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<!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>Edward Lawrie Tatum :: DNA from the Beginning</title> <meta name="description" content="Biography of Edward Lawrie Tatum from Concept 16: One gene makes one 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 16</span> One gene makes one 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="/16/bio.html"><img src="/images/16/bio_beadle_thumb.jpg" alt="George Beadle" class="floatLeft" /> </a> <a href="/16/bio-2.html"><img src="/images/16/bio_tatum_thumb.jpg" alt="Edward Tatum" class="floatLeft" /></a> <a href="/16/bio.html">George Beadle</a> had successful research careers in corn and <i>Drosophila</i> genetics, before starting the field of <i>Neurospora</i> research. George Beadle and <a href="/16/bio-2.html">Edward Tatum</a> used <i>Neurospora</i> to prove that "one gene makes one protein." Tatum also had a role in starting bacterial genetics.<br class="clearfloat" /></p> <div id="people-list"> <ul> <li><span class="small">Go to:</span></li> <li><a href="/16/bio.html">George Wells Beadle (1903-1989)</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="bio-current1"> <h2>Edward Lawrie Tatum (1909-1975)</h2> </div> <br class="clearfloat" /> <div id="border"></div> <img src="/images/16/16bbio.jpg" alt="Edward Tatum" class="floatRight" /> <p>Edward Tatum was born in Boulder, Colorado. While Tatum was growing up, his family moved a number of times. His father had different teaching positions at various universities and colleges in the Midwest. Tatum grew up in a science-oriented household as his father had a Ph.D and an M.D.</p> <p>Tatum obtained a Bachelor's degree from the <a href = "http://www.wisc.edu">University of Wisconsin</a> in 1931, and he stayed to do graduate work on nutritional requirements of different bacterial strains. This research had a practical aspect. The bacterial strains Tatum worked on were found in milk. By knowing what bacteria needed for growth, strategies could have been developed to control their growth. </p> <p>After his Ph.D., Tatum spent a year at the University of Utrecht, Netherlands, doing the same type of research. In 1937, his professors at Wisconsin forwarded him a job ad. George Beadle was looking for a research associate for his new lab at <a href = "http://www.stanford.edu">Stanford University</a>. The job was an excellent research opportunity; however, Tatum's professors advised him to go into the dairy industry and do butter research - the money was better.</p> <p>Tatum chose intellectual challenge over money. He spent the first few years in Beadle's lab isolating and identifying the "substances" involved in <i>Drosophila</i> eye color determination - an extension of Beadle's earlier work. They were beaten by another group, but this set into motion the events leading up to the <i>Neurospora</i> experiments. The switch to <i>Neurospora</i> supposedly came about after one of the biology classes Tatum volunteered to teach. Beadle was sitting in on the lecture and was reminded of the <i>Neurospora</i> system; he thought it would be the perfect system to use to study gene action.</p> <p>The new <i>Neurospora</i> project had no guarantee of success. So, Beadle and Tatum had a deal; they would test only 5,000 <i>Neurospora</i> cultures. If they couldn't find one nutritional mutant in 5,000, they would abandon the project. The experiment was a success and Edward Tatum shared the <a href = "http://www.nobel.se/medicine/laureates/1958/">1958 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine</a>.</p> <p>In 1945, Tatum had a short stint at <a href = "http://www.wustl.edu">Washington University in St. Louis</a>, and then moved to <a href = "http://www.yale.edu">Yale</a>. He was using the <i>Neurospora</i> strategy to find genetic mutants in bacteria. He used <i>Escherichia coli</i> strain K12 from the Stanford collections. At the time, K12 was not the most common <i>E. coli</i> strain in use, but this proved to be a fortuitous choice. K12 had the properties that allowed Tatum and his student <a href="/18/bio.html">Joshua Lederberg</a> to demonstrate bacterial recombination. Lederberg shared the 1958 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.</p> <p>In 1948, Tatum returned to Stanford and in 1956 was appointed the head of the new Department of Biochemistry. In 1957, Tatum left to accept a professorship at the <a href = "http://www.rockefeller.edu/">Rockefeller Institute</a> and stayed until his death.</p> <p>Tatum was a very supportive boss. He had his own goals for his lab, but never failed to actively encourage his students in their research interests. He was on the editorial board of science journals such as <a href = "http://www.genetics.org"><i>Genetics</i></a>, <a href = "http://www.science.com"><i>Science</i></a>, and the <a href = "http://www.jbc.org"><i>Journal of Biological Chemistry</i></a>. Tatum also served as scientific advisor on many boards and helped set the national policy on training for students and post doctoral fellows. Tatum died in 1975 from heart failure complicated by emphysema from a lifetime of cigarette smoking.</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>Three years after the <i>Neurospora</i> paper, George Beadle became aware of the work Archibald Garrod did on alkaptonuria in 1902. Beadle saw the similarities and credited Garrod with being the first to work on the "one gene/one protein" theory.</p> <img src="/images/general/hmmm.jpg" alt="Hmmm..." /> <p>In 1902, Archibald Garrod proposed that diseases are "inborn errors of metabolism." Why wasn't Garrods' theory well-known and accepted in 1902?</p> </div> </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 class="concept-highlight" 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 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 = '/16/bio-2.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>