Leonard Lerman | |
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| Born | Leonard Solomon Lerman (1925-06-27)June 27, 1925 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Died | September 19, 2012(2012-09-19) (aged 87) |
| Alma mater | California Institute of Technology |
| Known for | Cell cloning, human karyotype |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Genetics |
| Institutions | Vanderbilt University Nashville;University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver;SUNY Albany |
| Thesis | Studies on the reaction of antibody with simple substances. The slow contraction of frog muscle. The hemodynamics of aortic occlusion. (1949@) |
| Doctoral advisor | Linus Pauling |
| Doctoral students | Sidney Altman,Tom Maniatis |
Leonard Solomon Lerman (June 27, 1925 – September 19, 2012) was an American scientist most noted for his work on DNA.[1]
Lerman was born and raised in Pittsburgh, the son of Freamah and Meyer Lerman, Jewish immigrants from Ukraine.[1] His father was a department store buyer. Lerman began attendingthe Carnegie Institute of Technology before graduating from high school and received his BS in five semesters.[1] As a graduate student withLinus Pauling at theCalifornia Institute of Technology, Lerman discovered thatantibodies have two binding sites. Later, perhaps his most important discovery was that certain molecules bind toDNA byintercalation.[2][3][4] This discovery has shaped much of science's understanding about how drugs andmutagens interact with DNA.
Later, during a sabbatical at theUniversity of Cambridge, Lerman had a chance to work with later Nobel prize winnersSydney Brenner andFrancis Crick.[5]
Lerman led a productive research program atVanderbilt University inNashville, theUniversity of Colorado Health Sciences Center inDenver andSUNY Albany, the State University of New York at Albany. Lerman's lab crew included at least one Nobel prize winner,Sidney Altman, and another,Tom Maniatis, who also became one of the leading molecular biologists of his time.
Lerman's last major effort, begun with Stuart Fischer atSUNY, was the invention ofdenaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE),[6][7][8] a technique used to separate DNA molecules. DGGE is widely used by scientists who wish to ascertain biodiversity in microbial communities.
Dr. Lerman was also a senior member of one of the firstbiotechnology companies, theGenetics Institute, co-founded by one of his students,Tom Maniatis.[5] Dr. Lerman was a member of theNational Academy of Sciences, USA.[5]
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