Sidney Pestka
Encyclopedia
Sidney Pestka is an American
biochemist
and geneticist
. He is sometimes referred to as the "father of interferon" for his groundbreaking work developing the interferons as treatments for major diseases such as hepatitis
, multiple sclerosis
, and cancer
. He was part of the team working on research involving the genetic code
, protein synthesis and ribosome function that led to the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
received by Marshall Warren Nirenberg
.
, which is located in what is now known as Płock County ("powiat płocki"). His family emigrated to the United States
a few years later. When he was a young boy, he began inventing devices. "It was stimulating to see chemicals change the color of fluids, to construct crystal radios, and to make caramel from sugar—however, my mother’s pots and pans were never the same afterward. It seemed that I constantly thought about new ideas to implement. As a teenager I developed an electronic security key and many other devices, but I did not know about patents at that time." Both his parents encouraged his curiosity; his mother taught him mathematics when he was very young and his father shared his own hobby of building bicycles with basic parts.
In 1957, he graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University
with a degree in chemistry. He went on to the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
and completed his MD in 1961. Dr. Pestka completed his pediatric and medical internship at Baltimore City Hospital, after which he joined the National Heart Institute in 1962. Here he worked in the laboratory of Dr. Marshall W. Nirenberg, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
in 1968 for "breaking the genetic code."
mRNA is translated into protein through the small ribosomal subunit
, a discovery that was contrary to the scientific thinking at that time. This early work helped create new fundamental tenets about the mechanism of protein biosynthesis
and antibiotic action.
In 1966, he moved to the National Cancer Institute
, where for three years he continued his research on protein synthesis, and began investigations in other areas. It was here that he first learned about interferons. Scientists first observed interferon in the 1950s, and when they learned that human cells secreted the substance it was postulated that interferon could hold the key to beneficial antiviral properties. Pestka became very interested in interferon.
For the next 16 years, he worked ways to produce clinically relevant quantities of interferon at reasonable cost. Among other advances, he developed reversed phase HPLC for the purification of proteins. Until that time, it was believed that reversed phase HPLC would denature proteins. He also developed the procedure to clone interferons. These advances led to the first recombinant biotherapeutic, alpha interferon.
in Nutley, New Jersey
, where he initiated the work on interferon
.
His work with IFN-α has led to cancer therapy with interferons and
the use of interferon for the treatment of chronic Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C
preventing
development of liver cancer due to hepatitis. IFN-α is approved for treatment of a
number of cancers and is the only approved treatment for advanced melanoma
. His
developments related to IFN-β led to its use for the treatment of multiple sclerosis
.
Since 1986, he has been Professor and Chairman of the Department of Molecular Genetics, Microbiology and Immunology at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in Piscataway, New Jersey. He is also the Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Pestka Biomedical Laboratories in Piscataway.
license interferon under his patents, including Schering-Plough
, Hoffmann-La Roche
, Amgen
, Biogen and Berlex.
ceremony in June 2002, President George W. Bush
honored him with the National Medal of Technology
. He was cited for his "pioneering achievements that led to the development of the biotechnology industry, to the first recombinant interferons for the treatment of cancers, leukemias, viral diseases such as hepatitis B and C, and multiple sclerosis; to fundamental technologies leading to other biotherapeutics; and for basic scientific discoveries in chemistry, biochemistry, genetic engineering and molecular biology from protein biosynthesis to receptors and cell signaling." In 2004, he received the Warren Alpert Prize from Harvard. He has also received the Selman A. Waksman Award in Microbiology
, the Lemelson-MIT Prize
and the Seymour and Vivian Milstein Award from the International Society for Interferon and Cytokine Research.
series.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
biochemist
Biochemist
Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. Typical biochemists study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. The prefix of "bio" in "biochemist" can be understood as a fusion of "biological chemist."-Role:...
and geneticist
Genetics
Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....
. He is sometimes referred to as the "father of interferon" for his groundbreaking work developing the interferons as treatments for major diseases such as hepatitis
Hepatitis
Hepatitis is a medical condition defined by the inflammation of the liver and characterized by the presence of inflammatory cells in the tissue of the organ. The name is from the Greek hepar , the root being hepat- , meaning liver, and suffix -itis, meaning "inflammation"...
, multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...
, and cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
. He was part of the team working on research involving the genetic code
Genetic code
The genetic code is the set of rules by which information encoded in genetic material is translated into proteins by living cells....
