Maxine Singer
{{Short description|American biologist (1931–2024)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Maxine Singer
| image = Nci-vol-8248-300 maxine singer.jpg
| alt =
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| birth_name = Maxine Frank
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1931|02|15|mf=yes}}
| birth_place = New York City, New York, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2024|07|09|1931|02|15|mf=yes}}
| death_place = Washington, D.C., U.S.
| fields = Molecular Biology
| workplaces =
| alma_mater = Swarthmore College (BA)
Yale University (PhD)
| doctoral_advisor = Joseph Fruton
| academic_advisors =
| doctoral_students =
| notable_students =
| known_for = Recombinant DNA techniques
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| influences =
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| awards = AAAS Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility (1982)
National Medal of Science (1992)
Vannevar Bush Award (1999)
Public Welfare Medal (2007)
ASCB Public Service Award (2008)
| signature =
| signature_alt =
| footnotes =
| children = 4, including Amy and Stephanie
| spouse = {{marriage|Daniel Singer|1952}}
}}
Maxine Frank Singer (née Frank; February 15, 1931 – July 9, 2024) was an American molecular biologist and science administrator.{{cite web |title=Profiles in Science, The Maxine Singer Papers |date=March 12, 2019 |url=https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/ps/retrieve/Narrative/DJ/p-nid/206 |publisher=U.S. National Library of Medicine |access-date=November 7, 2015 |archive-date=October 24, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024205408/https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/ps/retrieve/Narrative/DJ/p-nid/206 |url-status=live }} She was known for her contributions to solving the genetic code, her role in the ethical and regulatory debates on recombinant DNA techniques (including the organization of the Asilomar Conference on Recombinant DNA), and her leadership of Carnegie Institution of Washington.
In 2002, Discover magazine recognized her as one of the 50 most important women in science.{{cite magazine|last1=Svitil|first1=Kathy|title=The 50 Most Important Women in Science|url=http://discovermagazine.com/2002/nov/feat50/|access-date=May 1, 2019|magazine=Discover|date=November 13, 2002|archive-date=May 11, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511023736/http://discovermagazine.com/2002/nov/feat50/|url-status=live}}
Early life and education
Maxine Frank was born in New York City to Henrietta and Hyman Frank. Her father was a lawyer, and her mother a homemaker.{{cite web |title=Maxine Singer Papers, 1952–2004 (Biographical Note) |url=http://findingaids.loc.gov/db/search/xq/searchMfer02.xq?_id=loc.mss.eadmss.ms007071&_faSection=overview&_faSubsection=bioghist&_dmdid=d1877e19 |access-date=March 13, 2015 |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402090256/http://findingaids.loc.gov/db/search/xq/searchMfer02.xq?_id=loc.mss.eadmss.ms007071&_faSection=overview&_faSubsection=bioghist&_dmdid=d1877e19 |url-status=live }}
After attending Midwood High School in Brooklyn,{{cite news |title=Putting Science First |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/wellness/1989/02/14/putting-science-first/d61aeac0-0fd5-4d7b-8414-2a6654807ae3/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=February 14, 1989 |access-date=December 27, 2019 |archive-date=December 27, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191227191758/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/wellness/1989/02/14/putting-science-first/d61aeac0-0fd5-4d7b-8414-2a6654807ae3/ |url-status=live }} she majored in chemistry and minored in biology at Swarthmore College.{{Cite web|url=http://ascb.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/Maxine_singer.pdf|title=American Society for Cell Biology Member Profile: Maxine Singer|access-date=March 13, 2015|archive-date=April 2, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402191433/http://ascb.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/Maxine_singer.pdf|url-status=live}} She went on to earn a PhD in 1957 at Yale University, researching protein chemistry under Joseph Fruton.
Career
After graduating, Fruton encouraged her to specialize in nucleic acids, and in 1956 she joined the Laboratory of Biochemistry of Leon Heppel at the National Institutes of Health.{{cite web |title=Maxine Singer |url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/historical-profile/maxine-singer |website=Science History Institute |date=June 29, 2016 |access-date=March 21, 2018 |archive-date=March 22, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180322081525/https://www.sciencehistory.org/historical-profile/maxine-singer |url-status=live }} She led various biochemical research groups as the Chief of the Laboratory of Biochemistry at the National Cancer institute between 1980 and 1987.
In the wake of the 1973 report of the first use of recombinant DNA techniques to introduce genes from one species into another, Singer was among the first to call attention to the possible risks of genetic engineering. She was a chairperson of the 1973 Gordon Conference on Nucleic Acids, where the possible public health risks of the technique were discussed,{{cite web |title=Letter from Maxine Singer to participants in the 1973 Gordon Conference on Nucleic Acids |url=https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/CD/B/B/C/F/|work=The Paul Berg Papers, U.S. National Library of Medicine|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202020333/https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/CD/B/B/C/F/|archive-date=February 2, 2017}} and she helped to organize the 1975 Asilomar Conference on Recombinant DNA that resulted in guidelines for dealing with the largely unknown risks of the technique.
