Harvey Bialy
Encyclopedia
Molecular biology
Molecular biology is the branch of biology that deals with the molecular basis of biological activity. This field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry...
and AIDS denialist. He was one of the signatories to a letter to the editor
Letter to the editor
A letter to the editor is a letter sent to a publication about issues of concern from its readers. Usually, letters are intended for publication...
by a group of AIDS denialists calling themselves the Group for the Scientific Reappraisal of the HIV-AIDS Hypothesis. He was also a member of the controversial and heavily criticized South African Presidential AIDS Advisory Panel convened by Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki is a South African politician who served two terms as the second post-apartheid President of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008. He is also the brother of Moeletsi Mbeki...
in 2000.
Bialy is the author of Oncogenes, Aneuploidy, and AIDS: A Scientific Life and Times of Peter H. Duesberg (2004).
Education and early career
Bialy graduated from Bard CollegeBard College
Bard College, founded in 1860 as "St. Stephen's College", is a small four-year liberal arts college located in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.-Location:...
in 1966 and was awarded a Ph.D. in molecular biology
Molecular biology
Molecular biology is the branch of biology that deals with the molecular basis of biological activity. This field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry...
in 1970 by the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. He joined the journal Nature Biotechnology
Nature Biotechnology
Nature Biotechnology is an academic journal covering the science and business of biotechnology.Nature Biotechnology is a continuation of Bio/Technology , which was founded in 1983 and renamed in 1996. It is published monthly by the Nature Publishing Group, a division of Macmillan Publishers Ltd...
(part of the Nature family of publications
Nature Publishing Group
Nature Publishing Group is an international publishing company that publishes academic journals, online databases, and services across the life, physical, chemical and applied sciences and clinical medicine...
) as its scientific editor in 1984, and edited its peer-reviewed content from 1984–1996.
Publications
He has co-authored papers in molecular geneticsMolecular genetics
Molecular genetics is the field of biology and genetics that studies the structure and function of genes at a molecular level. The field studies how the genes are transferred from generation to generation. Molecular genetics employs the methods of genetics and molecular biology...
, including articles presenting evidence that phage gene
Gene
A gene is a molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains...
s can subvert host
Host (biology)
In biology, a host is an organism that harbors a parasite, or a mutual or commensal symbiont, typically providing nourishment and shelter. In botany, a host plant is one that supplies food resources and substrate for certain insects or other fauna...
functions. He has also written numerous editorials and commentaries on contemporary issues in biotechnology in Nature Biotechnology and other journals.
He is the author of Oncogenes, Aneuploidy, and AIDS (ISBN 1556435312), a book about the scientific life of fellow molecular biologist and AIDS denialist Peter Duesberg
Peter Duesberg
Peter H. Duesberg is a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences and a professor of molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley...
, with special emphasis on Duesberg's version of the aneuploidy
Aneuploidy
Aneuploidy is an abnormal number of chromosomes, and is a type of chromosome abnormality. An extra or missing chromosome is a common cause of genetic disorders . Some cancer cells also have abnormal numbers of chromosomes. Aneuploidy occurs during cell division when the chromosomes do not separate...
theory of cancer, on Duesberg's HIV/AIDS denial, and on the politics of modern science.
Later career
Bialy's CV indicates that he was the co-recipient of a grant from the Charles Merill Trust to study antibiotic resistantAntibiotic resistance
Antibiotic resistance is a type of drug resistance where a microorganism is able to survive exposure to an antibiotic. While a spontaneous or induced genetic mutation in bacteria may confer resistance to antimicrobial drugs, genes that confer resistance can be transferred between bacteria in a...
pathogens in Nigeria in 1978. He received a World Health Organization
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
grant to study the epidemiology
Epidemiology
Epidemiology is the study of health-event, health-characteristic, or health-determinant patterns in a population. It is the cornerstone method of public health research, and helps inform policy decisions and evidence-based medicine by identifying risk factors for disease and targets for preventive...
and genetics of antibiotic resistant enteric pathogens in Nigeria in 1982. He worked as a visiting researcher or research fellow at several universities in the United States and Africa throughout the 1980s and 1990s. He was advisor to the Center for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering in Havana, Cuba from 1986–1996.
Bialy's CV also indicates that he was a resident scholar of the IBT at UNAM in Cuernavaca
Cuernavaca
Cuernavaca is the capital and largest city of the state of Morelos in Mexico. It was established at the archeological site of Gualupita I by the Olmec, "the mother culture" of Mesoamerica, approximately 3200 years ago...
between 1996 and 2006, where he also founded and directed the Virtual Library of Biotechnology for the Americas.
Artistic life
He is also a poet and artist. He has published several books of poetry, and in 1976, he received a fellowship in poetry from the National Endowment for the ArtsNational Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
. Since May 2007, he has devoted his time to his art, of which an exposition "Telestics ... The Art of the Ordinary" was presented 23–31 August 2007 at the Catedral de Cuernavaca. The painter Rafael Cauduro admired Bialy's work and spoke in its praise for several minutes at the inauguration ceremony, which was also attended by the Minister of Culture of the State of Morelos
Morelos
Morelos officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Morelos is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 33 municipalities and its capital city is Cuernavaca....
.