Jef D. Boeke

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland ~Founder and Director, HiT Center; Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics; Professor of Oncology. Pioneer in using genetics of the yeast Saccharomyces to answer fundamental problems in biology of higher cells. Found that the yeast Ty1 element transposes through an RNA intermediate, the first proof of a retrotransposition mechanism; coined the term retrotransposon. Showed that the L1 retrotransposon, which makes up a substantial fraction of the human genome, can retrotranspose, but through a different mechanism than Ty1; discovered the L1 endonuclease activity. Identified retrotransposon host factors, including the yeast lariat debranching enzyme, Dbr1. Created synthetic versions of mammalian retrotransposons that identified how their transposition rate is controlled. Made conceptual and technical contributions to chromatin biology, discovered the conserved nature of the sirtuin protein deacetylase gene family, discovered new forms of gene silencing, and invented methods for the massively parallel analysis of pooled collections of bar-coded deletion and point mutants. Pioneer in the new field of synthetic biology. Led the ongoing effort to achieve the first complete synthesis of the genome of a higher cell.~~