Edward Tatum

Edward Lawrie Tatum (December 14, 1909 – November 5, 1975) was an American geneticist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1958 with George Wells Beadle for showing that genes regulate specific biochemical events. Tatum and Beadle's work laid the foundation for the field of molecular genetics by demonstrating that the genes act by regulating definite chemical events. They used the bread mold Neurospora crassa as their model organism in these experiments. Their research proved that one gene is responsible for the production of one enzyme, which came to be known as the one gene-one enzyme hypothesis. This concept has since been refined to the one gene-one polypeptide hypothesis to account for the fact that not all proteins are enzymes and that some proteins are composed of multiple polypeptides.

Early Life and Education

Edward Tatum was born in Boulder, Colorado, and grew up in a small town in Illinois. He received his B.S. degree in chemistry from the University of Chicago in 1931 and his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1934. During his doctoral studies, he became interested in genetics, a field that would define his future research career.

Career and Research

After completing his Ph.D., Tatum worked at Stanford University with George Beadle. It was here that Tatum and Beadle began their groundbreaking experiments with Neurospora crassa. Their work demonstrated that mutations in genes could produce specific defects in metabolic pathways. This was a significant departure from the prevailing view that genes were somehow involved in the development and structure of organisms but did not have specific biochemical functions.

In 1945, Tatum joined the faculty of Yale University, where he continued his research on the genetic control of biochemical reactions. He later moved to the Rockefeller Institute (now Rockefeller University) and then to the University of California, San Francisco, where he expanded his research interests to include the genetics of bacteria and viruses.

Legacy

Edward Tatum's contributions to genetics and biochemistry have had a lasting impact on the scientific community. His work with Beadle not only provided the basis for the field of molecular genetics but also contributed to the development of genetic engineering and biotechnology. Tatum's research demonstrated the fundamental principle that genes control the synthesis of enzymes, which in turn regulate biochemical pathways in the cell. This principle has been instrumental in our understanding of how genetic information is expressed in living organisms.

Awards and Honors

In addition to the Nobel Prize, Tatum received numerous awards and honors throughout his career, including election to the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His work has been recognized as a cornerstone of modern genetics and molecular biology.

Death

Edward Tatum died on November 5, 1975, leaving behind a legacy that continues to influence the fields of genetics and molecular biology.