Charles Yanofsky facts for kids

Charles Yanofsky (born April 17, 1925 – died March 16, 2018) was an American geneticist. He worked as a professor at Stanford University. Yanofsky made important discoveries about how genes work. He helped show that each gene usually leads to one specific protein or enzyme. He also found a special way that RNA can control genes. This process is called attenuation.

Early Life and School

Charles Yanofsky was born in New York City on April 17, 1925. He went to the Bronx High School of Science. Later, he studied at the City College of New York. His studies were paused when he served in the military during World War II. After the war, he finished his degree in biochemistry. He then went to Yale University for his master's and PhD degrees.

Career and Discoveries

Yanofsky started teaching at Case Western Reserve Medical School in 1954. In 1958, he moved to Stanford University. There, he became an Associate Professor.

Genes and Proteins

In 1964, Yanofsky and his team made a big discovery. They showed that the order of parts in a gene (its DNA sequence) matches the order of parts in a protein. This idea is called colinearity. His work proved that changes in DNA directly cause changes in the protein. This was strong evidence for the "one gene-one enzyme" idea. This idea says that each gene gives instructions for making one specific enzyme or protein.

How RNA Controls Genes

Yanofsky's lab also found out how RNA can control genes. They showed that RNA molecules can change their shape. These shape changes help RNA act like a switch. This switch can turn genes on or off.

His student, Iwona Stroynowski, helped discover this process. They found it in bacteria, specifically for a gene that makes a substance called tryptophan. They called this process attenuation. Later, this type of control was named a riboswitch. A riboswitch is like a tiny sensor in RNA. It reacts to small molecules by changing shape. This change affects how a gene is expressed. Yanofsky's team showed this mechanism works in many bacteria and even in animal cells.

Other Work

In 1980, Yanofsky and other scientists started a research institute called DNAX. It was located in Palo Alto, California. Charles Yanofsky passed away in Palo Alto, California. He was a respected professor at Stanford University.

Personal Life

Charles Yanofsky's first wife, Carol, died in 1990. He was survived by his second wife, Edna. He also had three sons.

Awards and Honors

Charles Yanofsky received many important awards for his work.

• In 1971, he won the Albert Lasker Award. This award is sometimes called the "American Nobel Prize."
• He received the Selman A. Waksman Award in Microbiology in 1972.
• In 1976, he shared the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize with Seymour Benzer.
• He became a foreign member of the Royal Society in 1985.
• In 2003, he was given the National Medal of Science. This is one of the highest honors for scientists in the United States.