Richard J. Roberts | |
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.jpg) Roberts in 2007 | |
| Born | Richard John Roberts (1943-09-06)6 September 1943 (age 82)[3] Derby, England |
| Alma mater | University of Sheffield (BSc,PhD) |
| Known for | |
| Awards |
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Molecular biology |
| Institutions | |
| Thesis | Phytochemical studies involving neoflavanoids and isoflavanoids (1969) |
| Website | nobelprize |
Sir Richard John Roberts (born 6 September 1943) is a Britishbiochemist andmolecular biologist. He was awarded the 1993Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine withPhillip Allen Sharp for the discovery ofintrons ineukaryoticDNA and the mechanism ofgene-splicing. He currently works atNew England Biolabs.[6][7][8]
Roberts was born inDerby, the son of Edna (Allsop) and John Roberts, an auto mechanic.[9] When he was four, Roberts' family moved toBath. In Bath, he attendedCity of Bath Boys' School.[9] As a child he at first wanted to be adetective and then, when given achemistry set, achemist. In 1965 he graduated from theUniversity of Sheffield with aBachelor of Science degree inchemistry followed by aPhD in 1969.[3] His thesis involvedphytochemical studies ofneoflavonoids andisoflavonoids.[10][11]
During 1969–1972, he didpostdoctoral research atHarvard University.[9] before moving toCold Spring Harbor Laboratory,[12] where he was hired byJames Dewey Watson, a co-discoverer of the structure ofDNA and a fellow Nobel laureate. In this period he also visited theMRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology for the first time, working alongsideFred Sanger.[13] In 1977, he published his discovery of RNA splicing.[12] In 1992, he moved toNew England Biolabs.[9] The following year, he shared a Nobel Prize with his former colleague at Cold Spring HarborPhillip Allen Sharp.[14]
Roberts's discovery of thealternative splicing of genes, in particular, has had a profound impact on the study and applications of molecular biology.[15] The realisation that individual genes could exist as separate, disconnected segments within longer strands of DNA first arose in his 1977 study ofadenovirus,[12] one of the viruses responsible for causing the common cold. Robert's research in this field resulted in a fundamental shift in our understanding ofgenetics, and has led to the discovery of split genes in higher organisms, including human beings.[15][8]
In 1992, Roberts received anhonorary doctorate from the Faculty of Medicine atUppsala University,Sweden.[16] After becoming a Nobel laureate in 1993 he was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) by theUniversity of Bath in 1994.[17] Roberts also received the Golden Plate Award of theAmerican Academy of Achievement in 1994.[18] In 2021 he was awarded theLomonosov Gold Medal of theRussian Academy of Sciences.[4] In 2025, he became anhonorary member of theacademic staff ofD'Annunzio University of Chieti–Pescara,Italy.[19]
Roberts was elected aFellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1995[15] and amember of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) in the same year.[20] In 2005, a multimillion-pound expansion to the chemistry department at theUniversity of Sheffield, where he had been a student, was named after him. A refurbished science department atBeechen Cliff School (previously City of Bath Boys' School) was also named after Roberts, who had donated a substantial sum of his Nobel prize winnings to the school.[21]
Roberts is an atheist and was one of the signers of theHumanist Manifesto.[22][23] He wasknighted in the 2008 Birthday Honours.[24]
Roberts is a member of the Advisory Board ofPatient Innovation,[25] a nonprofit, international, multilingual, free venue for patients and caregivers of any disease to share their innovations.
Roberts has been akeynote speaker at the Congress of Future Medical Leaders (2014, 2015, 2016, 2020).[26]
He also is the chairman of The Laureate Science Alliance, a non-profit supporting research worldwide.
In 2016, Roberts and other Nobelists composed and signed a "Laureates Letter Supporting Precision Agriculture (GMOs)" addressed to the leaders of Greenpeace, the United Nations and global governments and Sir Roberts has advocated forGenetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in general andGolden Rice in particular to advance health in developing countries, noting the high safety record of GM foods.[27][28]
"All text published under the heading 'Biography' on Fellow profile pages is available underCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.” --"Royal Society Terms, conditions and policies". Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved9 March 2016.
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including the Nobel LectureAn Amazing Distortion in DNA Induced by a Methyltransferase| International | |
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