C********4
发帖数: 308 | 1 @新药研发观察
史上最苦B 的生物学家：Douglas Prasher 号称最先发现绿色荧光蛋白(GFP)，但是不
但没有得到诺贝尔奖，反而经历多次换实验室和下岗，最终离开科学领域，成了汽车司
机。最新进展：在61岁又回实验室做实验了。 http://t.cn/zYl8TMG 这是作为好消息来报导的，请勿做为反面宣传材料。
不知道钱永健给他什么title？ 61岁的老博后？？
What Ever Happened to Douglas Prasher?
The first researcher to clone the gene for green fluorescent protein, but
who was passed over for the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, is back in
academic science.
By Bob Grant | February 26, 2013
3 Comments
Print
1
Link this
Stumble
Tweet this
Prasher's profile picture from his LinkedIn pageDouglas Prasher got a lot of
media attention in October 2008 when word came from Stockholm that a trio
of researchers was getting the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work on
the discovery and development of green fluorescent protein (GFP). Prasher
had been the first to clone the gene for GFP and had shared the cDNA with
two of the researchers who got the prize, but he was not included among the
ranks of Martin Chalfie, organic chemist Osama Shimomura, and University of
California, San Diego, biologist Roger Tsien. In fact, at the time the
announcement was made that the GFP researchers were awarded the prize, the
erstwhile biochemist Prasher was working as a courtesy shuttle driver at a
Huntsville, Alabama, Toyota dealership.
But now, after 4 years marked with some of the same ups and downs that
landed Prasher behind the wheel of that courtesy shuttle in the first place,
the 61-year-old has made his way back to the lab—specifically, the
bustling lab of Tsien.
And Prasher is back to working with fluorescent proteins. As a staff
research associate in Tsien’s lab, he’s developing a novel high-throughput
process to identify new fluorescent proteins via mutagenesis. “Douglas is
trying to build a system to screen large mutant libraries to isolate cells
displaying desirable time-dependent optical phenotypes that cannot be found
using fluorescence-activated cell sorting,” Tsien wrote in an email to The
Scientist. “He seems enthusiastic now and in a supportive environment. His
talents should be able to flourish again.”
It turns out that Tsien has long been an advocate for Prasher, recommending
him and eventual winner Shimomura, who first isolated GFP, for recognition
when Stockholm came knocking. “I was interviewed in around 2004 by two
members of the Nobel Committee on Chemistry who asked me who I thought
deserved a prize for GFP,” Tsien recalled. “I immediately replied ‘
Shimomura and Prasher,’ based on my belief that both of their contributions
were irreplaceable in the history of GFP.”
Tsien added that Prasher’s contributions to the development of GFP into a
ubiquitous biological tool—and his willingness to share the gene with
anyone who asked, including Tsien and Chalfie—deserved the Nobel even more
than his own. “After Prasher's 1992 paper on the isolation and sequencing
of the gene for GFP, and his willingness to distribute the cDNA, those who
historically took over the development could have (and would have) been
replaced by many other people with only a modest delay in progress,” he
said. “Between 2004 and 2008 I kept nominating Shimomura and Prasher for
various awards, including the Nobel.”
And upon learning of Prasher’s fall from academic science—which stemmed
from his failure to achieve tenure at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute
in Massachusetts, where he cloned GFP—Tsien continually offered Prasher a
position in his lab. “I had mentioned the possibility even before 2008,
during my annual request for his updated contact information to list on
nomination forms,” Tsien said.
But Prasher decided to stay in Huntsville rather than make the move to San
Diego. “There were a couple times [Tsien] tried to get me interested, but
being German and being stubborn, I didn’t really follow up on it,” Prasher
recalled. “A lot of it had to do with family situations.” Prasher
struggled financially after he left Woods Hole in 1992, landing a government
research job and a position at a NASA contractor before ending up making
about $300 a week at the Toyota dealership.
Prasher eventually scored a position at a small contract research firm in
Huntsville in 2010 but was laid off in December 2011. After that, he
contacted Tsien, who reiterated his offer to join the lab, and Prasher
finally moved to San Diego in June of last year.
