Klaus Weber
Encyclopedia
Klaus Weber is a German scientist who has made many fundamentally important contributions to Biochemistry
, Cell Biology
and Molecular Biology
, and was for many years the director of the Laboratory of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry
in Göttingen
, Germany.
, Poland
in 1936. After earning an undergraduate degree in 1962 and a graduate degree in 1964 from the University of Freiburg
, Weber came to the United States to work as a postdoctoral fellow with James D. Watson
at Harvard University.
. During this period he worked on protein chemistry of RNA phages, but was beginning to shift his focus to animal cells and their viruses, and spent a sabbatical at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
learning the associated techniques. Weber became a Full Professor at Harvard (1972), at the very young age of 36, only 10 years after obtaining an undergraduate degree. He is married to Mary Osborn, born in Darlington
, England in 1940 who obtained an undergraduate degree from Cambridge University in England in 1962 and a Ph.D.
from Pennsylvania State University
in 1967. They met when he was a research fellow in the Harvard laboratory. Osborn took a staff position first at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology
in Cambridge, England (1969–1972) and then at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (1972–1975). Together they produced the seminal "Weber and Osborn" SDS-PAGE
paper, which showed that proteins could be dissolved in sodium dodecyl sulfate
(SDS), reliably separated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE), visualized by Coomassie Brilliant Blue staining, and their molecular weights determined with reasonable accuracy. The title of the paper was "The reliability of molecular weight determinations by dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis". This simple and quick technique rapidly became standard lab practice around the world and the original paper became one of the most highly cited in the history of science. The pair moved to Germany in 1975 when Weber was offered the position of Director of the Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen. There they pioneered another new technique: immunofluorescence microscopy. They and Elias Lazarides had previously found that they could tag the subunit proteins of microtubules, microfilaments, intermediate filaments and other cellular structures with specific antibodies and then tag these antibodies with a second fluorescently labelled antibody as described in a series of papers such as "Actin antibody: the specific visualization of actin filaments in non-muscle cells". The fluorescent signal could be easily visualized using a fluorescence microscope
and this allowed the rapid examination of the localization of molecules in cells and in tissues. This technique has also become a routine part of lab practice all around the world. He was also a coauthor on a third fundamentally important research report showing that RNA interference
could be routinely used to "knock down" the expression of major cellular proteins, work he performed with Thomas Tuschl
and collaborators. A few weeks work in Weber's lab produced the highly influential paper "Duplexes of 21-nucleotide RNAs mediate RNA interference in cultured mammalian cells". This paper set the stage for the widespread use of RNA interference
to turn off the expression of normal genes in mammalian systems, a centrally important cell biological technique. In summary, he contributed to the development of three of the most significant and widely used lab techniques in routine use in labs all over the world. Among his less high profile achievements are hundreds of well-cited studies concentrating mostly on the function of the cytoskeleton
. In 1984 he, along with George Gee Jackson and Werner Franke
, won the prestigious Ernst Jung Prize
for excellence in biomedical sciences. He retired in 2004, and is now an emeritus professor at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry. Although retired, he is still contributing to the scientific literature. His wife Mary Osborn officially closed her research laboratory at the end of the following year, but is also still active in science. Throughout their long careers, Klaus Weber and Mary Osborn have collaborated with and mentored many accomplished scientists in addition to their many notable scientific achievements.
Biochemistry
Biochemistry, sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes in living organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter. Biochemistry governs all living organisms and living processes...
, Cell Biology
Cell biology
Cell biology is a scientific discipline that studies cells – their physiological properties, their structure, the organelles they contain, interactions with their environment, their life cycle, division and death. This is done both on a microscopic and molecular level...
and 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...
, and was for many years the director of the Laboratory of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry
Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry
The Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen is a research institute of the Max Planck Society. Currently, 812 people work at the Institute, 353 of them are scientists....
in Göttingen
Göttingen
Göttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...
, Germany.
Biography
Weber was born in LodzLódz
Łódź is the third-largest city in Poland. Located in the central part of the country, it had a population of 742,387 in December 2009. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is approximately south-west of Warsaw...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
in 1936. After earning an undergraduate degree in 1962 and a graduate degree in 1964 from the University of Freiburg
University of Freiburg
The University of Freiburg , sometimes referred to in English as the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.The university was founded in 1457 by the Habsburg dynasty as the...
, Weber came to the United States to work as a postdoctoral fellow with James D. Watson
James D. Watson
James Dewey Watson is an American molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist, best known as one of the co-discoverers of the structure of DNA in 1953 with Francis Crick...
at Harvard University.
Career
After a successful period as a postdoctoral fellow with Watson starting in the spring of 1965, Weber was hired as an Assistant Professor at Harvard and ran a joint laboratory with Watson and Walter GilbertWalter Gilbert
Walter Gilbert is an American physicist, biochemist, molecular biology pioneer, and Nobel laureate.-Biography:Gilbert was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on March 21, 1932...
