James A. Borowiec
The information listed below is current as of the date the transcript was finalized.
Interview Details
Interview Sessions
Abstract of Interview
James Anthony Borowiec was born in Buffalo, New York, in 1958, the youngest of four children. His father was a union lawyer, interested in local politics, and his mother was a housewife. His extended family, of Polish descent, lived also in the "Polish neighborhood" where they celebrated holidays and family events together. While still a child, Borowiec and his family moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where Borowiec had a Catholic education through high school. Although he says now that science was not well taught, he was interested in science from an early age. Borowiec received his BS in Organic Chemistry from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1980. While there he worked in a chemistry lab during the school year. During one summer he worked for the U. S. Forest Service in Elko, Nevada. He matriculated into the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCLA, where he received his PhD in 1986. At UCLA he also met and married Dianne Applegate, a fellow scientist. Borowiec did a rotation in Paul D. Boyer's laboratory, at the Molecular Biology Institute, and then in Jay D. Gralla's laboratory. He worked on DNA supercoiling; lac; and footprinting technique. After receiving his PhD he obtained a post-doc in the Department of Molecular Biology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. There he worked in Jerard Hurwitz's lab, studying SV40 per se and as a model of human DNA replication. In 1989 he was appointed assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry at New York University Medical Center in New York City. His work continues there, encompassing over the years an interest in replication of linear DNA; flaws in C. Richard Wobbe's discovery of SSB DNA; T-antigen; ARS; and particularly bovine papillomavirus. Borowiec and his wife, Dianne, who works in her lab at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and his 2-1/2-year-old son, Zachary, live in Greenwich Village, where they attempt to balance the demands of scientific research and publication with the demands of family life. Borowiec has received several grants, including a post-doc and a grant from the NIH and a Pew Scholars Program grant. He has published many articles on a number of subjects; the articles appear in many different journals, including JMB, Biochemistry, Cell, and PNAS.
Education
Year | Institution | Degree | Discipline |
---|---|---|---|
1980 | Georgia Institute of Technology | BS | Organic Chemistry |
1986 | University of California, Los Angeles | PhD | Chemistry and Biochemistry |
Professional Experience
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
New York University Medical Center
Honors
Year(s) | Award |
---|---|
1982 to 1985 | United States Public Health Service National Research Service Award |
1986 to 1989 | National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellowship |
1990 to 1998 | National Institutes of Health Grant |
1990 to 1994 | Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences |
1991 | Yamagiwa-Yoshida Memorial International Cancer Study Grant |
Table of Contents
Polish Catholic ancestry and traditions. Extended family. Early years in Buffalo, New York. Move to Atlanta, Georgia. Early interest in science. Catholic school education.
Attends Georgia Institute of Technology, majoring in chemistry. Interest shifts to biology. Works in Georgia Tech chemistry lab. Summer job in Nevada with U. S. Forest Service. Works on satellite technology.
Enters UCLA's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Rotation in Paul D. Boyer lab. UCLA's Molecular Biology Institute. Current thoughts about qualities of scientist; departmental structure of biological sciences; applications of research; funding and research trends. Competition for funding. Rotation in Jay D. Gralla's lab. Research on DNA supercoiling. Lac promoter. Footprinting technique. Potassium permanganate. Need to study DNA in vitro. Cataloging versus analysis.
Jerard Hurwitz lab at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Meets and marries Dianne Applegate. SV40 replication as model of human DNA replication. Progress in understanding DNA replication, need to learn more. SV40 initiator complex. Purifying proteins. C. Richard Wobbe's discovery of SSB DNA protein. Flaws in Wobbe's original work. Robert T. Tjian's work on SV40 T-antigen. Bruce Stillman's influence on field. John F. Diffley's work on ARS.
More on Hurwitz lab. Interest in replication of linear DNA. Rush to publish results versus meaningful research. Work on bovine papillomavirus. Focusing on initiation phase of replication. Publication criteria, competition.
Rushed pace of research prevents deep thought; need for long-term research grants. Undertaking risky projects. Funding. Difficulties recruiting qualified students into science. NYU's graduate program. Juggling research demands and family life. Wife's lab at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Son, Zachary. Science-illiterate public. Political pressures on science funding. Zen Buddhism.