></li> <li class="menu5"><a href="bio.html" title="BIO"><span class="displace">BIO</span></a></li> <li class="menu6"><a href="problem.html" title="PROBLEM"><span class="displace">PROBLEM</span></a></li> <li class="menu7"><a href="links.html" title="LINKS" ><span class="displace">LINKS</span></a></li> </ul> <br class="clearfloat" /> </div> <div id="bio" > <p> <a href="/21/bio.html"><img src="/images/21/bio_zamecnik_thumb.jpg" alt="Paul Zamecnik" class="floatLeft"/></a> <a href="/21/bio-2.html"><img src="/images/21/bio_hoagland_thumb.jpg" alt="Mahlon Hoagland" class="floatLeft" /></a> <a href="/21/bio-3.html"><img src="/images/21/bio_brenner_thumb.jpg" alt="Sydney Brenner" class="floatLeft" /></a> <a href="bio.html">Paul Zamecnik</a> developed a cell-free extract that he and <a href="bio-2.html">Mahlon Hoagland</a> used to study protein synthesis. They identified tRNA as the adaptor predicted by Francis Crick in his Central Dogma. <a href="bio-3.html">Sydney Brenner</a> showed that mRNA was the unstable intermediate that carried the message from DNA to the ribosomes. <br class="clearfloat" /></p> <div id="people-list"> <ul> <li><span class="small">Go to:</span></li> <li><a href="/21/bio-2.html">Mahlon Hoagland (1921-2009 )</a></li> <li><a href="/21/bio-3.html">Sydney Brenner (1927- )</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="bio-current2"> <h2>Paul Charles Zamecnik (1913-2009) </h2> </div> <br class="clearfloat" /> <div id="border"></div> <img src="/images/21/21bio.jpg" alt="Paul Zamecnik" class="floatRight" /> <p>Paul Zamecnik was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He went to <a href = "http://www.dartmouth.edu">Dartmouth College</a> and graduated from <a href = "http://www.dartmouth.edu/dms">Dartmouth Medical School</a> in 1934. Although he trained to be a medical doctor, Zamecnik was always interested in science. He eventually decided to go into research because there was so much to discover. His interest in protein synthesis started with a question. In 1938, as an intern, Zamecnik was doing an autopsy on an obese woman. He wondered why there was fat when there should have been protein and muscle ? no one knew the answer. </p> <p>In 1939, Zamecnik approached Max Bergmann, a protein chemist at the <a href = "http://www.rockefeller.edu/">Rockefeller Institute</a>. He was hoping to get a job in Bergmann's lab so he could work on the problem of protein synthesis. Bergmann turned him down because Zamecnik was an M.D, not a Ph.D. </p> <p>Zamecnik did get a fellowship to work with Kaj Linderstrøm-Lang at the <a href = "http://www.crc.dk/carls_lab.shtml">Carlsberg Laboratory</a> in Denmark. Linderstrøm-Lang was a leader in the field of protein chemistry and Zamecnik obtained enough training and experience that Bergmann gave him a job when he came back to the States.</p> <p>Zamecnik didn't stay at the Rockefeller for long. He was offered a job at the Huntington Laboratory at the <a href = "http://www.mgh.harvard.edu/">Massachusetts General Hospital</a> in Boston. Here, he worked with <a href = "http://www.nobel.se/medicine/laureates/1953/">Fritz Lipmann</a> (1953 Nobel laureate) and used radioactive isotopes to prove that proteins were built from amino acids in a process requiring chemical energy ? ATP. Zamecnik then became interested in how protein sequences were specified and to understand that he tried to isolate and identify all the components necessary for protein synthesis.</p> <p>In 1952, Zamecnik was partially successful in that he made a cell-free extract from rat liver with which he was able to synthesize proteins from amino acids. In 1953, using this system, Zamecnik and Mahlon Hoagland showed that amino acids had to be energized, "activated," by ATP before they were incorporated into a peptide chain. Then in 1956, Hoagland followed up on an observation Zamecnik made earlier. Zamecnik noticed that low molecular weight RNA in the cell-free extract could be associated with radiolabeled amino acids. This led to the identification of tRNA ? the adaptors Francis Crick predicted in his Central Dogma. </p> <p>In 1956, Zamecnik was appointed head of the Huntington Laboratory. In 1960, his lab developed a cell-free extract from the bacteria <i>E. coli</i>. He shared the preparation method with other scientists. <a href="/22/bio.html" >Marshall Nirenberg</a> and Johann Matthaei used the cell-free extract from <i>E. coli</i> to crack the genetic code. </p> <p>Zamecnik continued to work on tRNA purification and sequencing. Then in 1978, he made another interesting observation. He found that oligonucleotides were able to enter cells. This led to a new area of research and possible therapy. Anti-sense RNA could be used to block the translation of viral messenger RNA. From 1993, Zamecnik was on the Board of Directors of a biotech company called <a href="http://www.iderapharma.com/">Hybridon Inc.</a> that develops therapeutic drugs based on the idea of anti-sense blockers.