As Prasher settles into his new position in Tsien’s lab, he said that he
often thinks about how his life would have been changed by winning the Nobel
Prize in 2008. “First, I would have been a nervous wreck in Stockholm
because I have never considered myself to be in the same caliber as Marty,
Roger, and Osamu,” he said. “Second, my job prospects would probably have
been significantly brighter. Third, assuming I would have acquired a decent
job, the stress experienced by the family would have been significantly less
.”
Prasher noted that his family’s finances are still in a shambles and that
he is in the middle of a divorce. But he does retain fond memories of his
time working as a shuttle driver, and he’s managing to stay optimistic
about is return to academia. “On the positive side, I certainly don’t take
life so seriously now, and I discovered while driving the courtesy shuttle
that I thoroughly enjoy talking to people, well, at least most people,” he
said. “Plus I have fine-tuned my ability to tease and I practice it on a
daily basis.”
As for Tsien, he remains puzzled as to why he won the 2008 Nobel and Prasher
didn’t. “Why was I chosen, given that our contributions were published
after those of Shimomura, Prasher, and Chalfie, and that Nobel Prizes are
supposedly awarded for specific discoveries rather than a lifetime of
diverse achievements?” he asked. “The only people who know the answer are
not telling. The answer may be revealed decades from now, when everyone who
cares is dead.”
Correction (February 27): This article erroneously listed Prasher's previous
academic affiliation as the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole,
Massachusetts. He was in fact employed at the Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institute. This mistake has been corrected. The Scientist regrets the error.
- See more at: http://www.the-scientist.com//?articles.view/articleNo/34536/title/What-Ever-Happened-to-Douglas-Prasher-/#sthash.iF70TWRP.dpuf | b******k
发帖数: 2321 | 2 去了好一阵了 这版上之前提过的 tsien lab网页上有他
【在 C********4 的大作中提到】
: @新药研发观察
: 史上最苦B 的生物学家：Douglas Prasher 号称最先发现绿色荧光蛋白(GFP)，但是不
: 但没有得到诺贝尔奖，反而经历多次换实验室和下岗，最终离开科学领域，成了汽车司
: 机。最新进展：在61岁又回实验室做实验了。 http://t.cn/zYl8TMG 这是作为好消息来报导的，请勿做为反面宣传材料。
: 不知道钱永健给他什么title？ 61岁的老博后？？
: What Ever Happened to Douglas Prasher?
: The first researcher to clone the gene for green fluorescent protein, but
: who was passed over for the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, is back in
: academic science.
: By Bob Grant | February 26, 2013
| C********4
发帖数: 308 | 3 61岁了 ， 还得动手做western做克隆？
【在 b******k 的大作中提到】
: 去了好一阵了 这版上之前提过的 tsien lab网页上有他
| b******k
发帖数: 2321 | 4 对于喜欢的人有何问题？我之前念书的时候，学校里有个我很敬仰的老先生80多岁了还
自己动手挑果蝇
【在 C********4 的大作中提到】
: 61岁了 ， 还得动手做western做克隆？
| y******8
发帖数: 1764 | 5 My god. I knew he pretty much died when he was still working. Was he really
crossing flies when he was at this age?
【在 b******k 的大作中提到】
: 对于喜欢的人有何问题？我之前念书的时候，学校里有个我很敬仰的老先生80多岁了还
: 自己动手挑果蝇
| b******k
发帖数: 2321 | 6 crossing我估计困难。。呵呵 但是他会时不时插手去做做实验室里的实验。然后他自
己有个小房间自己做实验玩儿，不过玩儿的都是早些年的试验，不是真用来发paper的
（比如说他那个很著名的counter-selection做phototaxis的东西）
他去世以后lab里清理东西，我去偷了一堆他早年的reprints，和他一篇文章的手稿
really
【在 y******8 的大作中提到】
: My god. I knew he pretty much died when he was still working. Was he really
: crossing flies when he was at this age?
| w********h
发帖数: 12367 | 7 Geez...another Akron native!
Prasher was born into a working-class family in Akron, Ohio, where his
father and maternal grandfather worked at the Goodyear tire factory. He too
worked at the factory for a summer during college; the experience was enough
for him to realize that he was not cut out for a blue-collar job. He ended
up earning a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Ohio State University, guided by
nothing more than a general interest in the life sciences. “I didn’t know
what else to study,” he told me.
