Ronald Plasterk

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Ronald Plasterk
Ronald Plasterk
In office
February 22, 2007 – present
Preceded by Maria van der Hoeven
Succeeded by Incumbent
Born April 12, 1957 (1957-04-12) (age 51)
The Hague, Netherlands
Political party Labour Party (PvdA)
Residence Bussum
Religion None (atheist)

Ronald Hans Anton Plasterk (born on April 12, 1957 in The Hague) is a Dutch biologist, columnist, and politician. Plasterk became known as a highly cited[1] and prize-winning molecular geneticist, which he combined since 1995 with a position as columnist in several national media. Since 2007 he is the Minister of Education, Culture and Science in the fourth Balkenende cabinet for the Labour Party.

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[edit] Scientific career

Plasterk attended the Sint Janscollege in The Hague, where he graduated in 1975, specializing in sciences.[2] After graduation he studied biology at the Leiden University and economics at the University of Amsterdam. During this period he wrote for the student newspaper.[3] In 1981 he graduated for his doctoral exam in biology, roughly equivalent of a Master of Science, cum laude in 1981. He also graduated for his propedeuse in economics in the same year. Between 1981 and 1984 he worked a PhD-student at Leiden University. In 1984 he was promoted to doctor in Mathematics and the Natural Sciences at Leiden University on basis of his thesis "Inversion of the G segment of bacteriophage Mu: analysis of a genetic switch". His study focused on transposon sequences in DNA. As a PhD-student Plasterk also was a member of the Leiden city council for the Labour Party.[2]

Between 1985 and 1986 he worked as post-doc at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Here he studied the transposon sequences in DNA in the parasite Borrelia hermsii. Between 1986 and 1987 he worked as a post-doc at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology at Cambridge,[2][4][5] where he worked with John E. Sulston. He studied the caenorhabditis elegans, a nematode that is used as a model organism.[6]

In 1987 he returned to the Netherlands where he became group leader and member of the board of the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam. In 1989 he became director of the research school oncology of the institute, which he remained until 2000. Between 1993 and 1997 he occupied the endowned chair in molecular microbiology at the Free University of Amsterdam.[5] Between 1997 and 2000 he was professor of molecular genetics at the University of Amsterdam. In February 2000 he became director of the Netherlands Institute for Developmental Biology, also known as the Hubrecht Laboratory, which falls directly under the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). He combined this with a position as professor in developmental genetics at Utrecht University since May 2000. He retained this positions until February 2007.[2]

Since 2001 his a member of the KNAW. Beforeentering in politics he also was a member of the Health Council, which advises the Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport, a member of the board of the Wellcome Trust, member of the the Committee on Biotechnology and Animals and of the European Molecular Biology Organization.[5][2]

Plasterk's research was in the area of genetics and functional genomics. His study focused on mechanism and regulation of DNA transposition, and on the mechanism of RNAi and miRNAs.[6] This includes for instance the functions of RNAi as a natural defense against the uncontrolled duplication of transposons,[7][8] the regulation and mechanism of DNA transposition, and the mechanism of RNAi and miRNAs.[6]

[edit] Columnist

Plasterk started as a columnist in the Intermediair, a weekly magazine oriented at young professionals and academics, in 1995.[7] In the early years he mainly wrote on the political and ethical aspects of genetic research.[3] In 1999 he switched from his column in the Intermediair to a weekly column in the Volkskrant, a leading centre left quality newspaper and a two-weekly spoken column in Buitenhof, a political talkshow produced by the VPRO, the NPS and the VARA. He did these columns until 2007 when he became minister.[7][2] In 2000 several of his columns were bundled in the book "Leven uit het Lab" ("Life from the Lab")

Plasterk wrote on a wide range of subjects: he is an outspoken atheist.[9]. In 1997 he coined the term ietsisme ("somethingism") to refer to the religious belief, that the Christian God does not exist but that there is some greater force that created the universe and governs it.[10]. This position is roughly equivalent to 18th century Deism. He first strongly criticized the belief on intellectual grounds, calling it a "poor and irritating phenomena", but later claimed that it was a mix of atheism and nostalgia, and much more sympathetic "than the idea of a cruel God that wants this misery"[11]