Singer was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1978.{{cite web |title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter S |url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterS.pdf |publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences |access-date=April 7, 2011 |archive-date=October 5, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181005022307/http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterS.pdf |url-status=live }} In 1988, she became president of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, a position she held until 2002.{{cite news |title=Maxine Singer Named President Of Carnegie |url=http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/8455/title/Maxine-Singer-Named-President-Of-Carnegie/ |work=The Scientist |date=February 23, 1987 |access-date=March 13, 2015 |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402211746/http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/8455/title/Maxine-Singer-Named-President-Of-Carnegie/ |url-status=live }} She was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1990.{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Maxine+Singer&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=April 19, 2022 |website=search.amphilsoc.org |archive-date=April 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220419135356/https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Maxine+Singer&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |url-status=live }} Singer received the National Medal of Science in 1992 "for her outstanding scientific accomplishments and her deep concern for the societal responsibility of the scientist"{{Cite web|url=https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/medalofscience50/singer.jsp|title=Maxine F. Singer (1931–) {{!}} The National Medal of Science 50th Anniversary|website=www.nsf.gov}} and was the first woman to receive the Vannevar Bush Award, in 1999.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nsf.gov/nsb/awards/bush_recipients.jsp#a1999|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191005093348/https://www.nsf.gov/nsb/awards/bush_recipients.jsp#a1999|archive-date=October 5, 2019|title=Vannevar Bush Award Recipients|website=National Science Board}} In 2007, she was awarded the Public Welfare Medal from the National Academy of Sciences.{{cite news |title=Maxine F. Singer to Receive Public Welfare Medal |url=http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=01122007 |agency=National Academy of Sciences |date=January 12, 2007 |access-date=March 13, 2015 |archive-date=March 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150302035707/http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=01122007 |url-status=live }}
= Research contributions =
Singer made important contributions to the fields of biochemistry and molecular biology. Her research with Leon Heppel on the role of enzymes that regulate synthesis of nucleic acids played a part in helping Marshall Nirenberg and Heinrick Matthaei to decipher the genetic code.{{Cite web|url=https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/ps/retrieve/Narrative/DJ/p-nid/217|title=The Maxine Singer Papers: Nucleic Acids, the Genetic Code, and Transposable Genetic Elements: A Life in Research|website=profiles.nlm.nih.gov|access-date=November 7, 2017}} They studied polynucleotide phosphorylase, an enzyme that can join individual nucleotides into random RNA sequences. They investigated the base compositions of these polynucleotides using electrophoresis and paper chromatography, which enabled them to understand how the enzyme catalyzed their synthesis. These experiments allowed them to create a library of artificial RNA strands with defined sequences, such as a molecule made of only triplets of uracil that would code for phenylalanine. These artificial polynucleotides were used by Nirenberg to support the hypothesis that RNA plays a key role in the synthesis of proteins using information from DNA. The RNA sequences that Singer produced were used to match each of the twenty amino acids to a different RNA nucleotide triplet.
File:Maxine Singer, Ph.D. (33103348331).jpg
Singer's research included the study of chromatin structure and genetic recombination of viruses. During her time as the head of the Laboratory of Biochemistry at the National Cancer Institute in the 1980s, her research focused on LINEs, or long interspersed nucleotide elements. She focused on LINE-1, a retrotransposon found in mammalian genomes that is scattered in thousands of places in the human genome, which she concluded is capable of movement and insertion into new places in the chromosomal DNA.{{Cite journal|last1=Hohjoh|first1=Hirohiko|last2=Singer|first2=Maxine F.|date=October 1, 1997|title=Sequence-specific single-strand RNA binding protein encoded by the human LINE-1 retrotransposon|journal=The EMBO Journal|language=en|volume=16|issue=19|pages=6034–6043|doi=10.1093/emboj/16.19.6034|issn=0261-4189|pmid=9312060|pmc=1170233}} She studied the mechanism of how LINE-1 replicates and disperses copies to new locations in the genome, and found that the insertion of these elements could induce mutations in nearby genes, playing a role in genetic disease.
