Richard J. Roberts: Difference between revisions

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| name = Sir Richard J. Roberts

| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FRS|size=100%}}

| image = Roberts, Richard John (1943).jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Richard Roberts in 2007

| birth_name = Richard John Roberts

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1943|09|06|df=y}}<ref name="whoswho">{{Who's Who | surname title= ROBERTS | othernames = ,Sir Richard (John) | id = U32757 | volume = 1995 | edition = online [[Oxford University Press]]}} {{subscription required}}</ref>

| birth_place = [[Derby]], [[England]]

| death_date =

| death_place =

| residence =

| citizenship =

| alma_mater = [[University of Sheffield]] ([[BSc]], [[PhD]])

| thesis_title = Phytochemical studies involving neoflavanoids and isoflavanoids

| thesis_url = http://copac.jisc.ac.uk/id/36827249?style=html

| thesis_year = 1969

| doctoral_advisor =

| doctoral_students =

| known_for = {{Plainlist|

| website = {{URL|nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1993/roberts-bio.html}}

| prizes = {{Plainlist|

* [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]] (1993)<ref name="nobel1">{{Cite journal | last1 = Shampo | first1 = M. A. | last2 = Kyle | first2 = R. A. | doi = 10.4065/78.2.132 | title = Richard J. Roberts—Nobel Laureate for Discovery of Split Genes | journal = Mayo Clinic Proceedings | volume = 78 | issue = 2 | page = 132 | year = 2003 | pmid = 12583523| pmcdoi-access = free }}</ref><ref name="nobel4">{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1038/365597a0 | title = Nobel goes to discoverers of "'split genes"' | journal = Nature | first=Kimberly|last=Carr| volume = 365 | issue = 6447 | page = 597 | year = 1993 | pmid = 8413620| pmcbibcode = 1993Natur.365..597C | doi-access = free }}</ref>

* [[EMBO Membership]] (1995)<ref name=membo>{{cite web|url=http://people.embo.org/profile/richard-j-roberts|title=Richard J. Roberts EMBO profile|website=people.embo.org|publisher=[[European Molecular Biology Organization]]|location=Heidelberg|website=people.embo.org|author=Anon|year=2016}}</ref>

'''Sir Richard John Roberts''' (born 6 September 1943) {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FRS}}<ref name=frs/> is an [[Englisha people|English]]British [[biochemist]] and [[molecular biology|molecular biologist]]. He was awarded the 1993 [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]] with [[Phillip Allen Sharp]] for the discovery of [[intron]]s in [[eukaryote|eukaryotic]] [[DNA]] and the mechanism of [[Genetic engineering|gene-splicing]]. He currently works at [[New England Biolabs]].<ref>{{Cite journal

| authorlink1author-link1 = Richard J. Roberts

}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Roberts | first1 = R. J. | authorlink1author-link1 = Richard J. Roberts| last2 = Varmus | first2 = H. E. | authorlink2author-link2 = Harold E. Varmus| last3 = Ashburner | first3 = M. | authorlink3author-link3 = Michael Ashburner| last4 = Brown | first4 = P. O. | authorlink4author-link4 = Patrick O. Brown| last5 = Eisen | first5 = M. B. | authorlink5author-link5 = Michael Eisen| last6 = Khosla | first6 = C. | authorlink6author-link6 = Chaitan Khosla| last7 = Kirschner | first7 = M.| last8 = Nusse | first8 = R.| authorlink8author-link8 = Roel Nusse| last9 = Scott | first9 = M. | title = Information Access: Building A ''GenBank'' of the Published Literature | doi = 10.1126/science.1060273 | journal = Science | volume = 291 | issue = 5512 | pages = 2318a2318–9 | year = 2001 | pmid = 11269300| pmcs2cid = 34395787 }}</ref><ref name=scopus>{{Scopus|id=7404281937}}</ref>