【在 C********4 的大作中提到】
: @新药研发观察
: 史上最苦B 的生物学家：Douglas Prasher 号称最先发现绿色荧光蛋白(GFP)，但是不
: 但没有得到诺贝尔奖，反而经历多次换实验室和下岗，最终离开科学领域，成了汽车司
: 机。最新进展：在61岁又回实验室做实验了。 http://t.cn/zYl8TMG 这是作为好消息来报导的，请勿做为反面宣传材料。
: 不知道钱永健给他什么title？ 61岁的老博后？？
: What Ever Happened to Douglas Prasher?
: The first researcher to clone the gene for green fluorescent protein, but
: who was passed over for the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, is back in
: academic science.
: By Bob Grant | February 26, 2013
| H****N
发帖数: 997 | 8 What is wrong with that?
【在 C********4 的大作中提到】
: 61岁了 ， 还得动手做western做克隆？
| g*r
发帖数: 2116 | 9 research scientist
【在 C********4 的大作中提到】
: @新药研发观察
: 史上最苦B 的生物学家：Douglas Prasher 号称最先发现绿色荧光蛋白(GFP)，但是不
: 但没有得到诺贝尔奖，反而经历多次换实验室和下岗，最终离开科学领域，成了汽车司
: 机。最新进展：在61岁又回实验室做实验了。 http://t.cn/zYl8TMG 这是作为好消息来报导的，请勿做为反面宣传材料。
: 不知道钱永健给他什么title？ 61岁的老博后？？
: What Ever Happened to Douglas Prasher?
: The first researcher to clone the gene for green fluorescent protein, but
: who was passed over for the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, is back in
: academic science.
: By Bob Grant | February 26, 2013
| s******y
发帖数: 28562 | 10 钱的人品不错啊
【在 C********4 的大作中提到】
: @新药研发观察
: 史上最苦B 的生物学家：Douglas Prasher 号称最先发现绿色荧光蛋白(GFP)，但是不
: 但没有得到诺贝尔奖，反而经历多次换实验室和下岗，最终离开科学领域，成了汽车司
: 机。最新进展：在61岁又回实验室做实验了。 http://t.cn/zYl8TMG 这是作为好消息来报导的，请勿做为反面宣传材料。
: 不知道钱永健给他什么title？ 61岁的老博后？？
: What Ever Happened to Douglas Prasher?
: The first researcher to clone the gene for green fluorescent protein, but
: who was passed over for the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, is back in
: academic science.
: By Bob Grant | February 26, 2013
| | | A******y
发帖数: 2041 | 11 I was visiting at Caltech one day. A professor whose name is on the first
two chapter of the text book "Molecular Biology of the Cells." was walking
down the hallway wearing a lab coat and with test tubes on his hands. | C*******e
发帖数: 4348 | 12 真正让人唏嘘
现在又在离婚，不然可能也不会从东海岸搬到西海岸
说话挺实诚的
【在 C********4 的大作中提到】
: @新药研发观察
: 史上最苦B 的生物学家：Douglas Prasher 号称最先发现绿色荧光蛋白(GFP)，但是不
: 但没有得到诺贝尔奖，反而经历多次换实验室和下岗，最终离开科学领域，成了汽车司
: 机。最新进展：在61岁又回实验室做实验了。 http://t.cn/zYl8TMG 这是作为好消息来报导的，请勿做为反面宣传材料。
: 不知道钱永健给他什么title？ 61岁的老博后？？
: What Ever Happened to Douglas Prasher?
: The first researcher to clone the gene for green fluorescent protein, but
: who was passed over for the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, is back in
: academic science.
