Gerald M. Rubin

Gerald M. Rubin (born 1950) is an American biologist, notable for pioneering the use of transposable P elements in genetics, and for leading the public project to sequence the Drosophila melanogaster genome. Related to his genomics work, Rubin's lab is notable for development of genomics tools and whole-genome studies of gene regulation. Rubin also serves as Vice President and Director of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, one of the largest biomedical research foundations in the world. Most recently, Rubin has become president and director of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Farm Research Campus.

[edit] Biography

Rubin was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1950, attending the Boston Latin School. Rubin completed his undergraduate degree in biology at MIT, working at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory during the summer.^[1]^[2] He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge, at the MRC in 1974, sequencing yeast RNA. He did postdoctoral work at Stanford University with David Hogness.

Rubin's first faculty position was at Harvard Medical School, followed by the Carnegie Institution of Washington; in 1983 he accepted a faculty appointment at the University of California, Berkeley. He was appointed a Howard Hughes Medical Investigator in 1987. He is currently the MacArthur Professor of Genetics, Genomics and Development, in Berkeley's Department of Molecular and Cell Biology.

Rubin has taken a leading role in a number of high-profile biology projects. As the director of the Drosophila Genome Center, he led the public effort to sequence Drosophila melanogaster.^[3] As director of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Rubin led the development of the HHMI's Janelia Farm Research Campus, an independent biomedical research institute in Virginia.^[1]^[4]

His lab is particularly known for its development of genomics tools, studies of gene regulation, and other genome-wide research.

Spradling AC, Rubin GM. Transposition of cloned P elements into Drosophila germ line chromosomes. Science. 1982 Oct 22;218(4570):341–347.^[5]
Rubin, G.M., Spradling, A.C. (1982). Genetic transformation of Drosophila with transposable element vectors. Science 218(4570): 348-353.^[5]
GLG Miklos, GM Rubin, "The role of the genome project in determining gene function: insights from model organisms", Cell (1996).
M. D. Adams et al, "The Genome Sequence of Drosophila Melanogaster", Science, v.287, pp. 2185-2195.
G. M. Rubin, et al, "Comparative Genomics of the Eukaryotes", Science (2000).
... [G. M. Rubin], "Gene Ontology: Tool for the Unification of Biology", Nature Genetics (2000).
Gerald M. Rubin, "The Draft Sequences: Comparing Species", Nature, v.409, pp. 820-821 (2001)
Paul T. Spellman and Gerald M. Rubin, "Evidence for large domains of similarly expressed genes in the Drosophila genome", Journal of Biology, v.1, n.5 (2002) (available online as an open access publication).

2000 AAAS-Newcomb Cleveland Prize, AAAS (with Craig Venter) for his March 24, 2000, review paper on sequencing the Drosophila geome^[6]
2003 George W. Beadle Medal (with Allan C. Spradling)^[7]
Helen Hay Whitney Fellow
Phi Beta Kappa
Phi Lambda Epsilon
National Science Foundation, predoctoral Fellow
United States Churchill Foundation Fellow
Co-winner, Passano Foundation Young Scientist Award
American Chemical Society Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry
Co-winner, National Academy of Sciences U.S. Steel Foundation Award in Molecular Biology
Genetics Society of America Medal
Member, National Academy of Sciences
Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology
Howard Taylor Ricketts Award, Univ. of Chicago
Member, Institute of Medicine

^ ^a ^b UPI, "Gerald Rubin: Science Far Too Conservative", April 20, 2006 (discussing Janelia Farm).
^ Tim Studt, "Architect of the Future: Refocusing on Basic Research", R&D Magazine.
^ Adams et al, "The Genome Sequence of Drosophila melanogaster", Science, v.287, pp. 2185-2195.
^ Tim Studt, "Architect of the Future: Refocusing on Basic Research", R&D Magazine.
^ ^a ^b Francesca Cesari, "Milestones in Nature: Milestone 9: Transformers, Elements in Disguise", Nature, Oct. 15, 2007.
^ Robert Sanders, "UC Berkeley's Gerald Rubin shares AAAS prize with Celera's Craig Venter for sequencing genome of the fruit fly", UC Berkeley Campus News, Feb. 20, 2001.
^ Terry L. Orr-Weaver, "The 2003 George W. Beadle Medal", Genetics, v.164, n.4, pp. 1248-1249 (Aug. 2003) (full-text available online at PubMed Central.)

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