Roberts was born in [[Derby]], the son of Edna (Allsop) and John Roberts, an auto mechanic.<ref name=nobelbio/> When he was four, Roberts' family moved to [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]]. In Bath, he attended [[City of Bath Boys' School]].<ref name=nobelbio/> As a child he at first wanted to be a [[detective]] and then, when given a [[chemistry set]], a [[chemist]]. In 1965 he graduated from the [[University of Sheffield]] with a [[Bachelor of Science]] degree in [[Chemistrychemistry]] followed by a [[PhD]] in 1969.<ref name="whoswho"/> His thesis involved [[phytochemical]] studies of [[neoflavonoid]]s and [[isoflavonoid]]s.<ref name="robertsphd">{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Richard John|last=Roberts |title=Phytochemical studies involving neoflavanoids and isoflavanoids |website=copac.jisc.ac.uk|publisher=University of Sheffield |dateyear=1969 |url=http://copac.jisc.ac.uk/id/36827249?style=html|oclc=270832404|website=copac.jisc.ac.uk}}</ref><ref name=ORCID>Richard J. Roberts {{ORCID|0000-0002-4348-0169}}</ref>

| archiveurlarchive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304003141/http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1993/roberts-bio.html

|archivedatearchive-date=2016-03-04

before moving to [[Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory]],<ref name=adeno>{{cite journal|last1=Chow|first1=Louise T.|last2=Gelinas|first2=Richard E.|last3=Broker|first3=Thomas R.|last4=Roberts|first4=Richard J.|title=An amazing sequence arrangement at the 5′5' ends of adenovirus 2 messenger RNA|journal=Cell|volume=12|issue=1|year=1977|pages=1–8|pmid=902310|doi=10.1016/0092-8674(77)90180-5|s2cid=2099968}}</ref> where he was hired by [[James Dewey Watson]], a co-discoverer of the structure of [[DNA]] and a fellow Nobel laureate. In this period he also visited the [[MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology]] for the first time, working alongside [[Frederick Sanger|Fred Sanger]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1993 |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1993/roberts/biographical/ |access-date=2023-07-14 |website=NobelPrize.org |language=en-US}}</ref> In 1977, he published his discovery of RNA splicing.<ref name=adeno/> In 1992, he moved to [[New England Biolabs]].<ref name=nobelbio/> The following year, he shared a Nobel Prize with his former colleague at Cold Spring Harbor [[Phillip Allen Sharp]].<ref name="KlimasauskasKumar1994">{{cite journal|last1=Klimasauskas|first1=Saulius|last2=Kumar|first2=Sanjay|last3=Roberts|first3=Richard J.|last4=Cheng|first4=Xiaodong|title=Hhal methyltransferase flips its target base out of the DNA helix|journal=Cell|volume=76|issue=2|year=1994|pages=357–369|pmid=8293469|doi=10.1016/0092-8674(94)90342-5|s2cid=23161543}}</ref>

Roberts's discovery of the [[alternative splicing]] of genes, in particular, has had a profound impact on the study and applications of molecular biology.<ref name=frs/> The realisation that individual genes could exist as separate, disconnected segments within longer strands of DNA first arose in thehis 1977 study of [[adenovirus]],<ref name=adeno/> one of the viruses responsible for causing the common cold. Robert's research in this field resulted in a fundamental shift in our understanding of [[genetics]], and has led to the discovery of split genes in higher organisms, including human beings.<ref name=frs/><ref name=scopus/>

In 1992, Roberts received an [[Honorary degree|honorary doctorate]] from the Faculty of Medicine at [[Uppsala University]], [[Sweden]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uu.se/en/about-uu/traditions/prizes/honorary-doctorates/ |title=Honorary doctorates - Uppsala University, Sweden |website=Uu.se |date=2016-08-17 |accessdateaccess-date=2016-08-28}}</ref> After becoming a Nobel Laureatelaureate in 1993 he was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) by the [[University of Bath]] in 1994.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.bath.ac.uk/ceremonies/hongrads/ |title=Honorary Graduates 1989 to present |work=bath.ac.uk publisher |publisher= [[University of Bath]] |workaccess-date=18 February 2012 |archive-date=19 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151219000643/http://www.bath.ac.uk/ceremonies/hongrads/ |accessdateurl-status=18dead February 2012}}</ref> Roberts also received the Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]] in 1994.<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#science-exploration}}</ref> In 2021 he was awarded the [[Lomonosov Gold Medal]] of the Russian Academy of Sciences.<ref name="Lomonosov Gold Medal 2021">[http://www.ras.ru/news/news_release.aspx?ID=72609491-fb8d-4235-97a2-0853af546268 Lomonosov Gold Medal 2021](in Russian)</ref>