In his columns in de Volkskrant and Buitenhof, he also fiercely opposed the proposal of Maria van der Hoeven, who preceded him as minister of Education, to teach of intelligent design in high schools.[12]

Furthermore in the referendum on the European constitution, he positioned himself as an outspoken critic of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe.[13] He opposed the constitution because it did not clearly codify the responsibilities of the European Union. It also laid too much emphasis on the free market.

[edit] Political Career

Ronald Plasterk
Ronald Plasterk

Plasterk had been a member of the Leiden city council for the Labour Party in the early 1980s and since 1995 he had been a columnist in several national media. In mid-2000s he took a several more active posts in national politics.

In 2006 he was member of the committee which wrote the election manifesto for the Labour Party in the 2006 elections, which was led by Paul Depla.[2] He also served as an advisor of the national convention, a think tank of the Dutch government on government reform.

On February 22, 2007 he was appointed minister of Education, Culture and Science in the fourth Balkenende cabinet for the Labour Party.[5] Because of this appointment Plasterk had to end his scientific career, because one cannot step out for four years at the level of research he was competing and then hope to get back.[1] Wouter Bos, leader of the Labour Party, sees Plasterk as (social and cultural) libertarian, which balances out the (social and cultural) conservativism of the the Labour Party's coalition partners Christian Democratic Appeal and the ChristianUnion.[11]

As minister Plasterk is responsible for higher education and scientific education, for research, for culture and media, emancipation of women and of the LBGT, and for policy towards those employed in the education sector.[14] As such he is vice chair of the national Innovation Platform and member of the taskforce Women on Top.

One of the key policies of Plasterks period as minister was the payment for teachers. When there was no room in the national budget to increase the payment for teachers as advised by a committee led by Alexander Rinnooy Kan, Plasterk was forced to seek budget in the budget of his own ministry. Kan made his advise public just days after the Miljoenennota (the national budget) was published. One of the solutions Plasterk had considered was cutting the student's allowance and raising the fees for universities.[15] Plasterk was strongly criticized by the students unions for his proposals and by his coalition partners CDA and CU and the leftwing opposition parties SP and GroenLinks. In the end he and Wouter Bos, the minister of Finance, were able to find enough budget for a marked increase of the payment for teachers. Under the pressure of strikes by teachers,[16] Plasterk came to a deal with the teachers´ union on higher payment in April 2008."Akkoord over hoger salaris leraren", De Volkskrant, 16 April 2008. 

[edit] Personal Life

Plasterk is married and has two children. He lives in Bussum. Plasterk is a member of the Royal Christian Oratory Association "Excelsior" in Amsterdam, where he sings as a tenor. He participates in the yearly recital of the Mattheus Passion of Johan Sebastian Bach of Excelsior.“Plasterk gaat op in Matthäus Passion”, Algemeen Dagblad, April 3, <http://www.ad.nl/binnenland/article1245475.ece>  He also plays the guitar. His other hobbies include literature, painting and photography[2]

In the summer of 2008 he will appear in Zomergasten an evening long in depth television interview of the VPRO.

[edit] Prizes

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Selected scientific publications by Plasterk

