Museum Acquires First Automated Protein Sequencer, Celebrates Dreyer
(Click on a photo to see larger image)
The National Museum of Health and Medicine celebrated links among the genome, creativity, and the arts through a series of conversations entitled “A Creative Spiral: Exploring the Genome through Technological Innovation & the Arts,” in light of the exhibit “Gregor Mendel: Planting the Seeds of Genetics.”
 | The automated protein sequencer
made it possible to obtain sequence
information from very small quantities
of protein, which then allowed corre-
sponding genes to be identified in DNA
libraries. This technology jump-started
the modern-day genetic revolution.
It is on display in the museum in
Washington, D.C.
| The event celebrated the creative genius of William J. Dreyer, Ph.D., California Institute of Technology (Caltech), inventor of the first automated protein sequencer, and explored how this pivotal technology was created by a highly innovative visual thinker, leading to an unfolding biotech revolution and a convergence of science and the arts. The “Gas-Liquid Solid Phase Peptide and Protein Sequenator” was recently acquired by the museum’s Historical Collections from Janet Dreyer, wife of the late Dreyer.
In 1977, Dreyer, a biochemist at Caltech, was awarded the patent for the automated protein sequencer, which is used to determine the sequence of the long chain of amino acids from a protein sample. Biochemists during the 1970s were interested in protein chemistry to better understand how cells functioned and interacted in their environment. This machine automated the extraction of pure protein samples for research. The protein to be studied was isolated through a series of chemical reactions intended to break apart and then reconnect the amino acids onto a protein molecule fixed to a support surface with microscopic pores.
Today’s most advanced protein sequencers--descendants of Dreyer’s idea--are capable of analyzing proteins in the 1 quadrillionth of a mole (mole = 0.012 kilograms of carbon 12). Among uses for this technology is the identification of protein biomarkers (waste products or signaling chemicals) in the blood to indicate the presence of disease. The relative abundance of different biomarkers in the blood can reveal whether cells have died from natural death, oxygen deprivation or infection. Whether illnesses originate from abnormal genes or altered proteins, in the end, all diseases involve protein pathologies.
 | Famed biochemist Maxine Singer, winner of the
Mendel Medal, discusses the history of genetics,
beginning with Gregor Mendel and his experiments
with peas.
| Participants in the event included: Maxine F. Singer, famed biochemist and winner of the Mendel Medal; Janet Dreyer, scientist, artist and wife of the late Dreyer, who discussed his scientific discoveries, his inventions and his place in the history of the biotech revolution; Brandon King, grandson of Dreyer and a developer of bioinformatics visualization and analysis software, who talked about how his grandfather shaped his own education and work; Thomas G.
West, the author of “In the Mind’s Eye” and “Thinking Like Einstein,” who discussed the role of creativity and dyslexia in the work of highly innovative visual thinkers such as Dreyer; and Lori Andrews, professor of law, Chicago-Kent University of Law, and author of the novel “Sequence,” who used the works of genetic artists to explore the legal protections of people’s genetic privacy.
Dreyer was a molecular immunologist and Caltech professor of biology from 1963 to 2004. He completed his Ph.D. in biochemistry at the University of Washington in 1956. He then went to work at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a National Polio Foundation postdoctoral and as a research scientist studying the genetic code. While at NIH, he invented machinery for automating biochemical analyses. In 1963, he was appointed professor in biology division of Caltech. He collaborated with J. Claude Bennett researching the genetic coding for protein structure, gene splicing and monoclonal antibodies. He developed the automated protein sequencer while he was consulting with Spinco division of Beckman Instruments. He died of cancer in 2004.
|