Roberts was elected a [[List of Fellows of the Royal Society elected in 1995|Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1995]]<ref name=frs>{{cite web|archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151006213105/https://royalsociety.org/people/richard-roberts-12188/ |archivedatearchive-date=2015-10-06 |url=https://royalsociety.org/people/richard-roberts-12188/ |title=Sir Richard Roberts FRS |publisher=[[Royal Society]] |location=London |author=Anon |year=1995 }} One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where: {{quoteblockquote|“All"All text published under the heading 'Biography' on Fellow profile pages is available under [[Creative Commons license|Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License]].” --{{cite web|url=https://royalsociety.org/about-us/terms-conditions-policies/ |title=Royal Society Terms, conditions and policies |accessdateaccess-date=2016-03-09 |deadurlurl-status=bot: unknown |archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925220834/https://royalsociety.org/about-us/terms-conditions-policies/ |archivedatearchive-date=25 September 2015 |df=dmy }}}}</ref> and a [[EMBO Member|member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)]] in the same year.<ref name=membo/> In 2005, a multimillion-pound expansion to the chemistry department at the [[University of Sheffield]], where he had been a student, was named after him. A refurbished science department at [[Beechen Cliff School]] (previously City of Bath Boys' School) was also named after Roberts, who had donated a substantial sum of his Nobel prize winnings to the school.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://support.beechencliff.org.uk/prospect/prospectus3.html|title=Beechen Cliff School website}} {{dead link|date=August 2016}}</ref>

Roberts is an atheist and was one of the signers of the [[Humanist Manifesto II|Humanist Manifesto]].<ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.americanhumanist.org/Humanism/Humanist_Manifesto_II | title=Humanist Manifesto II | publisher=American Humanist Association | accessdateaccess-date=4 October 2012 | archive-date=20 October 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020110719/http://www.americanhumanist.org/humanism/Humanist_Manifesto_II | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite webnews|url=httphttps://www.irishtimes.com/news/a-bright-journey-to-atheism-or-a-road-that-ignores-all-the-signs-1.1040886|publishernewspaper=[[The Irish Times]]|website=irishtimes.com|title=A bright journey to atheism, or a road that ignores all the signs?|first=William |last=Reville|year=2006|location=Dublin|archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305035023/http://www.irishtimes.com/news/a-bright-journey-to-atheism-or-a-road-that-ignores-all-the-signs-1.1040886|archivedatearchive-date=2016-03-05}}</ref> He was [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] in the [http2008 Birthday Honours.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/queens-birthday-honours-full-list-846831.html 2008| title=Queen's Birthday Honours].: Full list &#124; the Independent | newspaper=The Independent | date=13 June 2008 }}</ref>

Roberts is a member of the Advisory Board of [[Patient-innovation.com|Patient Innovation]] (,<ref>[https://patient-innovation.com), Patient Innovation]</ref> a nonprofit, international, multilingual, free venue for patients and caregivers of any disease to share their innovations.

Roberts has been a [[keynote]] speaker at the Congress of Future Medical Leaders (2014, 2015, 2016, 2020).<ref>{{citationCite neededweb|dateurl=Augusthttps://www.futuredocs.com/speakers/|title=Speakers|website=Congress 2016of Future Medical Leaders|language=en-US|access-date=2020-03-31}}</ref>

[[Category:PeopleScientists from Derby]]

[[Category:20th-century British biologists]]