Interviewee: Stanley Cohen.
Stanley Cohen talks about the challenge of isolating and studying individual genes.
(DNAi Location: Manipulation > Revolution > players > Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen > One of the great challenges of biology)
Transcript:
One of the challenges of biology has been to isolate and study individual genes. If you can imagine a mammalian genome with tens of thousands of genes in it, and the task of really understanding how each of them works is, is a very monumental task. But if those genes can be isolated and studied individually, if they can be expressed individually and the consequences of that expression analyzed, then one begins to get a handle on understanding the way that complex organisms work and how they develop.
Keywords:
herbert boyer,stanley cohen,mammalian genome,gene expression,dnai,monumental task,interviewee,genes,organisms,manipulation,biology,tens of thousands,consequences,challenges
Stanley Cohen and Herbert Boyer's historic experiment used techniques to cut and paste DNA to create the first custom-made organism containing recombined or "recombinant" DNA.
Stanley Cohen and Herbert Boyer inserted the recombinant DNA molecule they created into E. coli bacteria by means of a plasmid, thereby inducing the uptake and expression of a foreign DNA sequence known as "transformation."
David Goeddel was one of the first scientists Herb Boyer hired for the insulin project. Here, David Goeddel talks about Genentech's general strategy for synthesizing insulin.
Image of Herbert Boyer. From lineman on the varsity football team to co-founder of the first biotech company, Boyer has never lacked imagination, drive, or vision. His and Stanley Cohen's recombinant DNA work paved the way for the biotech revolution.