. During this period he worked on protein chemistry of RNA phages, but was beginning to shift his focus to animal cells and their viruses, and spent a sabbatical at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
The Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is a private, non-profit institution with research programs focusing on cancer, neurobiology, plant genetics, genomics and bioinformatics. The Laboratory has a broad educational mission, including the recently established Watson School of Biological Sciences. It...
learning the associated techniques. Weber became a Full Professor at Harvard (1972), at the very young age of 36, only 10 years after obtaining an undergraduate degree. He is married to Mary Osborn, born in Darlington
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, part of the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It lies on the small River Skerne, a tributary of the River Tees, not far from the main river. It is the main population centre in the borough, with a population of 97,838 as of 2001...
, England in 1940 who obtained an undergraduate degree from Cambridge University in England in 1962 and a Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
from Pennsylvania State University
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service...
in 1967. They met when he was a research fellow in the Harvard laboratory. Osborn took a staff position first at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology
Laboratory of Molecular Biology
The Laboratory of Molecular Biology is a research institute in Cambridge, England, which was at the forefront of the revolution in molecular biology which occurred in the 1950–60s, since then it remains a major medical research laboratory with a much broader focus.-Early beginnings: 1947-61:Max...
in Cambridge, England (1969–1972) and then at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (1972–1975). Together they produced the seminal "Weber and Osborn" SDS-PAGE
SDS-PAGE
SDS-PAGE, sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, describes a collection of related techniques widely used in biochemistry, forensics, genetics and molecular biology to separate proteins according to their electrophoretic mobility...
paper, which showed that proteins could be dissolved in sodium dodecyl sulfate
Sodium dodecyl sulfate
Sodium dodecyl sulfate , sodium laurilsulfate or sodium lauryl sulfate is an organic compound with the formula CH311OSO3Na). It is an anionic surfactant used in many cleaning and hygiene products...
(SDS), reliably separated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE), visualized by Coomassie Brilliant Blue staining, and their molecular weights determined with reasonable accuracy. The title of the paper was "The reliability of molecular weight determinations by dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis". This simple and quick technique rapidly became standard lab practice around the world and the original paper became one of the most highly cited in the history of science. The pair moved to Germany in 1975 when Weber was offered the position of Director of the Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen. There they pioneered another new technique: immunofluorescence microscopy. They and Elias Lazarides had previously found that they could tag the subunit proteins of microtubules, microfilaments, intermediate filaments and other cellular structures with specific antibodies and then tag these antibodies with a second fluorescently labelled antibody as described in a series of papers such as "Actin antibody: the specific visualization of actin filaments in non-muscle cells". The fluorescent signal could be easily visualized using a fluorescence microscope
Fluorescence microscope
A fluorescence microscope is an optical microscope used to study properties of organic or inorganic substances using the phenomena of fluorescence and phosphorescence instead of, or in addition to, reflection and absorption...
and this allowed the rapid examination of the localization of molecules in cells and in tissues. This technique has also become a routine part of lab practice all around the world. He was also a coauthor on a third fundamentally important research report showing that RNA interference
RNA interference
RNA interference is a process within living cells that moderates the activity of their genes. Historically, it was known by other names, including co-suppression, post transcriptional gene silencing , and quelling. Only after these apparently unrelated processes were fully understood did it become...
could be routinely used to "knock down" the expression of major cellular proteins, work he performed with Thomas Tuschl
Thomas Tuschl
Thomas Tuschl is a German biochemist and Molecular biologist researching RNA.-Biography:Tuschl was born in Altdorf bei Nürnberg. After graduating in chemistry from Regensburg university Tuschl received his PhD in 1995 from Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine in Göttingen...
and collaborators. A few weeks work in Weber's lab produced the highly influential paper "Duplexes of 21-nucleotide RNAs mediate RNA interference in cultured mammalian cells". This paper set the stage for the widespread use of RNA interference
RNA interference
RNA interference is a process within living cells that moderates the activity of their genes. Historically, it was known by other names, including co-suppression, post transcriptional gene silencing , and quelling. Only after these apparently unrelated processes were fully understood did it become...
to turn off the expression of normal genes in mammalian systems, a centrally important cell biological technique. In summary, he contributed to the development of three of the most significant and widely used lab techniques in routine use in labs all over the world. Among his less high profile achievements are hundreds of well-cited studies concentrating mostly on the function of the cytoskeleton
Cytoskeleton
The cytoskeleton is a cellular "scaffolding" or "skeleton" contained within a cell's cytoplasm and is made out of protein. The cytoskeleton is present in all cells; it was once thought to be unique to eukaryotes, but recent research has identified the prokaryotic cytoskeleton...
. In 1984 he, along with George Gee Jackson and Werner Franke
Werner Franke
Werner Franke is a professor of cell and molecular biology at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg.After completing high school , he studied chemistry, biology and physics at the University of Heidelberg...
, won the prestigious Ernst Jung Prize
Ernst Jung Prize
The Ernst Jung Prize is a prize awarded annually for excellence in biomedical sciences. The Ernst Jung Foundation, funded by Hamburg merchant Ernst Jung in 1967 grants the Ernst Jung Prize in Medicine, now € 300,000, since 1976 and the lifetime achievement Ernst Jung Gold Medal for Medicine since...
for excellence in biomedical sciences. He retired in 2004, and is now an emeritus professor at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry. Although retired, he is still contributing to the scientific literature. His wife Mary Osborn officially closed her research laboratory at the end of the following year, but is also still active in science. Throughout their long careers, Klaus Weber and Mary Osborn have collaborated with and mentored many accomplished scientists in addition to their many notable scientific achievements.