We are delighted to have Mario Capecchi return to Harvard as the Paul Doty Lecturer. Mario completed his PhD. in the Biological Laboratories in 1967 with Jim Watson in the joint laboratory of Jim Watson and Wally Gilbert.
For his thesis Mario discovered protein factors that mediate the release of completed polypeptide chains during protein synthesis. Mario was then appointed a Junior Fellow of the Society of Fellows and subsequently became an assistant professor at the Harvard Medical School.
He then moved to the University of Utah where he famously developed methods for creating knockout mutants of mouse genes and for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology.
Turning his attention to neurobiology, Mario recently discovered that defects in certain kinds of cells in the brain (Hoxb8 microglia) are responsible for chronic anxiety and compulsive behavior. The Lectureship is named in honor of Paul Doty, a much beloved member of our community.
by Rich Losick
Paul Doty was the Mallinckrodt Professor of Biochemistry Emeritus and also Director, Emeritus, of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, which he founded at the John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1974. As a biochemist, Doty elucidated the structure and function of large molecules, ranging from the polymers in plastics and fibers, to polypeptides and polynucleotides. He is perhaps best known for demonstrating the denaturation of the double-stranded DNA molecule and its reuniting through hybridization, a technique that helped open the era of recombinant DNA research. As an advocate for arms control, Doty led and participated in many initiatives to bring Russian and American scientists together in pursuit of international security, making more than 40 trips to the Soviet Union. He was a member of the President’s Science Advisory Committee (PSAC) during the Kennedy Administration. After retirement, he continued his work in this area, including serving as a board member of the Soros International Science Foundation that provided critical research support to Russian scientists in the 1990s. He passed away on December 5, 2011.
