Jonathan Roger Beckwith (born December 25, 1935, inCambridge, Massachusetts)^[1] is an Americanmicrobiologist andgeneticist. He is theAmerican Cancer Society Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunobiology atHarvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts.

He trained withSydney Brenner,Arthur Pardee, andFrançois Jacob at theInstitut Pasteur in France before arriving at Harvard University.

Beckwith led the research group that in 1969 isolated the firstgene from abacterial chromosome.^[2] Some of the researchers worked in the Beckwith laboratory at the Harvard Medical School and consisted of several now well-known scientists and doctors includingJames A. Shapiro andLawrence Eron, MD.; others (Lorne MacHattie and Garret Ihler) were located in the laboratory of Charles Thomas. The procedure used was devised by Garret Ihler and Karin Ippen. Complementary strands of the gene, carried within non-complementary strands of viral DNA, from viruses transducing the gene in reverse orientations which had been separated by a poly U,G density-gradient technique, were annealed to form double-stranded DNA. The single-stranded DNA was then removed using a single-strand specific DNase under investigation in the Thomas laboratory, leaving the double-stranded gene intact. The elegant electron micrographs of the pre- and post-digested DNA were taken by MacHatty in the Thomas laboratory. Before and following this experiment, Beckwith made important contributions to the study ofbacterial genetics.^[3] His studies include the mechanisms of protein secretion,disulfide bond formation, and cell division. In addition, he is a prominent speaker on the social implications of science and has been an activist in science. He spoke out against the testing of boys forXYY chromosomes and was a member of the ELSI (Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications) committee of theHuman Genome Project initiated byJames D. Watson. He has worked on issues ofsocial responsibility in science and since 1983 has taught a course on the Social Issues in Biology at Harvard University, one of the first of its kind. He was elected a Fellow of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1986.^[1]

^[4] In 2005 he received the Abbott-ASM Lifetime Achievement Award from theAmerican Society for Microbiology for "sustained, remarkable contributions to the microbiological sciences". Beckwith was the 2009 recipient of theSelman A. Waksman Award in Microbiology from theNational Academy of Sciences.^[5]

Beckwith is a member of theNational Academy of Sciences.

• Beckwith, Jon; Ard, Catherine; Asch, Adrienne;Alper, Joseph S., eds. (2004).The Double-Edged Helix: Social Implications of Genetics in a Diverse Society. Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press.ISBN 978-0-8018-7926-5.
• Beckwith, Jonathan R. (2002).Making Genes, Making Waves: A Social Activist in Science. Harvard University Press.ISBN 978-0-674-00928-8.

Notes

Bibliography

• Beckwith, Jonathan R. (2002).Making Genes, Making Waves: A Social Activist in Science. Harvard University Press.ISBN 978-0-674-00928-8.

• "Beckwith Lab". 2011-03-04.
• "Jonathan Beckwith, Ph.D."Department of Microbiology and Immunobiology Faculty.
• Jonathan R. Beckwith papers, 1933-2011 (inclusive), 1965-2004 (bulk). H MS c370. Harvard Medical Library, Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Boston, Mass.
• The story of the 1975 Asilomar Conference on Recombinant DNA

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