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PHILADELPHIA, PA — 13 April 2005 — The Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF) and the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) will present the 7th Annual Biotechnology Heritage Award to Paul Berg, Nobel laureate, innovator, and biotechnology pioneer. The presentation will be made at BIO’s Board of Directors dinner during the organization’s annual international convention, BIO 2005, 19–22 June, in Philadelphia.
"Paul Berg’s scientific creativity underlies our knowledge of the genetics of all living things and our ability to understand the functioning of cells from any species. His work was instrumental in setting the stage for today’s and tomorrow’s exciting advances in biotechnology," said Arnold Thackray, president of CHF.
"Dr. Berg’s pioneering work in molecular biology helped create the biotechnology industry. He also helped lay the ethical foundation for our industry by leading thoughtful discussions about how to safely and appropriately use recombinant DNA technology. Our industry owes much to Dr. Berg, and BIO is pleased to join CHF in honoring him," said James Greenwood, president of BIO.
CHF and BIO gratefully acknowledge Invitrogen Corporation’s generous sponsorship of the 2005 Biotechnology Heritage Award.
About Paul Berg
Paul Berg is Cahill Professor in Cancer Research, Emeritus, at the Stanford University School of Medicine, and director emeritus of the Beckman Center for Molecular and Genetic Medicine. A Nobel laureate, he is one of the principal pioneers in the field of "gene splicing." Berg, along with his colleagues Walter Gilbert and Frederick Sanger, was honored with the 1980 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing methods that make it possible to map the structure and function of DNA.
His work on the genetic apparatus that directs the synthesis of proteins earned Berg the Eli Lilly Award in Biochemistry in 1959 and the California Scientist of the Year Award in 1963. He has twice been honored with the Henry J. Kaiser Award for Excellence in Teaching at the Stanford University School of Medicine and has won the Roche Institute for Molecular Biology’s V. D. Mattia Prize, the Sarasota Medical Awards for Achievement and Excellence, the Annual Award of the Gairdner Foundation, the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award, and the New York Academy of Sciences Award. He also has won the American Association for the Advancement of Science Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award, the National Medal of Science, and the National Library of Medicine Medal.
A member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 1966, he also is a past president of the American Society of Biological Chemists, a foreign fellow of the French Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society in London, an elected member of the American Philosophical Society, honorary member of Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, and a member of the American Academy of Achievement. He is a former chairman of the National Advisory Committee of the Human Genome Project.
Berg joined the faculty of the Stanford University School of Medicine in 1959 and was chairman of the Department of Biochemistry from 1969 to 1974. He was named Willson Professor of Biochemistry in 1970 and Cahill Professor in Cancer Research in 1994. Berg was director of the Beckman Center for Molecular and Genetic Medicine from 1985 through 2000.
About the Biotechnology Heritage Award
The Biotechnology Heritage Award is presented yearly at a special ceremony during the BIO Annual International Convention to honor individuals who have contributed significantly to the growth of biotechnology through discovery, innovation, commercialization, and/or public understanding. In honoring these individuals, the Chemical Heritage Foundation and the Biotechnology Industry Organization seek to encourage emulation, inspire achievement, and promote public understanding of modern science, industry, and economics in this rapid-growth area.
The award complements the mission of both organizations by advancing their mutual goals of educating the public, nourishing a sense of pride and community within the industry, and developing the record of the remarkable contributions the molecular sciences make to our lives. Previous award winners are:
- Leroy Hood (2004)
- William J. Rutter (2003)
- Walter Gilbert and Phillip A. Sharp (2002)
- Francis S. Collins and J. Craig Venter (2001)
- Herbert W. Boyer and Robert A. Swanson (2000)
- George B. Rathmann (1999)
About the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO)
BIO represents more than 1,000 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers, and related organizations in all 50 U.S. states and 33 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of healthcare, agricultural, industrial, and environmental biotechnology products. For more information, visit www.bio.org.
About the Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF)
The Chemical Heritage Foundation serves the community of the chemical and molecular sciences, and the wider public, by treasuring the past, educating the present, and inspiring the future. CHF carries out a program of outreach and interpretation in order to advance an understanding of the role of the chemical and molecular sciences, technologies, and industries in shaping society; maintains a world-class collection of materials that document the history and heritage of the chemical and molecular sciences, technologies, and industries; and encourages research in its collections.
CHF regularly hosts lectures and meetings on biotechnology through its Joseph Priestley Society and actively seeks to honor, preserve, and encourage this most vital and exciting field. Many of biotechnology’s leaders have been both entrepreneurs and researchers, uniquely enabling them to bring their scientific achievements to the global market quickly. CHF is proud to help honor and preserve this important area of human endeavor with the Biotechnology Heritage Award.
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