Daniel Nathans Lecture

DANIEL NATHANS, M.D.

The Daniel Nathans, M.D., Lecture in Molecular Genetics was established in 2000 to honor his extraordinary contributions to science and to Johns Hopkins University.  The lecture provides a forum in which eminent scientists have the opportunity to share their most recent discoveries with the Johns Hopkins community.

Dr. Nathans obtained his bachelor of science degree from the University of Delaware and his medical degree from Washington University in St. Louis.  Following completion of a residency in internal medicine at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center and two years as a clinical associate at the National Cancer Institute, he went to Rockefeller University where he began his studies on protein synthesis in the laboratory of Dr. Fritz Lipmann.  In 1962, he was recruited to the microbiology department of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine by Dr. Barry Wood.  Dr. Nathans remained on the faculty at Johns Hopkins until his untimely death in 1999.  From 1995 to 1996, he served as interim president of Johns Hopkins University.  He was also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute senior investigator.

In the late 1960s, Dr. Nathans switched his research focus to the study of viral tumorigenesis.  Using simian virus 40 as a model, he pioneered the use of restriction enzymes to construct physical maps of genes and generic elements.  His work laid the cornerstone for the ensuing revolution in molecular biology.  In 1978, he shared the Nobe Prize in physiology or medicine with his colleague Hamilton O. Smith and with Swiss scientist Werner M. Arber.  In 1993, Dr. Nathans was awarded the U.S. National Medal of Science.

The Daniel Nathans Papers are now available on the National Library of Meidicine’s Profiles in Science site at http://profiles.nlm.nih.gov.

Here is a list of the Daniel Nathans Lectures in Molecular Genetics:

1st Daniel Nathans Lecture in Molecular Genetics
Joseph Goldstein, M.D.
Chairman of the Department of Molecular Genetics
Paul J. Thomas Professor of Medicine and Genetics
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Dallas, Texas
“The Cholesterol Feedback story: How Genes Control Cholesterol and Vice Versa”
Thursday, February 15, 2001
Link to Bio | Link to lecture video

2nd Daniel Nathans Lecture in Molecular Genetics
Thomas R. Cech, Ph.D.
President
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Chevy Chase, MD
“Finding What Doesn’t Exist: Ribozymes, Telomerase, and Chromosome Caps”
Thursday, January 31, 2002
Link to Bio | Link to lecture video

3rd Daniel Nathans Lecture in Molecular Genetics
Thomas J. Kelly, M.D., Ph.D.
Chairman
Sloan-Kettering Institute
New York, NY
“DNA Replication in Eukaryotic Cells: The Replicon Model Revised”
Thursday, March 13, 2003
Link to Bio | Link to lecture video

4th Daniel Nathans Lecture in Molecular Genetics
Mario R. Capecchi, Ph.D.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
University of Utah
Co-Chairman of the Department of Human Genetics
Salt Lake City, Utah
“Gene Targeting into the 21st Century: Mouse Models of Human Disease from Cancer to Neuropsychiatric Disorders”
Thursday, May 6, 2004
Link to Bio | Link to lecture video

5th Daniel Nathans Lecture in Molecular Genetics
Joan Ruderman, Ph.D.
Nelson Professor of Cell Biology
Harvard Medical School
Boston, MA
“Aurora-A, a Potent Oncogene, and Cell Cycle Progression”
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Link to Bio | Link to lecture video

6th Daniel Nathans Lecture in Molecular Genetics
Richard J. Roberts, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer
New England Biolabs, Inc.
Beverly, MA
“The Genomics of Restriction and Modification”
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Link to Bio | Link to lecture video

7th Daniel Nathans Lecture in Molecular Genetics
Joan A. Steitz, Ph.D.
Sterling Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry
Yale University
New Haven, CT
“Regulatory RNPs: Altering Outcomes in Gene Expression”
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Link to Bio | Link to lecture video

8th Daniel Nathans Lecture in Molecular Genetics
Steven L. McKnight, Ph.D.
Professor and Chairman
Department of Biochemistry
University of Texas Southwestern Medical School
Dallas, TX
“Reciprocal Regulation of Neuron Formation by the NPAS1 and NPAS3 Transcription Factors”
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Link to Bio | Link to lecture video

9th Daniel Nathans Lecture in Molecular Genetics
Judith Kimble, Ph.D.
Vilas Professor
HHMI Investigator
Department of Biochemistry
University of Wisconsin-Madison
“Molecular regulation of self-renewal and differentiation: Lessons from the C. elegans germline”
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Link to Bio | Link to lecture video

