[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 6 (Tuesday, February 1, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 1, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                       HISTORIC DISCOVERY OF DNA

                                 ______


                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 1, 1994

  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring to the attention of 
my colleagues that February 1 marks the 50th anniversary of the 
discovery that genes are composed of DNA. This important discovery was 
made by Oswald Avery, Colin MacLeod, and Maclyn McCarty at the 
Rockefeller University, then known as the Rockefeller Institute for 
Medical Research, located in my district.
  The discovery that genes are made up of DNA was considered by many to 
be the most important scientific finding in biology during the 20th 
century. The late Lewis Thomas said, ``This single discovery opened the 
way into the biological revolution which continues to transform our 
view of nature in the most intimate details, and continues as well to 
cast up, in its wake, one biotechnology after another for the 
comprehension and, it can be hoped, the reversal of human disease 
processes.''
  Dr. Avery and his two young colleagues were researching pneumonia, a 
dreaded disease in New York City during the early years of the 20th 
century and the leading killer worldwide. They were looking for the 
mysterious genetic transformation that turned one type of bacteria into 
another when they published their revolutionary finding in ``The 
Journal of Experimental Medicine'' on February 1, 1944.
  The paper revealed the hidden hereditary nature of the thread-like 
DNA fibers present in all cells, and proved that it was DNA, not 
protein or any other substance, that was the carrier of hereditary 
information. The discovery has been likened in its revolutionary impact 
to the work of Mendel and Darwin, and it has laid the foundations for 
the more well publicized discovery of the double helical structure of 
DNA, by Drs. James Watson and Francis Crick.
  Dr. Maclyn McCarty, the coauthor of the historic paper, and the only 
living member of the original team, continues his research work as 
professor emeritus at the Rockefeller University Hospital. Dr. McCarty 
remains a world-renowned leader in research on the transformation of 
pneumococcal types, the biology and immunochemistry of streptococci, 
and rheumatic fever.
  Dr. Torsten Wiesel, the Rockefeller University president and Nobel 
Laureate, has noted that despite the revolutionary importance of their 
work on DNA, Drs. Avery, MacLeod, and McCarty were never awarded a 
Nobel Prize. Therefore, in addition to commemorating their 
achievements, the Rockefeller University is also celebrating its 
enduring mission of diagnosing and curing sickness by uncovering the 
inner secrets of life.
  Because of the tremendous contribution this discovery has made to the 
scientific community, I would like my colleagues to join me in 
celebrating this historic achievement that opened the gateway to the 
modern era of biology and medicine with the Rockefeller University.

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