Inside this issueCover storiesThe big questionsNew Kavli center for neuroscience research will untangle mysteries of the human brain Molecular gambleYale physiologist elected to National Academy of Sciences TrailblazerMagazine innovator celebrates 101 years with gifts for his medical school “family” PeopleLifelines: Expert on gene-swapping joined molecular biology at its very beginningsFor new deputy dean, focus is on top-notch care, service to patientsKidney researchers celebrate a banner yearUnconventional physician-filmmaker receives “genius” grantNew HHMI investigator says appointment liberates his scienceAwards & honorsScienceAnalysis of genome reveals clues to macular degenerationVaccinating wildlife suggests a new strategy in continuing battle against Lyme diseaseAdvances: Salmonella “syringe” ready for its close-up | Possible cancer inhibitor found in worm studyHealthA heart is repaired, the patient grows up: Program helps growing number of adult survivors of congenital diseaseMore integrated care for cancer patients, collaboration of scientists and clinicians are goals of proposed new YNHH buildingAdvances: New test easier for patients to swallow. | Study finds payoff in wider HIV testingPartnershipsPfizer and Yale join forces for research and educationA long, fruitful collaboration: Bristol-Myers Squibb and YaleDrive to cure blindness hits $5 millionClass of 1954 makes a lasting impact with scholarship giftGrants and contracts
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Lifelines: Charles M. RaddingPresent at the creationExpert on gene swapping joined molecular biology at its very beginningsCharles M. Radding, M.D., professor emeritus of genetics, did sculpture as a hobby in medical school, and his portraits demonstrated a natural aptitude for plastic surgery, according to an influential mentor who also happened to be his older brother, Philip. The elder Radding, an orthopaedic surgeon, hoped the two would someday practice in side-by-side offices. Although the scheme had some appeal, Charles already knew his passion was biochemistry, not medicine. 
DNA researcher Charles Radding has done some of his best thinking on buses. It was 1953, and Watson and Crick’s double-helix model of DNA had opened a new door to understanding for biologists, a door the fledgling biochemist Radding eagerly entered. Radding, who recently retired after 37 years at Yale, went on to become a leader in illuminating the theoretical and biochemical underpinnings of genetic recombination. Also known as gene swapping, recombination orchestrates the orderly transmission of genes from generation to generation in all organisms, and it is now recognized as an important anticancer defense that human cells use to repair tumor-causing mistakes in the genome. In the mid-1970s, while traveling on a bus filled with fellow scientists through the Scottish Highlands, Radding and Matthew Meselson of Harvard University hatched a new theoretical model of recombination. The 1975 paper they co-authored describing the model formed the basis for much of the experimental work in recombination in the years that followed. Radding’s experimental approach combined his expertise in enzymes with the latest techniques in DNA research. In 1979, he scored an experimental coup by enticing a bacterial enzyme to swap genes between two strands of DNA in a test tube. For decades thereafter, his lab in the Sterling Hall of Medicine was the source of progressively more detailed biochemical investigations of this swapping reaction.“Radding’s meticulous studies contributed greatly to understanding the individual steps involved in the recombination of DNA molecules,” says Meselson. Franklin Stahl, Meselson’s partner in the landmark “Meselson-Stahl experiment” on DNA replication, also praised Radding as lecturer and teacher. “Charlie showed a lifelong dedication to understanding the enzymology of recombination and communicating that understanding to his colleagues and students,” says Stahl, now professor emeritus of biology at the University of Oregon. A symposium to honor Radding drew Meselson, Stahl and other colleagues and former students from around the world to Yale last fall. “Charlie has trained so many successful people,” says Patrick Sung, D.Phil., professor of molecular biophysics and biochemistry, an expert on DNA repair. Sung joined other speakers at the vibrant daylong conference, which was followed by a celebration that lasted late into the evening.
In retirement, Radding looks forward to reading and writing poetry— and perhaps trying his hand at art once again. Lifelines profiles those who make Yale School of Medicine one of the world’s premier institutions for biomedical science, education and health care.
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Medicine@Yale Magazine
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June/July 2005 Volume 1 Issue 1
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