Kary Mullis

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Kary Banks Mullis, Ph.D. (born December 28, 1944) is an American biochemist and Nobel laureate.

Dr. Mullis was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1993 for his development of the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), a central technique in biochemistry and molecular biology which allows the amplification of specified DNA sequences. Dr. Mullis subsequently was awarded the Japan Prize that same year.

Contents 1 Career and Education 2 Awards and Honors 3 Inventions 4 Public Controversies 4.1 Accreditation of the PCR technique 4.2 HIV / AIDS Controversy 4.3 Global Warming 4.4 O.J. Simpson Trial 4.5 Drug Use and Abduction Account 5 Authorship 6 Notes 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Career and Education

Dr. Mullis was born in Lenoir, North Carolina Dec. 28, 1944, and grew up in Columbia, South Carolina where he attended Dreher High School. He went on to receive a bachelor's degree at the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1966, and received a PhD in biochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley in 1973. Following his graduation, Dr. Mullis became a postdoctoral fellow in pediatric cardiology at the University of Kansas Medical School, going on to complete two years of postdoctoral work in pharmaceutical chemistry at the University of California, San Francisco.

In 1979, Mullis joined the Cetus Corporation where he worked as a DNA Chemist for seven years. It was during this time that, while synthesizing oligonucleotides, Dr. Mullis invented the technique known as the polymerase chain reaction. He then proceeded to Xytronyx Inc. in 1986, where he was appointed the director of molecular biology, before moving on to serve as a nucleic acid chemistry consultant for multiple corporations. ^[1]

[edit] Awards and Honors

• 1990 - William Allan Memorial Award of the American Society of Human Genetics | Preis Biochemische Analytik of the German Society of Clinical Chemistry and Boehringer Mannheim
• 1991 - National Biotechnology Award | Gairdner Award | R&D Scientist of the Year
• 1992 - California Scientist of the Year Award
• 1993 - Nobel Prize in Chemistry | Japan Prize | Thomas A. Edison Award
• 1994 - Honorary degree of Doctor of Science from the University of South Carolina
• 1998 - Inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame ^[2] | Ronald H. Brown American Innovator Award^[3]

[edit] Inventions

See main articles Thermus aquaticus and History of PCR

In 1983, while working for the biotechnology company Cetus Corporation, Mullis came up with the idea of using the Thermophilus aquaticus (Taq) DNA polymerase to amplify segments of DNA. DNA amplification existed prior to PCR, however the polymerases used were destroyed when the DNA was melted (heated) and needed to be repeatedly replaced. The Taq polymerase was heat resistant and would only need to be added once, thus making the technique dramatically more cost effective. This has created revolutions in biochemistry, molecular biology, genetics, medicine and forensics.

Some controversy surrounds the balance of credit that should be given to Mullis versus the team at Cetus. In practice, credit has accrued to both the inventor and the company (although not its individual workers) in the form of a Nobel Prize and a $10,000 Cetus bonus for Mullis, and $300 million for Cetus when the company sold the patent to Roche Molecular Systems.

Dr. Mullis has also invented a UV-sensitive plastic that changes color in response to light, and most recently has been working on an approach for mobilizing the immune system to neutralize invading pathogens and toxins, leading to the formation of his current venture, Altermune LLC. In his Nobel page, he described this idea this way:

It is a method using specific synthetic chemical linkers to divert an immune response from its nominal target to something completely different which you would right now like to be temporarily immune to. Let's say you just got exposed to a new strain of the flu. You're already immune to alpha-1,3-galactosyl-galactose bonds. All humans are. Why not divert a fraction of those antibodies to the influenza strain you just picked up? A chemical linker synthesized with an alpha-1,3-gal-gal bond on one end and a DNA aptamer devised to bind specifically to the strain of influenza you have on the other end will link anti-alpha-Gal antibodies to the influenza virus and presto!--you have fooled your immune system into attacking the new virus.^[4]

This work is now being funded by DARPA.

[edit] Public Controversies

[edit] Accreditation of the PCR technique

The main principles of PCR were described in 1971 by Kjell Kleppe, a Norwegian scientist, and some have asserted that Kleppe has a better claim to the invention. Together with 1968 Nobel Prize laureate H. Gobind Khorana , Professor Kleppe released a 20-page research paper on PCR in the 1971 Journal of Molecular Biology. As early as 18th June 1969 Kleppe presented his work at a Gordon Conference in New Hampshire. Using repair replication (the principle of PCR) he duplicated and then quadrupled a small synthetic molecule with the help of two primers and DNA-polymerase. Among the attendees (according to Arthur Kornberg in interview) was Stuart Linn, who then used Kleppe's material in his own teachings to his students, which included Mullis. Mullis went to Georgia Institute of Technology for 6 years for DNA studies in human genetics.

