was named Willson Professor of Biochemistry at Stan-
ford University in 1970, when he became chairman of
the Department of Biochemistry.
He is considered the father of the controversial
branch of biochemistry known as genetic engineering.
He was the first person to manufacture a human hor-
mone from a virus combined with genes from a bacte-
rial chromosome. In 1980 he was awarded the Nobel
Prize in chemistry “for his fundamental studies of the
biochemistry of nucleic acids, with particular regard to
recombinant-DNA.”
He is a nonresident fellow of Salk Institute (1973
to present) and has been elected to the U.S. National
Academy of Sciences and American Academy of Sci-
ences (1966); has received the Distinguished Alumnus
Award from Pennsylvania State University (1972); has
served as president of the American Society of Biologi-
cal Chemists (1975); has received an honorary D.Sc.
from Yale University and the University of Rochester
(1978); and has been named a foreign member of the
Japan Biochemical Society (1978). Other awards
include the Eli Lilly Prize in Biochemistry (1959); Cali-
fornia Scientist of the Year (1963); V.D. Mattia Award
of the Roche Institute for Molecular Biology (1974);
Sarasota Medical Award (1979); Gairdner Foundation
Annual Award (1980); Albert Lasker Medical Research
Award (1980); and the New York Academy of Sciences
Award (1980). He served in the U.S. Navy (1944–46).
Berg has continued to conduct research in the
Department of Biochemistry at Stanford, where his
focus is the mechanism of repairing DNA damage. He
continues to influence federal policy regarding stem cell
research, biotechnology, and human cloning.
beta (β) decay A process in which unstable atoms
can become more stable. There are two types of beta
decay: beta-minus and beta-plus. During beta-minus
decay, a neutron in an atom’s nucleus turns into a pro-
ton and emits an electron and an antineutrino. During
beta-plus decay, a proton in an atom’s nucleus turns
into a neutron and emits a positron and a neutrino.
Both changes add or lose a proton and cause one ele-
ment to turn into another.
beta (β) particle A charged particle that is emitted
from the nucleus of an atom when a neutron decays.
The particle has a mass equal to 1/1,837 that of a pro-
ton. If the beta particle is negatively charged, it is iden-
tical to an electron. If it is positively charged, it is called
a positron.beta (β) sheet Preferentially called a beta pleated
sheet; a regular structure in an extended polypeptide
chain, stabilized in the form of a sheet by hydrogen
bonds between CO and NH groups of adjacent (paral-
lel or antiparallel) chains.beta (β) strand Element of a BETA SHEET. One of the
strands that is hydrogen bonded to a parallel or
antiparallel strand to form a beta sheet.beta (β) turn A hairpin structure in a polypeptide
chain reversing its direction by forming a hydrogen
bond between the CO group of AMINO-ACID RESIDUEn
with the NH group of residue (n+3).
See alsoHELIX.bifunctional catalysis Catalysis (usually for hydro-
gen ion [HYDRON] transfer) by a bifunctional CHEMI-
CAL SPECIES involving a mechanism in which both
FUNCTIONAL GROUPs are implicated in the RATE-CON-
TROLLING STEPso that the corresponding CATALYTIC
COEFFICIENTis larger than that expected for catalysis
by chemical species containing only one of these func-
tional groups. The term should not be used to describe
the concerted action of two different catalysts (“con-
certed catalysis”).
See alsoCONCERTED PROCESS.bifunctional ligand A LIGAND that is capable of
simultaneous use of two of its donor atoms to bind to
one or more CENTRAL ATOMs.
See alsoAMBIDENTATE.bimolecular reaction The collision and combination
of two reactants involved in the rate-limiting step.
See alsoRATE-CONTROLLING STEP.26 beta (β) decay