= Contributions to scientific community =
Besides her scientific research, Singer was influential in refining science policy. When she was the co-chair of the Gordon Conference in 1973, she raised concerns over the potential health effects and risks in the relatively new field of recombinant DNA technology.{{Cite web|url=https://www.aacc.org/community/awards/hall-of-fame/bios/l-to-s/maxine-singer.aspx|title=Maxine Singer|website=www.aacc.org|access-date=November 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191029140041/https://www.aacc.org/community/awards/hall-of-fame/bios/l-to-s/maxine-singer.aspx|archive-date=October 29, 2019}} She organized the 1975 Asilomar conference in order to bring together scientists to impose restrictions and draw guidelines on recombinant DNA research, where she recommended resumption of research under cautious safeguards until more was known about the potential biohazards of recombinant DNA technology.{{Cite journal|last1=Singer|first1=M.|last2=Berg|first2=P.|date=July 16, 1976|title=Recombinant DNA: NIH Guidelines|journal=Science|language=en|volume=193|issue=4249|pages=186–188|doi=10.1126/science.11643320|issn=0036-8075|pmid=11643320|bibcode=1976Sci...193..186S}}{{Cite web|url=https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/ps/retrieve/Narrative/DJ/p-nid/206|title=The Maxine Singer Papers: Biographical Information|website=profiles.nlm.nih.gov|access-date=October 24, 2017|archive-date=October 24, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024205408/https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/ps/retrieve/Narrative/DJ/p-nid/206|url-status=live}}
Singer was also an advocate for women and inclusivity in science.{{CiteQ|Q130287086}} She wrote an editorial in Science arguing that universities should encourage women pursuing science and engineering rather than wasting their skills due to unintentional bias against them.{{Cite journal|last=Singer|first=Maxine|date=November 10, 2006|title=Beyond Bias and Barriers|journal=Science|language=en|volume=314|issue=5801|pages=893|doi=10.1126/science.1135744|issn=0036-8075|pmid=17095660|doi-access=}} Singer also introduced the "First Light" project, a science education program for elementary school students in Washington, D.C. aiming to improve mathematics and science education in schools.
Singer wrote over 100 scientific papers, and also published several books with co-author Paul Berg intended to help the public have a better understanding of molecular genetics, including Genes and Genomes (1991), Dealing with Genes (1993), and George Beadle: An Uncommon Farmer (2003). In 2018 she published Blossoms: And the Genes that Make Them, which describes the genetic and evolutionary reasons that flowers bloom.{{Cite book|url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/blossoms-9780198811138?cc=us&lang=en&|title=Blossoms: And the Genes That Make Them|date=June 5, 2018|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-881113-8|location=Oxford, New York|access-date=October 15, 2020|archive-date=February 8, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220208001638/https://global.oup.com/academic/product/blossoms-9780198811138?cc=us&lang=en&|url-status=live}}
Personal life
Maxine married Daniel Singer, a Swarthmore classmate and political science major, in 1952. They had four children: Ellen, Amy, David, and Stephanie.{{cite news |date=May 31, 1993 |title=Weddings: Stephanie Singer, Stephen Fischer |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/31/style/weddings-stephanie-singer-stephen-fischer.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=June 9, 2024 |archive-date=June 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240609203730/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/31/style/weddings-stephanie-singer-stephen-fischer.html |url-status=live }}
Singer died from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and emphysema at her home in Washington, D.C., on July 9, 2024, at the age of 93.{{Cite web |date=June 12, 2024 |title=Maxine Singer, renowned biologist and advocate for STEM inclusion, dies at 93 |url=https://carnegiescience.edu/news/maxine-singer-renowned-biologist-and-advocate-stem-inclusion-dies-93 |access-date=July 10, 2024 |website=carnegiescience.edu |language=en |archive-date=July 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240709232324/https://carnegiescience.edu/news/maxine-singer-renowned-biologist-and-advocate-stem-inclusion-dies-93 |url-status=live }}{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/10/science/maxine-singer-dead.html|title=Maxine Singer, Guiding Force at the Birth of Biotechnology, Dies at 93|work=The New York Times|date=July 10, 2024|accessdate=July 10, 2024|archive-date=July 10, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240710193133/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/10/science/maxine-singer-dead.html|url-status=live}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://findingaids.loc.gov/db/search/xq/searchMfer02.xq?_id=loc.mss.eadmss.ms007071&_faSection=overview&_faSubsection=eadheader&_dmdid=d1934e2 Maxine Singer papers (1950–2004)] – Library of Congress finding aid
- [https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/DJ/ The Maxine Singer Papers] – Profiles in Science, National Library of Medicine
- [http://www.sdbonline.org/2010HamburgerPrizeTalk_MSinger.pdf "Why Can't School Science Be More Like Science?" by Maxine Singer] – Society for Developmental Biology
- [https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/distillations-pod/science-interrupted/ Science History Institute: The story of the 1975 Asilomar Conference on Recombinant DNA]
- [https://collections.awsprod.nlm.nih.gov/catalog/nlm:nlmuid-101584580X26-doc Letter from Maxine Singer and Dieter Söll to Philip Handler]
{{Winners of the National Medal of Science|biological}}
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Category:American molecular biologists
Category:American women biologists
Category:Biologists from New York (state)
Category:Deaths from emphysema
Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Category:Members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences
Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
Category:National Medal of Science laureates
Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society
Category:Yale University alumni
Category:Members of the National Academy of Medicine
Category:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America editors