Photo by Bob Paz - California Institute of Technology

DAVID BALTIMORE

(b. 1938)

INTERVIEWED BY SARA LIPPINCOTT

October ? November 2009

Photo by Bob Paz

ARCHIVES CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Pasadena, California

Subject area

Biology, microbiology, medicine, virology, Nobel Prize, Caltech administration

Abstract

Interview in three sessions, October-November 2009, with David Baltimore, Robert Andrews Millikan Professor of Biology and president emeritus of Caltech (1997-2006).

He recalls his childhood and early education in Great Neck, NY, his aptitude for science, and a summer at the Jackson Laboratory in Maine (1955), which confirmed his vocation. He discusses interest in molecular biology at Swarthmore (B.A. 1960); 1959 summer at Cold Spring Harbor with G. Streisinger; meeting S. Luria and C. Levinthal; graduate work at MIT and Rockefeller (PhD 1964); 1961 summer at Albert Einstein College of Medicine; postdoc at MIT with J. Darnell and Einstein with J. Hurwitz. Recalls his discovery of polio polymerase and demonstration that RNA chains initiate with a triphosphate.



In 1965 he is invited to join Salk Institute by R. Dulbecco; returns to MIT as associate professor in 1968. Recalls his 1970 discovery of reverse transcriptase and copublication with H. Temin; 1975 Asilomar conference on recombinant DNA; 1975 Nobel Prize with Temin and Dulbecco; founding of Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research; National Academy of Sciences committee on national strategy for AIDS. Comments briefly on investigation of T. ImanishiKari for fraud and his return to MIT from Rockefeller University in 1994.

He discusses vetting process for Caltech presidency, his 1998 inauguration, and highlights of his presidency, including purchase of St. Luke's Medical Center, $1.4 billion capital campaign, and building Broad Center for the Biological Sciences. Comments on Caltech architecture, including Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics; receiving National Medal of Science in 2000; L. Van Parijs dismissal from MIT and prior work in Baltimore's lab; and the prospects for human enhancement and understanding of consciousness.

Administrative information

Access The interview is unrestricted.

Copyright Copyright has been assigned to the California Institute of Technology ? 2010. All requests for permission to publish or quote from the transcript must be submitted in writing to the Head of Archives and Special Collections.

Preferred citation Baltimore, David. Interview by Sara Lippincott. Pasadena, California, October 13, November 19 and 25, 2009. Oral History Project, California Institute of Technology Archives. Retrieved [supply date of retrieval] from the World Wide Web:

Contact information Archives, California Institute of Technology Mail Code 015A-74 Pasadena, CA 91125 Phone: (626)395-2704 Fax: (626)395-4073 Email: archives@caltech.edu

Graphics and content ? 2010 California Institute of Technology.



CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ARCHIVES ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

INTERVIEW WITH DAVID BALTIMORE

BY SARA LIPPINCOTT PASADENA, CALIFORNIA

Funding for this oral history provided by The Friends of the Caltech Libraries

Copyright ? 2010 by the California Institute of Technology

Baltimore?ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTERVIEW WITH DAVID BALTIMORE

Session 1 1-13

Family history, childhood in Great Neck, LI, NY. Mother's academic career. Early scientific aptitude. Summer 1955 at Jackson Lab, Bar Harbor, Maine, after junior year in high school. Meets H. Temin. Muted reaction to Watson-Crick discovery of double helix. Comments on Meselson-Stahl experiment (1958). Jackson Lab talk by F. Duran-Reynals on viral cause of cancer.

14-22 Visits Swarthmore, Harvard; chooses Swarthmore. Comments on J. D. Watson's Harvard career. State of biology at Swarthmore in late 1950s; teaches molecular biology his senior year.

23-27 Visits Cold Spring Harbor as Swarthmore undergraduate. H. Gay, G. Streisinger. Accepted into Undergraduate Research Program (URP), summer 1959. Work on phage presented to A. Hershey and J. Tomizawa. S. Luria, C. Levinthal, M. Delbr?ck. Luria invites Baltimore to do graduate work at MIT.

28-33 Graduate work, MIT, 1960. Takes up mammalian biology. Summer 1961, Albert Einstein Coll. of Medicine, P. Marcus. Animal virus course, Cold Spring Harbor, with R. Franklin and E. Simon. Interest in biochemistry. Moves to Rockefeller Institute (now Rockefeller University) 1961, working with Franklin; F. Lipmann, J. Schwartz, D. Nathans. PhD 1964. Postdoc, MIT 1963, J. Darnell; 1964, Albert Einstein, J. Hurwitz. Comments on earlier discovery of polio polymerase. Demonstrates that RNA chains initiate with a triphosphate.

34-41 R. Dulbecco invites him to join newly established Salk Institute. Involvement of L. Szilard. Comments on J. Salk. Arrives Salk April 1965. M. Girard, A. Huang. Life in La Jolla; reasons for leaving. Returns to MIT as assoc. professor, January 1968.

Session 2 42-51

Marries A. Huang October 1968; daughter Teak; comments on NYC. Reverse transcriptase; 1970 copublication with H. Temin. Temin's pursuit of provirus idea. 1975 Asilomar conference on recombinant DNA; M. Singer, D. S?ll, P. Berg. Cambridge City Council's reaction.

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51-55 1975 Nobel Prize with Temin and Dulbecco. Awards ceremony; premature announcement by G. Klein in Copenhagen; Huang phones him. Reaction at home.

56-68 Founding of Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. J. Whitehead's history; his selection of DB as director and MIT as site, 1982. NAS committee on national strategy for AIDS, 1986. W. Rosenblith, S. Wolff. Prospects for AIDS vaccine. T. Imanishi-Kari episode; comments on J. Dingell. Resigns Rockefeller presidency 1991; stays on to do research; returns to MIT 1994.

Session 3 69-79

1996, approached by Caltech presidential search committee chaired by K. Thorne. First approach ten years earlier. Secretive vetting process; D. Kevles book; Caltech's reputation in biology. NIH AIDS vaccine program. Presidential inauguration, March 1998.

80-88 Hale Solar Observatory. Purchase of St. Luke's Medical Center, 2003; 30-meter telescope design project. DB's lab on immunology. Establishing Broad Center for the Biological Sciences. Comments on Caltech architecture.

89-99 Capital campaign, $1.4 billion; record $600 million gift of G. Moore; involvement of W. Weisman. Building of Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics. R. Serra controversy. Problems with R. Koolhaas and Annenberg Center for Information Science and Technology. Receives National Medal of Science from Pres. Clinton, March 2000.

100-106 2005, DB lab gets $14 million grant from Gates Foundation. Comments on U. Penn gene therapy trials resulting in death of J. Gelsinger. Comments on L. Van Parijs dismissal from MIT and prior work in DB lab. DB continues research in his lab in wake of Caltech presidency. Comments on prospects for human enhancement and understanding of consciousness.

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