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Oral Histories

Mark Ptashne

   • Harvard professor
   • 1997 Lasker Award winner
   • Discovered a protein used to activate genes in bacteria

Mark Ptashne received his PhD from Harvard in 1968 and stayed on campus, taking a job as a lecturer. He became full professor in 1971. Working with Nancy Hopkins at Harvard, he discovered a protein in bacteria that’s used to activate genes; later, he learned that the same mechanism works in higher organisms, including humans. This discovery earned him the Lasker Award.

Listing: MIT Recombinant DNA History Collection (not available online)