, protein synthesis and ribosome function that led to the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the field of life science and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will...
received by Marshall Warren Nirenberg
Marshall Warren Nirenberg
Marshall Warren Nirenberg was an American biochemist and geneticist of Jewish origin. He shared a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1968 with Har Gobind Khorana and Robert W. Holley for "breaking the genetic code" and describing how it operates in protein synthesis...
.
Early life and education
Sidney Pestka was born on May 29, 1936 in the Polish town of DrobinDrobin
Drobin is a town in Płock County, Masovian Voivodeship, Poland, with 3,016 inhabitants ....
, which is located in what is now known as Płock County ("powiat płocki"). His family emigrated to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
a few years later. When he was a young boy, he began inventing devices. "It was stimulating to see chemicals change the color of fluids, to construct crystal radios, and to make caramel from sugar—however, my mother’s pots and pans were never the same afterward. It seemed that I constantly thought about new ideas to implement. As a teenager I developed an electronic security key and many other devices, but I did not know about patents at that time." Both his parents encouraged his curiosity; his mother taught him mathematics when he was very young and his father shared his own hobby of building bicycles with basic parts.
In 1957, he graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
with a degree in chemistry. He went on to the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
The Perelman School of Medicine , formerly the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, was founded in 1765, making it the oldest American medical school. As part of the University of Pennsylvania, it is located in the University City section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is widely...
and completed his MD in 1961. Dr. Pestka completed his pediatric and medical internship at Baltimore City Hospital, after which he joined the National Heart Institute in 1962. Here he worked in the laboratory of Dr. Marshall W. Nirenberg, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the field of life science and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will...
in 1968 for "breaking the genetic code."
Research
While in the Nirenberg Laboratory, he discovered how the genetic code of themRNA is translated into protein through the small ribosomal subunit
Ribosomal RNA
Ribosomal ribonucleic acid is the RNA component of the ribosome, the enzyme that is the site of protein synthesis in all living cells. Ribosomal RNA provides a mechanism for decoding mRNA into amino acids and interacts with tRNAs during translation by providing peptidyl transferase activity...
, a discovery that was contrary to the scientific thinking at that time. This early work helped create new fundamental tenets about the mechanism of protein biosynthesis
Protein biosynthesis
Protein biosynthesis is the process in which cells build or manufacture proteins. The term is sometimes used to refer only to protein translation but more often it refers to a multi-step process, beginning with amino acid synthesis and transcription of nuclear DNA into messenger RNA, which is then...
and antibiotic action.
In 1966, he moved to the National Cancer Institute
National Cancer Institute
The National Cancer Institute is part of the National Institutes of Health , which is one of 11 agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The NCI coordinates the U.S...
, where for three years he continued his research on protein synthesis, and began investigations in other areas. It was here that he first learned about interferons. Scientists first observed interferon in the 1950s, and when they learned that human cells secreted the substance it was postulated that interferon could hold the key to beneficial antiviral properties. Pestka became very interested in interferon.
For the next 16 years, he worked ways to produce clinically relevant quantities of interferon at reasonable cost. Among other advances, he developed reversed phase HPLC for the purification of proteins. Until that time, it was believed that reversed phase HPLC would denature proteins. He also developed the procedure to clone interferons. These advances led to the first recombinant biotherapeutic, alpha interferon.
Work
In 1969, he joined the Roche Institute of Molecular BiologyRoche Institute of Molecular Biology
The Roche Institute of Molecular Biology was created on July 14, 1967 when Jim Burns, then the vice president of research at Hoffman-La Roche, persuaded biochemist Sidney Udenfriend to leave the National Institutes of Health and help him create a basic science institute at the Hoffman-La Roche,...
in Nutley, New Jersey
Nutley, New Jersey
2010 Census Data:*TOTAL: 28,370 or 100%*White: 23,405 *African American: 628 *Asian: 2,824 *American Indian and Alaska Native: 36 *Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander: 4...
, where he initiated the work on interferon
Interferon
Interferons are proteins made and released by host cells in response to the presence of pathogens—such as viruses, bacteria, or parasites—or tumor cells. They allow communication between cells to trigger the protective defenses of the immune system that eradicate pathogens or tumors.IFNs belong to...
.
His work with IFN-α has led to cancer therapy with interferons and
the use of interferon for the treatment of chronic Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C is an infectious disease primarily affecting the liver, caused by the hepatitis C virus . The infection is often asymptomatic, but chronic infection can lead to scarring of the liver and ultimately to cirrhosis, which is generally apparent after many years...
preventing
development of liver cancer due to hepatitis. IFN-α is approved for treatment of a
number of cancers and is the only approved treatment for advanced melanoma
Melanoma
Melanoma is a malignant tumor of melanocytes. Melanocytes are cells that produce the dark pigment, melanin, which is responsible for the color of skin. They predominantly occur in skin, but are also found in other parts of the body, including the bowel and the eye...