10th Daniel Nathans Lecture in Molecular Genetics
Hamilton O. Smith, M.D.
Scientific Director
Synthetic Biology & Bioenergy Groups
J. Craig Venter Institute
San Diego, CA
“Building a Synthetic Cell”
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Link to Bio | Link to lecture video

11th Daniel Nathans Lecture in Molecular Genetics
Robert B. Darnell, M.D., Ph.D.
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Heilbrunn Professor of Cancer Biology
Head, Laboratory of Molecular Neuro-Oncology, Rockefeller University
Senior Physician and Director for Science Programs
Rockefeller University Hospital
“Maps of the RNA World”
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Link to Bio | Link to lecture video

12th Daniel Nathans Lecture in Molecular Genetics
Jeffrey I. Gordon, M.D.
Dr. Robert J. Glaser Distinguished University Professor and Director
Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology
Washington University School of Medicine
St. Louis, MO
“Exploring the Human Gut Microbiome: Dining in with Trillions of Fascinating Friends”
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Link to Bio | Link to lecture video

13th Daniel Nathans Lecture in Molecular Genetics
Ruth Lehmann, Ph.D.
Professor and Director of the Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine
New York University School of Medicine
“Making and Protecting the Germ Line”
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Link to Bio | Link to lecture video

14th Daniel Nathans Lecture in Molecular Genetics
Joseph Gall, Ph.D.
Staff Member
Carnegie Institution for Science
Department of Embryology
Baltimore, MD
“Giant chromosomes and deep sequences: what the amphibian oocyte tells us about transcription”
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Link to Bio | Link to lecture video

15th Daniel Nathans Lecture in Molecular Genetics
David Baltimore, Ph.D.
President Emeritus and Robert Andrews Millikan Professor of Biology
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, CA
“What to do when there is no vaccine: Controlling HIV and other pathogens”
Thursday, April 9, 2015
Link to Bio | Link to lecture video

16th Daniel Nathans Lecture in Molecular Genetics
Shirley Tilghman, Ph.D.
President Emerita and Professor of Molecular Biology
Princeton University
“The Best of Times the Worst of Times: Life in Biomedical Science”
Thursday, April 7, 2016
Link to Bio | Link to lecture video | Link to slides

The 17th Annual Daniel Nathans Lecture in Molecular Biology and Genetics
Leroy Hood, M.D., Ph.D.
Senior Vice President/Chief Science Officer
Providence St. Joseph Health
President, Institute for Systems Biology
Seattle, Washington
“Systems Biology and Big Data are
Transforming Medicine and Healthcare”
Thursday, April 6, 2017
Link to Bio | Link to lecture video | Link to slides

The 18th Annual Daniel Nathans Lecture in Molecular Biology and Genetics
Harry Noller, Ph.D.
Robert Louis Sinsheimer Professor of Molecular Biology
and Director of the Center for Molecular Biology of RNA
University of California, Santa Cruz
“RNA Mechanics in the Ribosome”
Thursday, April 26, 2018
Link to Bio | Link to lecture video

The 19th Annual Daniel Nathans Lecture in Molecular Biology and Genetics
Mary-Claire King, Ph.D.
American Cancer Society Professor
University of Washington, Seattle
“Genetics of Inherited Breast and Ovarian Cancer: Precision Medicine and Public Health”
Thursday, April 4, 2019
Link to Bio

The 20th Annual Daniel Nathans Lecture in Molecular Biology and Genetics
Bruce Stillman, Ph.D.
President
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY
“The Mechanism and Evolution of DNA Replication Origin Specification in Eukaryotic Cells”
Thursday, April 1, 2021
Link to Bio | Link to lecture video 

The 21st Annual Daniel Nathans Lecture in Molecular Biology and Genetics
Huda Zoghbi, M.D.
Ralph D. Feigin Professor, Baylor College of Medicine
Director, Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute
“Genetic and Neurophysiological Approaches to Tackle Rett syndrome and MECP2 Disorders”
Thursday, May 12, 2022
Link to Bio | Link to lecture video

The 22nd Annual Daniel Nathans Lecture in Molecular Biology and Genetics
Melissa J. Moore, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer, Emeritus of Moderna
RNA Therapeutics Institute, UMass Chan Medical School
“The Dawning Age of Nucleic Acid Medicines”
Thursday, May 4, 2023
Link to Bio | Link to lecture video