Paul Berg : An Oral History

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Abstract/Contents

Abstract
In this oral history interview, biochemist Paul Berg speaks about coming to Stanford in 1959 as a faculty member in the new Department of Biochemistry. He describes some of the important initiatives in which he has been involved at Stanford, including the founding of the Beckman Center for Molecular and Genetic Medicine, planning for the Li Ka Shing Center, and curricular changes. He expresses concern about the commercial aspects of science; reflects on issues related to human embryonic stem cell research, including California’s Prop. 71 funding initiative; and speaks about his family, the Nobel Prize, and more.
Summary
In this oral history interview, biochemist Paul Berg speaks about coming to Stanford in 1959 as a faculty member in the new Department of Biochemistry. He describes some of the important initiatives in which he has been involved at Stanford, including the founding of the Beckman Center for Molecular and Genetic Medicine, planning for the Li Ka Shing Center, and curricular changes. He expresses concern about the commercial aspects of science; reflects on issues related to human embryonic stem cell research, including California’s Prop. 71 funding initiative; and speaks about his family, the Nobel Prize, and more. In part one of the interview, Paul Berg discusses the potential of buildings to foster scientific collaboration. He describes how features of specific buildings on the Stanford campus, including the Beckman Center, bring diverse researchers together and optimize contact between faculty and students. He discusses working with Dominick Purpura and David Korn, deans of the School of Medicine, to plan and fundraise for initiatives in molecular and genetic medicine and collaborations between basic science and clinical medicine. Berg discusses recruiting prominent faculty members, including Lucy Shapiro and Richard Tsien, to lead new departments. In the second part of the interview, Berg tells the story of Stanford’s recruitment of Nobel laureate Arthur Kornberg and his departmental colleagues from Washington University in St. Louis. Berg describes the rationale for the move, noting not only the collaborative possibilities of a medical school located in close proximity to colleagues in other science departments but also that California “had a glow” and seemed like “a great place to live.” Berg also observes that in forming a new Department of Biochemistry in a medical school that was reinventing itself, the newly recruited faculty members saw an opportunity to create their “own culture.” Berg discusses the development of the Li Ka Shing Center, the first medical education building erected at Stanford in fifty years. He talks about his service on the planning committee and how a sense of gratitude to Stanford motived his own gift towards the construction of the building. Turning to the subject of interactions with the senior administration, Berg voices his opposition to what he views as the growing commercialization of academia, especially the patenting of early scientific discoveries and basic research tools. In part three of the interview, Berg discusses his role in the passage of California State Proposition 71, which raised billions of dollars for stem cell research in humans. He discusses the ethical questions raised by stem cell research and the different points of view and beliefs on the subject. He also discusses his views on the overlapping issues of free speech and freedom to do research. Curriculum changes over the years at the Stanford Medical School are also covered here, including Stanford’s switch to and then away from an elective program, the implementation of a five-year curriculum, and the development of an MD-MS curricular track. In the final section of the interview, Berg discusses the various deans he has worked with since he came to Stanford and their leadership qualities. He responds to questions about receiving the Nobel Prize in 1980, acknowledging the opportunities the award has opened up for him but also admitting to some awkwardness that surrounds it. He talks about his relationship with George Schultz and how it led to an invitation to join the board of a major company and meetings with world leaders, including Mikhail Gorbachev. Berg talks about his sense of ethics, his belief that “sharing is what science is about,” and the relationship between science and art. He discusses some of the things that he and his wife enjoy doing together, including collecting modern art. He concludes the interview by reminiscing briefly about his parents and recalling the impact of Sophie Wolfe, a staff member at his high school, who encouraged him to pursue the answers to his scientific questions.

Description

Type of resource moving image, text, sound recording-nonmusical
Extent 4 video files; 1 text file; 4 audio files; 1 photograph
Place Stanford (Calif.)
Publisher Stanford Historical Society
Date created December 4, 2017 - 2017-12-05
Language English
Digital origin born digital

Creators/Contributors

Interviewee Berg, Paul, 1926-
Creator Berg, Paul, 1926-
Interviewer Costello, Paul
Publisher Stanford Historical Society

Subjects

Subject Berg, Paul, 1926-
Subject Stanford University. Department of Biochemistry
Subject Recombinant DNA
Subject Stanford University. School of Medicine
Genre Interview

Bibliographic information

Biographical Profile

Paul Berg, the Robert W. and Vivian K. Cahill Professor of Cancer Research, Emeritus, has been a leading contributor to the fields of biochemistry and molecular biology for over fifty years. He received the 1980 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on protein synthesis and recombinant DNA (rDNA).
Berg was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1926. He cites books by Sinclair Lewis and Paul deKruif as his motivation to pursue research. At Lincoln High School, his interest in science was fostered by Sophie Wolfe. Though not an instructor, Wolfe helped to inspire a number of students who went on to make important scientific contributions. Berg received his BS from Pennsylvania State University in 1948. His education at Pennsylvania State was interrupted by his service in the Navy during the last years of World War II. Berg completed his graduate work in biochemistry under Harland O. Wood at Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve University). His work with Wood sparked an interest in enzymology and led him to collaborate with two rising scientists, Arthur Kornberg and Hermann Kalckar.
Berg received his PhD in 1952 and spent a year with Kalckar at the Institute of Cytophysiology in Copenhagen, where they discovered an enzyme that allowed for the transfer of phosphate groups from adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is the main energy-carrying mechanism in living organisms. Berg then moved to Arthur Kornberg’s lab at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, where he became an assistant professor in 1956 and continued to research the mechanism by which amino acids are assembled into proteins.
In 1959, Kornberg, Berg, and most of the department at Washington University moved to Stanford to start the School of Medicine’s new Biochemistry Department. During the 1970s, Berg and his colleagues at Stanford developed a technique to splice two DNA molecules, leading to the start of recombinant DNA technology. This work earned Berg the Nobel Prize in 1980.
In 1985, Berg helped to establish the Beckman Center for Molecular and Genetic Medicine at Stanford, serving as the first director. Since his retirement in 2000, Berg has co-authored a biography of genetics pioneer George Beadle with Maxine Berg. He continues to be involved in research on recombinant DNA and remains active in public policy discussions surrounding biomedical issues, such as recombinant DNA and embryonic stem cells.
Transcript
Title
Transcript
Finding Aid
Title
Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program Interviews
Location https://purl.stanford.edu/pp886df4273
Location SC0932
Repository Stanford University. Libraries. Department of Special Collections and University Archives

Access conditions

Use and reproduction
Digital recordings from this collection may be accessed freely. These files may not be reproduced or used for any purpose without permission. For permission requests, please contact Stanford University Department of Special Collections & University Archives (speccoll@stanford.edu).
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved.

Collection

Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program interviews, 1999-2022

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