. His
developments related to IFN-β led to its use for the treatment of multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...
.
Since 1986, he has been Professor and Chairman of the Department of Molecular Genetics, Microbiology and Immunology at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in Piscataway, New Jersey. He is also the Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Pestka Biomedical Laboratories in Piscataway.
Patents
While at the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology, he generated a large portfolio of groundbreaking patents for Hoffmann-La Roche. In 1993, he was inducted into the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame. His work is the basis for a number of U.S. and foreign patents. Interferon is a major product of several U.S. and foreign companies many of whichlicense interferon under his patents, including Schering-Plough
Schering-Plough
Schering-Plough Corporation was a United States-based pharmaceutical company. It was founded in 1851 by Ernst Christian Friedrich Schering as Schering AG in Germany. In 1971, the Schering Corporation merged with Plough to form Schering-Plough. On November 4, 2009 Merck & Co...
, Hoffmann-La Roche
Hoffmann-La Roche
F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. is a Swiss global health-care company that operates worldwide under two divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Its holding company, Roche Holding AG, has shares listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange....
, Amgen
Amgen
Amgen Inc. is an international biotechnology company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. Located in the Conejo Valley, Amgen is the world's largest independent biotech firm. The company employs approximately 17,000 staff members. Its products include Epogen, Aranesp, Enbrel, Kineret,...
, Biogen and Berlex.
Awards and honors
At a White HouseWhite House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
ceremony in June 2002, President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
honored him with the National Medal of Technology
National Medal of Technology
The National Medal of Technology and Innovation is an honor granted by the President of the United States to American inventors and innovators who have made significant contributions to the development of new and important technology...
. He was cited for his "pioneering achievements that led to the development of the biotechnology industry, to the first recombinant interferons for the treatment of cancers, leukemias, viral diseases such as hepatitis B and C, and multiple sclerosis; to fundamental technologies leading to other biotherapeutics; and for basic scientific discoveries in chemistry, biochemistry, genetic engineering and molecular biology from protein biosynthesis to receptors and cell signaling." In 2004, he received the Warren Alpert Prize from Harvard. He has also received the Selman A. Waksman Award in Microbiology
Selman A. Waksman Award in Microbiology
The Selman A. Waksman Award in Microbiology is awarded by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences "in recognition of excellence in the field of microbiology." Named after Selman Waksman, it was first awarded in 1968....
, the Lemelson-MIT Prize
Lemelson-MIT Prize
The Lemelson Foundation awards several prizes yearly to inventors in United States. The largest is the Lemelson-MIT Prize which was endowed in 1994 by Jerome H. Lemelson, and is administered through the Massachusetts Institute of Technology...
and the Seymour and Vivian Milstein Award from the International Society for Interferon and Cytokine Research.
Publications
He has published over 600 articles in peer-reviewed journals. He has edited five books, three of which are classic reference books about interferons in the Methods in EnzymologyMethods in Enzymology
Methods in Enzymology is a series of scientific publications focused primarily on research methods in biochemistry by Academic Press, created by Sidney P. Colowick and Nathan O. Kaplan, now part of Elsevier. Historically, each volume has centered on a specific topic of biochemistry, such as DNA...
series.
- "Molecular Mechanisms of Protein Biosynthesis (Molecular Biology)" (Academic Press, 1977) ISBN 0127442502
- "Methods in Enzymology Volume 78: Interferons, Part A" (Academic Press, 1981) ASIN B002JBOWGG
- "Methods in Enzymology Volume 79: Interferons, Part B" (Academic Press, 1982) ISBN 0121819795
- "Methods in Enzymology Volume 119: Inteferons Part C" (Academic Press, 1986) ISBN 012182019X
- "Cytokine Yearbook Volume 1" (Springer, 1996) ISBN 0792338766
External links
- Winners' Circle: Sidney Pestka, MD
- Eminent Scientist Receives $100,000 Lemelson-MIT Lifetime Achievement Award
- Sidney Pestka Wins U.S. Medal of Technology
- 2001 Recipients of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation
- People: Pestka - Molecular Genetics, Microbiology, and Immunology; UMDNJ
- Faculty - The Cancer Institute of New Jersey
- PBL InterferonSource
- BioMedExperts profile of Sidney Pestka
- International Society for Interferon and Cytokine Research (ISICR)