Microbiology and Immunology

Beckwith, Jonathan Roger WORLD OF MICROBIOLOGY AND IMMUNOLOGY

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Research Associate with The Institute of Cancer Research in

Philadelphia. He has remained at the institute ever since, as an

Assistant Member (1964–1967), Associate Member

(1967–1978), Member (1978–1986), Senior Member (1986 to

1997), and Senior Member Emeritus (1997 to present). As

well, he was an Adjunct Professor for Microbiology at the

University of Pennsylvania Medical School (1971–2000) and

a Honorary Visiting Professor at Dalhousie University,

Halifax (1981–present).

Another contribution that Bayer has made to the field of

bacterial ultrastructureis in the use of water-soluble embed-

ding resins. The resins are used to solidify samples so that thin

sections can be cut for electron microscopic examination.

Some of the early refinements to the quality of the resins and

the embedding techniques were pioneered by Bayer and his

colleagues.

In 1968, Bayer and his colleagues deduced the structure

of the structural units that form the hepatitisvirus. Their dis-

covery led to the formulation of a vaccine.

In addition to his research activities, Bayer has been a

teacher and mentor to hundreds of students over four decades.

Bayer’s research and teaching accomplishments have

garnered him numerous honors and awards, including the

Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (1977), fellow-

ship in the American Academy of Microbiology, and over 15

years as an editorial member of the Journal of Bacteriology.

See alsoBacterial ultrastructure; Electron microscopic exam-

ination of microorganisms

BEAVERFEVER•seeGIARDIA AND GIARDIASIS

BBeckwith, Jonathan RogerECKWITH, JONATHANROGER(1935- )

American microbiologist

Jonathan Roger Beckwith is the American Cancer Society

Research Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics

at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. He is

world renowned for his studies of bacterial geneexpression,

protein secretion, the structure and function of membrane pro-

teins, and bacterial division. He has authored over 230 scien-

tific publications. As well, Beckwith is a commentator of the

societal aspects of science, with over 70 publications to date.

Beckwith was born and educated in the Boston area. He

graduated from Newton High School in 1953 and went onto

Harvard College, where he graduated in 1957 with an A.B. in

Chemistry. From there, he attended Harvard University, grad-

uating with a Ph.D. in Biochemical Sciences in 1961. From

1961 until 1965, he was a National Institutes of Health post-

doctoral fellow in the laboratories of Arthur Pardee (Berkeley

and Princeton), William Hayes (London), Sidney Brenner

(Cambridge), and Francois Jacob (Paris). In 1965, he returned

to Harvard as an Associate in the Department of Bacteriology

and Immunology, the faculty he has remained with to this day

(the name of the department was changed to Microbiology and

Molecular Genetics in 1969). He became an Assistant

Professor in 1966, an Associate Professor in 1968, and a

Professor in 1969.

Beckwith’s studies of protein expression, secretion,

membrane dynamics and division in the bacterium

Escherichia colihave been of fundamental importance in both

basic bacteriology and in the development of clinical strate-

gies to deal with Escherichia coliinfections. As part of these

studies, in 1969 Beckwith was the first person to isolate a

gene.

In addition to his fundamental scientific research,

Beckwith has also been an active commentator on the social

impact of genetics, the need to present scientific issues and

topics in language that is accessible to all, and on the political

influences on scientific research.

The scope and importance of Beckwith’s achievements

in fundamental bacterial genetics and societal aspects of

genetics have been recognized by his receipt of many awards

and honors. These include a Merit Award from the National

Institutes of Health (1986), the Eli Lilly Award for outstanding

achievement in microbiology (1970), and the Genetics Society

of America Medal (1993).

Beckwith continues to research and teach at Harvard.

His laboratory remains one of the most productive and inno-

vative microbial geneticslabs in the world.

See alsoBacterial adaptation; Microbial genetics

BBehring, Emil vonEHRING, EMIL VON(1854-1917)

German bacteriologist

Emil von Behring’s discovery of the diphtheriaand tetanus

antitoxins paved the way for the prevention of these diseases

through the use of immunization. It also opened the door for

the specific treatment of such diseases with the injection of

immune serum. Behring’s stature as a seminal figure in mod-

ern medicine and immunologywas recognized in 1901, when

he received the first Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine.

Emil Adolf von Behring was born in Hansdorf, West

Prussia (now Germany). He was the eldest son of August

Georg Behring, a schoolmaster with thirteen children, and his

second wife, Augustine Zech Behring. Although his father

planned for him to become a minister, young Behring had an

inclination toward medicine. One of Behring’s teachers, rec-

ognizing both the great promise and meager circumstances of

his student, arranged for his admission to the Army Medical

College in Berlin, where he was able to obtain a free medical

education in exchange for future military service. Behring

received his doctor of medicine degree in 1878, and two years

later he passed the state examination that allowed him to prac-

tice medicine.

The army promptly sent Behring to Posen (now Poznan,

Poland), then to Bonn in 1887, and finally back to Berlin in

1888. His first published papers, which date from this period,
      dealt with the use of iodoform as an antiseptic. After complet-
      ing his military service in 1889 Behring became an assistant at
      the Institute of Hygienein Berlin, joining a team of researchers

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