: By Bob Grant | February 26, 2013
| w***a
发帖数: 1053 | 13 Life is not fair, get used to it. | l***d
发帖数: 1798 | 14 钱永健很谦虚。
大概2年前，他在acs的报告，座无虚席啊。
【在 C********4 的大作中提到】
: @新药研发观察
: 史上最苦B 的生物学家：Douglas Prasher 号称最先发现绿色荧光蛋白(GFP)，但是不
: 但没有得到诺贝尔奖，反而经历多次换实验室和下岗，最终离开科学领域，成了汽车司
: 机。最新进展：在61岁又回实验室做实验了。 http://t.cn/zYl8TMG 这是作为好消息来报导的，请勿做为反面宣传材料。
: 不知道钱永健给他什么title？ 61岁的老博后？？
: What Ever Happened to Douglas Prasher?
: The first researcher to clone the gene for green fluorescent protein, but
: who was passed over for the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, is back in
: academic science.
: By Bob Grant | February 26, 2013
| F*Q
发帖数: 3259 | 15 我以前听这个故事的时候还以为这个老哥是获奖者之一呢。
唉，地上的雪还没融掉，又下了一天的雨 | C********4
发帖数: 308 | 16 听说不是大老板都不屑于做实验了吗，主要是到处飞来飞去，开会，开公司etc
【在 H****N 的大作中提到】
: What is wrong with that?
| b******n
发帖数: 4225 | 17 唉，不容易啊
至少钱愿意给别人一口饭吃，算是积德吧
【在 C********4 的大作中提到】
: @新药研发观察
: 史上最苦B 的生物学家：Douglas Prasher 号称最先发现绿色荧光蛋白(GFP)，但是不
: 但没有得到诺贝尔奖，反而经历多次换实验室和下岗，最终离开科学领域，成了汽车司
: 机。最新进展：在61岁又回实验室做实验了。 http://t.cn/zYl8TMG 这是作为好消息来报导的，请勿做为反面宣传材料。
: 不知道钱永健给他什么title？ 61岁的老博后？？
: What Ever Happened to Douglas Prasher?
: The first researcher to clone the gene for green fluorescent protein, but
: who was passed over for the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, is back in
: academic science.
: By Bob Grant | February 26, 2013
| h********n
发帖数: 4079 | 18 唉....
【在 C********4 的大作中提到】
: @新药研发观察
: 史上最苦B 的生物学家：Douglas Prasher 号称最先发现绿色荧光蛋白(GFP)，但是不
: 但没有得到诺贝尔奖，反而经历多次换实验室和下岗，最终离开科学领域，成了汽车司
: 机。最新进展：在61岁又回实验室做实验了。 http://t.cn/zYl8TMG 这是作为好消息来报导的，请勿做为反面宣传材料。
: 不知道钱永健给他什么title？ 61岁的老博后？？
: What Ever Happened to Douglas Prasher?
: The first researcher to clone the gene for green fluorescent protein, but
: who was passed over for the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, is back in
: academic science.
: By Bob Grant | February 26, 2013
| z*t
发帖数: 863 | 19 Seymour Benzer ?
【在 b******k 的大作中提到】
: crossing我估计困难。。呵呵 但是他会时不时插手去做做实验室里的实验。然后他自
: 己有个小房间自己做实验玩儿，不过玩儿的都是早些年的试验，不是真用来发paper的
: （比如说他那个很著名的counter-selection做phototaxis的东西）
: 他去世以后lab里清理东西，我去偷了一堆他早年的reprints，和他一篇文章的手稿
:
: really
| s*******a
发帖数: 8827 | | | | I***a
发帖数: 13467 | | F*Q
发帖数: 3259 | 22 这就是发生在无数尤其是那些大树底下好乘凉的科二代＂稳拿＂们为之歌功颂德的＂伟
大的
＂学术
体制和学术界的事情。
【在 s*******a 的大作中提到】
: 这么大的贡献都拿不到tenure。。
| F*Q
发帖数: 3259 | 23 那个和诺奖失之交臂的女同胞去年还安慰性地当选了院士，这个老哥可能因为没有合适
地学术职位而什么荣誉和利益都得不到。 | m********e
发帖数: 1156 | 24 至少可以安心在大学养老了。
不用再去开大货车。
【在 F*Q 的大作中提到】
: 那个和诺奖失之交臂的女同胞去年还安慰性地当选了院士，这个老哥可能因为没有合适
: 地学术职位而什么荣誉和利益都得不到。
| g*******f
发帖数: 427 | |
|