</p> <p>Zamecnik never retired, running a lab at <a href="http://www.mgh.harvard.edu/">Massachusetts General Hospital</a> and being Professor Emeritus at <a href="http://www.harvard.edu">Harvard University</a> until he passed away in 2009.</p>  <div id="factoid-bio"> <img src="/images/general/factoid.gif" alt="factoid" class="factoid-image" /> <img src="/images/general/didyouknow.jpg" alt="Did you know ?" /> <p>Mahlon Hoagland's father was a research scientist, and founded the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology, the institution where, among other things, the birth control pill was developed. </p> <img src="/images/general/hmmm.jpg" alt="Hmmm..." /> <p>Hoagland and Zamecnik were identifying the molecules and the energy requirements of protein synthesis reactions. Would it have been easier if they had known about Francis Crick's adapter hypothesis? </p> </div>  </p> </div> </div> <br class="clearfloat" /> <div id="footer"> <ul> <li><a href="/">Home</a></li> <li><a href="/sitemap.html">Site Map</a></li> <li><a href="/scientists.html">Scientists</a></li> <li><a href="/glossary.html">Glossary</a></li> <li><a href="/feedback.html">Feedback</a></li> <li><a href="/awards.html">Awards</a></li> <li><a href="/credits.html">Credits</a></li> <li><a href="http://blogs.dnalc.org/dnaftb/" style="background-image:none;">Blog</a></li> </ul> <p> Funded by <a href="http://macyfoundation.org">The Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation</a><br /> © 2002 - 2011, <a href="http://www.dnalc.org/"> DNA Learning Center</a>, <a href="https://www.cshl.edu/">Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory</a>. All rights reserved. </p> </div>  </div> <div id="sidebar"> <div id="search" > <form method="get" action="/search"> <div class="fieldHolder1"> <input type="search" id="q" name="q" placeholder="Search" onclick="this.value=''" value="" /> <img style="background-color:#9C0;" src="/images/general/search_icon.jpg" alt="Search" onclick="document.forms[0].submit()" /> </div> </form> </div>  <div id="sidebar"> <ul class="menu-side"> <li class="section1" style="margin-bottom: 3px;"><a href="/1/index.html" title="Classical Genetics"><span class="displace">CLASSICAL GENETICS</span></a></li> </ul> <ul class="sections-side sections-side2a" style="padding-top: 56px;"> <li ><a href="/15/"><img src="/images/thumbnails/15-thumb-sm.png" alt="15." />DNA and proteins are key molecules of the cell nucleus.</a></li> <li ><a href="/16/"><img src="/images/thumbnails/16-thumb-sm.png" alt="16." />One gene makes one protein.</a></li> <li ><a href="/17/"><img src="/images/thumbnails/17-thumb-sm.png" alt="17." />A gene is made of DNA.</a></li> <li ><a href="/18/"><img src="/images/thumbnails/18-thumb-sm.png" alt="18." />Bacteria and viruses have DNA too.</a></li> <li ><a href="/19/"><img src="/images/thumbnails/19-thumb-sm.png" alt="19." />The DNA molecule is shaped like a twisted ladder.</a></li> <li ><a href="/20/"><img src="/images/thumbnails/20-thumb-sm.png" alt="20." />A half DNA ladder is a template for copying the whole.</a></li> <li ><a class="concept-highlight" href="/21/"><img src="/images/thumbnails/21-thumb-sm.png" alt="21." />RNA is an intermediary between DNA and protein.</a></li> <li ><a href="/22/"><img src="/images/thumbnails/22-thumb-sm.png" alt="22." />DNA words are three letters long.</a></li> <li ><a href="/23/"><img src="/images/thumbnails/23-thumb-sm.png" alt="23." />A gene is a discrete sequence of DNA nucleotides.</a></li> <li ><a href="/24/"><img src="/images/thumbnails/24-thumb-sm.png" alt="24." />The RNA message is sometimes edited.</a></li> <li ><a href="/25/"><img src="/images/thumbnails/25-thumb-sm.png" alt="25." />Some viruses store genetic information in RNA.</a></li> <li ><a href="/26/"><img src="/images/thumbnails/26-thumb-sm.png" alt="26." />RNA was the first genetic molecule.</a></li> <li ><a href="/27/"><img src="/images/thumbnails/27-thumb-sm.png" alt="27." />Mutations are changes in genetic information.</a></li> <li style="border-bottom: 1px solid #669;"><a href="/28/"><img src="/images/thumbnails/28-thumb-sm.png" alt="28." />Some types of mutations are automatically repaired.</a></li> </ul> <ul class="menu-side"> <li class="section3"><a href="/29/index.html" title="Genetic Organization and Control"><span class="displace">GENETIC ORGANIZATION AND CONTROL</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div>  <br class="clearfloat" /> </div>  <script type="text/javascript"> Event.observe(window, 'load', function() { var uri = '/21/bio.html'; uri = uri.replace(/-\d/,''); $('nav').down().descendants().each(function(s) { if (s.nodeName == 'A') { if (s.href.match(uri)) { s.addClassName('current'); throw $break; } } }); }); </script> <script type="text/javascript"> var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-1818773-10']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = 'https://www.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); </script>  <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-K6EHFCRJBP"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-K6EHFCRJBP'); </script> </body> </html>