Philip Allen Sharp is a geneticist and molecular biologist from the United States. He shared the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for co-discovering RNA splicing. He shared the prize with Richard J Roberts; the two scientists conducted their research independently. Individual genes are frequently interrupted by lengthy segments of DNA that do not encode protein structure, the duo discovered. The discovery was significant because it shattered the long-held belief that genes were continuous stretches of DNA that served as direct templates for mRNA during protein assembly. Sharp began his scientific career at the University of Illinois, where he earned a doctorate in chemistry. He began his career at the California Institute of Technology before moving to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory after earning his PhD. In 1971, he joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Cancer Research, where he conducted his prize-winning research. Numerous awards and prizes have been bestowed upon him in recognition of his outstanding and noteworthy scientific career.
Childhood & Adolescence
Philip Allen Sharp was born in Falmouth, Kentucky, on June 6, 1944, to Katherine and Joseph Sharp.
He received his early education in a variety of Pendleton County public schools. He began his education at McKinneysburg Elementary School. He later attended Butler Elementary and High Schools before completing his education at Pendleton County High School.
He enrolled at Union College, a liberal arts school in eastern Kentucky, on his parents’ insistence, majoring in chemistry and mathematics. After graduating, he decided to continue his education and enrolled at the University of Illinois.
He earned a PhD in chemistry from the University of Illinois in 1969. His thesis focused on the statistical and physical descriptions of DNA as a polymer.
Career of Philip
Philip Allen Sharp came across the 1966 volume of ‘The Genetic Code’ while studying for his PhD. His interest in molecular biology and genetics was sparked by his work. As a result, he completed his postdoctoral training at the California Institute of Technology in a molecular biology research program. He investigated plasmids and the mechanism by which they acquire genomic sequences from the bacterial chromosome.
Following the conclusion of his term at Caltech, he continued his postdoctoral research on the structure and pathway of gene expression in human cells. He later relocated to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where he continued his postdoctoral studies under Jim Watson’s supervision. As a senior scientist, he worked there.
He collaborated with Joe Sambrook at Cold Spring Laboratory to map sequences from the simian virus 40 genome that were expressed as stable RNAs in both infected and oncogenic cells transformed by this virus using hybridization techniques. The study’s outcome was significant because it contributed to our understanding of the papovavirus’s biology.
He became friends with Ulf Pettersson, a Cold Spring Laboratory researcher who was an expert on human adenovirus growth. Together, the two discovered numerous previously unknown facts about adenovirus, beginning with the fact that only one specific region of the genome, the E1 region, was capable of oncogenesis. Additionally, they discovered that genetic maps can be generated using restriction endonuclease length polymorphism.
Additionally, they discovered the viral genome’s mapping of specific genes and the generation of a viral map of sequences expressed as stable RNAs.
Sharp accepted a position at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1974 after biologist Salvador Luria offered him a position. He became a member of MIT’s Center for Cancer Research, which has since been renamed the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research.
Sharp was joined at MIT by Jane Flint, and the pair focused on quantifying the levels of RNA from all regions of the genome in the nuclear and cytoplasmic compartments of the cell.
Sharp and Flint concluded after extensive experimentation that the nuclei of productively infected cells contained numerous viral RNAs that were not transported to the cytoplasm. They postulated that long nuclear RNAs were processed to generate cytoplasmic messenger RNAs. They then compared the nuclear precursor RNA and cytoplasmic messenger RNA from the adenovirus genome’s relative structures.
He and his colleagues discovered in 1977 that an adenovirus’s messenger RNA was composed of four distinct, discontinuous segments of DNA. They discovered that the segments of DNA that encoded proteins (exons) were separated by lengthy stretches of DNA (introns) that contained no genetic information. Notably, Richard J Roberts independently came to a similar conclusion.
Sharp and Roberts’ discovery debunked the long-held belief that genes were continuous stretches of DNA that functioned as direct templates for mRNA during protein assembly. Rather than that, it was discovered that the most prevalent gene structure in eukaryotes, which includes all higher organisms, including humans, is discontinuous gene structure. They won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery.
Sharp was appointed Director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Cancer Research in 1985 and served in that capacity until 1991. He served as the Biology Department’s head from 1991 to 1999.
After his tenure at MIT, he was appointed director of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research in 2000, a position he held until 2004.
He is currently a biology professor and a Koch Institute member. He has been a member of the Institute of Technology since 1999.
Sharp founded Biogen, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, and Magen Biosciences in addition to his scientific research. The scientists at Biogen developed agents to treat hairy cell leukemia and certain autoimmune diseases. Sharp began investigating the role of RNA in gene control following his research on introns and splicing. This resulted in his participation in Alnylam Pharmaceuticals as a cofounder.
Works of Significant Value
In the latter half of the 1970s, Philip Allen Sharp produced his most extraordinary work. In 1977, he demonstrated how to divide RNA into introns (elements not required for protein formation) and exons (elements required for protein formation), and then how to join the exons together. This can occur in a variety of ways, allowing a gene to produce a diverse array of proteins.
Distinctions & Honors
He and Thomas R Cech were co-winners of Columbia University’s 1988 Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize. He also received the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research in the same year.
Sharp was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1993 for his work on split genes. He was presented with the award alongside Richard J Roberts.
He was the 1999 recipient of the American Philosophical Society’s Benjamin Franklin Medal for Distinguished Achievement in Science.
He was elected to the Royal Society as a Foreign Member in 2011. (ForMemRS). He became president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science the following year. He was awarded the Gold Medal of Othmer in 2015.
Personal History and Endowment
Ann Holcombe, whom he married in 1964, was a former model. Three daughters were born to the couple. Ann is a Newtown, Massachusetts-based preschool teacher.
In honor of this Nobel Laureate molecular biologist, a middle school in his hometown of Pendleton County, Kentucky, has been named after him.
Estimated Net Worth
Check Phillip Allen Sharp’s net worth in 2020. additionally, the most recent information on Phillip Allen Sharp’s automobiles, as well as his income, remuneration, and lifestyle. According to online sources (Wikipedia, Google, and Yahoo), Phillip Allen Sharp’s estimated net worth is $ USD 10 million and his primary source of income is as a chemist, biochemist, molecular biologist, university professor, and geneticist.
We lack sufficient evidence regarding Phillip Allen Sharp’s automobiles and lifestyle. We will update this information as soon as possible. Check Phillip Allen Sharp’s net worth in 2020. additionally, the most recent information on Phillip Allen Sharp’s automobiles, as well as his income, remuneration, and lifestyle
. According to online sources (Wikipedia, Google, and Yahoo), Phillip Allen Sharp’s estimated net worth is $ USD 10 million and his primary source of income is as a chemist, biochemist, molecular biologist, university professor, and geneticist. We lack sufficient evidence regarding Phillip Allen Sharp’s automobiles and lifestyle. We will update this information as soon as possible.