Charles N. Cole

Charles N. Cole begins his interview by discussing the reasons behind his decision to attend Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Cole's interest in viruses led him to switch from Harvey F. Lodish's Laboratory to the laboratory of David Baltimore. Cole's research involved the polio virus and the role of defective interfering particles. While at Baltimore's lab, reverse transcriptase was discovered. Cole discusses the effect that this discovery had on his polio research. After completing his Ph.D., Cole decided not to pursue polio research. Cole's time at MIT coincided with rising political activism. Cole discusses his anti-war activities, his arrest for disorderly conduct, the resulting trials, and his decision to live communally. Cole concludes the interview with some thoughts about working with David Baltimore and his skill as a writer and lecturer.

Joint interview with Inder Verma.

Inder Verma begins his interview by discussing how he came to join David Baltimore's Laboratory. Verma, who was at the Weizmann Institute of Science, was convinced to move to MIT and join Baltimore's Lab by Bob Weinberg. When Verma first arrived, Baltimore was away teaching in Taiwan. Verma discusses his early research on reverse transcriptase and RNA, and his attempts to establish himself with his co-workers in the lab. Verma discusses his interaction with Baltimore and his impressions of Baltimore's skills as a scientist and lecturer. Verma provides an alternate view to some of the political turmoil that Charles N. Cole discusses in his interview. As a foreign student, Verma had a different opinion of the Vietnam War and the anti-war demonstrations. Verma concludes his interview with some thoughts about his research and the it's impact on cancer research.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

1972 - 1973 Instructor

Yale School of Medicine

1977 - 1983 Assistant Professor of Human Genetics

Dartmouth Medical School

1983 - 1988 Associate Professor of Biochemistry

Dartmouth Medical School

1984 - 1995 Director, Program in Molecular and Cellular Biology, Norris Cotton Cancer Center

Dartmouth Medical School

1986 - 1997 Co-Chair, Molecular Genetics Center

Dartmouth Medical School

1988 - Present Professor of Biochemistry

Dartmouth Medical School

1995 - Present Co-Director, Program in Molecular Therapeutics, Norris Cotton Cancer Center

Dartmouth Medical School

2002 - Present Professor of Genetics

Sondra Schlesinger

Sondra Schlesinger is professor of molecular microbiology at Washington University School of Medicine. She received her Ph.D. in biological chemistry from the University of Michigan and spent three years as a postdoctoral fellow with Professor Boris Magasanik at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she worked on enzyme induction and regulation in bacteria. She joined the faculty at Washington University in 1964, where initially she continued her research in the field of microbial genetics and physiology. In the early 1970s, she began her research work on the structure and replication of animal RNA viruses, which continues to this day. Dr. Schlesinger has over one hundred publications spanning these areas of microbiology. She was president of the American Society for Virology in 1992–1993, at which time she began her present interest and work in the history of virology.