  • Ketting, R.F., Fischer, S.E.J., Bernstein, E., Sijen, T., Hannon, G.J., Plasterk R.H.A. (2001). Dicer functions in RNA interference and in synthesis of small RNA involved in developmental timing in C. elegans. Genes & Development 15: 2654-2659.
  • Sijen, T., Fleenor, J., Simmer, F., Thijssen, K.L., Parrish, S., Timmons, L., Plasterk, R.H.A., Fire, A. (2001). On the role of RNA amplification in dsRNA-triggered gene silencing. Cell 107: 465-476.
  • Tijsterman, M., Ketting, R.F., Okihara, K. L., Sijen, T., Plasterk, R. H. A. (2002) Short antisense RNAs can trigger gene silencing in C. elegans, depending on the RNA helicase MUT-14. Science 25;295 (5555): 694-697
  • Wienholds, E., Schulte-Merker, S., Walderich, B., Plasterk, R.H.A. (2002) Target-selected inactivation of the zebrafish rag1 gene. Science 297 (July 5): 99-102.
  • Wienholds, E., Koudijs, M.J., Van Eeden, F.J.M., Cuppen, E., Plasterk, R.H.A. (2003) The microRNA-producing enzyme Dicer 1 is essential for zebrafish development. Nature Genetics 35: 217-218.
  • Sijen, T., Plasterk, R.H.A. (2003) Transposon silencing in the Caenorhabditis elegans germ line by natural RNAi. Nature 426: 310-314.
  • Berezikov, E., Guryev, V., van de Belt, J., Wienholds, E., Plasterk, R.H.A., Cuppen, E. (2005) Phylogenetic shadowing and computational identification of human microRNA genes. Cell 120: 21-24.
  • Robert, V.J.P., Sijen, T., van Wolfswinkel, J., Plasterk, R.H.A. (2005) Chromatin and RNAi factors protect the C. elegans germline against repetitive sequences. Genes Dev. 19: 782-787.
  • Sijen T., Steiner F.A., Thijssen K.L., Plasterk R.H.A. (2007) Secondary siRNAs result from unprimed RNA synthesis and form a distinct class. Science. 2007 Jan 12;315(5809):244-7.

[edit] Popular scientific publications by Plasterk

  • "Wormen en waarden" (1993)
  • "Techniek van het leven: de betekenis van biotechnologie voor mens en samenleving" (2000)
  • "Leven uit het lab" (2002)

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Abbott, Alison (1 March 2007). "Q&A: Ronald Plasterk". Nature 446 (7). United Kingdom: Nature Publishing Group. doi:10.1038/446007a. 
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h R.H.A. Plasterk. parlement.com. Leiden University.
  3. ^ a b Schaps, Karolin. Ronald Plasterk, DNA dissenter. cafebabel.com. Retrieved on May 25 2008.
  4. ^ Ronald Plasterk. PvdA (February 20, 2007).
  5. ^ a b c d CV Ronald Plasterk. regering.nl. Ministry of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations (22 February 2007). Retrieved on May 25 2008.
  6. ^ a b c Ronald H.A. Plasterk. biomedicalgenetics.nl. Retrieved on May 25 2008.
  7. ^ a b c Vogel G (2003). "RONALD PLASTERK PROFILE: TV Fame and RNA Glory". Science 301 (5638): 1311–1312. doi:10.1126/science.301.5638.1311. 
  8. ^ Plasterk RHA (2002). "RNA Silencing: The Genome's Immune System". Science 296 (5571): 1263–1265. doi:10.1126/science.1072148. 
  9. ^ "Er is geen verband tussen altruïsme en God" - Interview met Plasterk. Persbericht De Groene Amsterdammer (22 January 2001).
  10. ^ Ronald Plasterk: ietsisme. Genootschap Onze Taal (14 februari 2007).
  11. ^ a b (Dutch) Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau (February 14, 2005). http://www.novatv.nl/index.cfm?ln=nl&fuseaction=artikelen.details&achtergrond_id=9275. NOVA.
  12. ^ (Dutch) Ronald Plasterk (May 8, 2005). Column: Kerk en Staat. Buitenhof.
  13. ^ WBS-debat: meerderheid stemt vóór Grondwet. Wiardi Beckman Stichting (May 15, 2005).
  14. ^ Minister Ronald Plasterk. Ministry of Education, Culture and Sciences.
  15. ^ Collegegeld hoger, basisbeurs blijft. NOS.
  16. ^ Leraren opnieuw in actie. nu.nl (9 April 2008).

[edit] External links

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