In addition, the suggestion that Mullis was solely responsible for the idea of using Taq polymerase in the PCR process has been refuted by his co-workers at the time.

The Kleppe story may best illustrate the claim that an invention, even if has been conceptualized earlier, does not really exist until it can be developed and realized. It could similarily be viewed as a good example that research scientists often ignore or reject the notion of their inventions belonging to anyone rather than being available to everyone.

The anthropologist Paul Rabinow wrote a book on the history of the PCR method in 1996 in which he questioned whether or not Mullis "invented" PCR or "merely" came up with the concept of it. Rabinow, a Foucault scholar interested in issues of the production of knowledge, used the topic to argue against the idea that scientific discovery is the product of individual work, writing, "Committees and science journalists like the idea of associating a unique idea with a unique person, the lone genius. PCR is, in fact, one of the classic examples of teamwork."^[5]

[edit] HIV / AIDS Controversy

Mullis has also drawn controversy for his past association with Peter Duesberg and his skepticism about the evidence for the idea that HIV causes AIDS. (For more on this topic, see also AIDS reappraisal and the interviews listed below.) As the recipient of a Nobel Prize for the PCR technique that is used to measure viral load in people with AIDS, he has often been cited by people within the AIDS dissident movement as someone who supports their views.

[edit] Global Warming

Mullis is skeptical about the concern over global warming, disagreeing with the theory that it is caused by humans, and with the idea that CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) cause ozone depletion.^[6]

[edit] O.J. Simpson Trial

Mullis became known to a wider public as a potential forensic DNA analyst and witness for the defense in the O.J. Simpson murder case. News coverage of Mullis, his activities and his background was extensive. The defense moved to prevent a cross-examination of his personal life including "social relationships, domestic discord and use of controlled substances."^[7] However, evidently satisfied that they had adequately discredited the DNA evidence without him, the defense did not call him.^[8]

[edit] Drug Use and Abduction Account

In Mullis's 1998 essay collection, Dancing Naked in the Mind Field, he relates a number of accounts that some consider strange, including detailing his use of LSD and his belief that he had experienced an extraterrestrial encounter. Critics have frequently cited these episodes in order to question his scientific judgment. Regarding his abduction account, Mullis writes "I wouldn't try to publish a scientific paper about these things, because I can't do any experiments. I can't make glowing raccoons appear. I can't buy them from a scientific supply house to study. I can't cause myself to be lost again for several hours. But I don't deny what happened. It's what science calls anecdotal, because it only happened in a way that you can't reproduce. But it happened."^[9] It has been noted that much of Mullis's account exhibits hallmarks of John Edward Mack's abduction phenomenon hypotheses.

[edit] Authorship

Dr. Mullis wrote the autobiography "Dancing Naked in the Mind Field", which gives an account of his initial invention of PCR, as well as providing insights into the opinions and experiences of the author.

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Dr. Kary Mullis' Biography, "[9]
• Celia Farber, "Interview Kary Mullis", Spin (July 1994). (Focuses on his position regarding HIV and AIDS.)
• Anthony Liversidge, "Kary Mullis, the great gene machine", Omni magazine (April 1992).
• Kary Mullis, Dancing Naked in the Mind Field (Pantheon Books, 1998). ISBN 0-679-77400-9
• Paul Rabinow, Making PCR: a story of biotechnology (University of Chicago Press, 1996). ISBN 0-226-70147-6
• Charles A. Thomas Jr., Kary B. Mullis, and Phillip E. Johnson, "WHAT CAUSES AIDS? It's An Open Question" Reason (June 1994).

[edit] External links

• Official Nobel autobiography. his Nobel lecture, from the Nobel Foundation website
• Sarah Klipfel's interview with Kary Mullis, July 14, 1998. Focuses on his position regarding HIV and AIDS.
• Kary Mullis's personal website
• Georgia Tech alumni site Article on Mullis as "Georgia Tech's only Nobel Laureate."
• "Nobel Dude" A Salon.com writer tries to make sense of Mullis' place in the world.
• "Nobel Savage" London Review of Books review of Dancing Naked in the Mind Field.
• The Norwegian State Research Counsel online version of an interview in the Norwegian scientific journal "Research" with Ruth Kleppe Aakvaag (Wife of Kjell Kleppe)