Leonard Lerman

Leonard Solomon Lerman (* June 27, 1925 in Pittsburgh, † September 19, 2012 ) was an American molecular biologist and geneticist, who focused on the study of DNA.

Life

Leonard Lerman was born in Pittsburgh as a child Ukrainian- Jewish parents. Already during his school days Lerman was scientifically active. In a science competition, he won a scholarship to the Carnegie Institute of Technology ( now Carnegie Mellon University), where he received his Bachelor of Science degree.

After the Second World War, he continued his studies at the California Institute of Technology and received a doctorate in chemistry. He then moved to the University of Colorado School of Medicine, to explore the DNA further. 1959 Leonard Lerman took the opportunity to take a sabbatical at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge (UK) to make, where he worked among others with Sydney Brenner and Francis Crick. In addition, Lerman research at Vanderbilt University, the State University of New York at Albany and the Genetics Institute in Boston. He was also a lecturer and doctoral supervisor of Sidney Altman and Tom Maniatis at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) worked.

In addition, Lerman was a member of the Genetics Institute, Inc. and the National Academy of Sciences.

Research

Leonard Lerman conducted research mainly in the field of molecular genetics, and among other human DNA and its structure also he defined as the first DNA mutation.

Writings (selection )

  • Lerman LS, Tolmach LJ: Genetic transformation. II The Significance of damage to the DNA molecule. In: Biochimica et Biophysica Acta. Volume 33 (2), 1959, pp. 371-87.
  • Lerman LS: Structural considerations in the interactions of deoxyribonucleic acid and acridines. In: Journal of Molecular Biolology. Volume 3, 1961, pp. 18-30.
  • Lerman LS: The structure of the DNA - acridine complex. In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Volume 49, 1963, pp. 94-102.
  • Fischer SG and Lerman LS: Separation of random fragments of DNA accor ding to properties of Their sequences. In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Volume 77, 1980, pp. 4420-4424.
  • Fischer SG and Lerman LS: DNA fragments Differing by single base pair substitutions are separated in denaturing gradient gels: Correspondence with melting theory. In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Belt 80, 1983, pp. 1579-1583.
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