InterViews

Daniel E. Koshland, Jr.
biochemistry
(recorded April 2004)

Daniel Koshland's research has dramatically changed the understanding of enzymes and protein chemistry. Among his contributions is the "induced fit" theory of enzyme interaction, which posits that enzymes change shape as they react with other molecules. His current research focuses on understanding the catalytic power of enzymes and the biochemistry of Alzheimer's disease. Koshland majored in chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, before serving as a group leader in the Manhattan Project during World War II, working to purify plutonium. He earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Chicago in 1949 and did his postdoctoral research at Harvard University. In 1951, Koshland moved to Brookhaven National Laboratory, later holding a joint appointment at Brookhaven and Rockefeller University. In 1965, Koshland returned to Berkeley, where he served as head of the department of biochemistry and the Chancellor's Advisory Council on Biology. From 1985 to 1995, Koshland was editor-in-chief of Science magazine. Koshland established the Academy's Marian Koshland Science Museum in honor of his wife, a noted immunologist. Koshland died on July 23, 2007.

Listen to the Interview (requires free RealPlayer software):

 TRACK 1: From Baseball to Biochemistry
Koshland discusses his early interest in science. Two books -- Paul de Kruif's Microbe Hunters and Sinclair Lewis's Arrowsmith -- were particularly inspirational. Koshland discusses personality traits that may act as selection factors for potential scientists. He recounts how his latent interest in science and math emerged as his high school baseball career faltered. (10 minutes)

 TRACK 2: The Manhattan Project
As an undergraduate at the University of California, Berkeley, Koshland majored in chemistry. However, he was most interested in biology, which was considered by many to be the "third science," insufficiently rigorous. As Koshland finished college, World War II started. After the Navy rejected him because of his poor vision, Koshland accepted an invitation from a Berkeley professor to join Glenn Seaborg's group in Chicago -- a part of the Manhattan Project. There he spent three years working on the chemistry of plutonium, the fuel that would power the atomic bomb. (9 minutes)

 TRACK 3: A Two-Career Couple
Koshland met and married his wife, immunologist Marian Elliot Koshland, during World War II. He talks about balancing two research careers and five children, beginning in Chicago and Oak Ridge, Tenn., as part of the war effort, and continuing at Harvard University and the University of California, Berkeley. (10 minutes)

 TRACK 4: Post-War, Pre-Berkeley
Koshland discusses his doctoral research on the metabolism of glucose, for which he developed a procedure for selectively labeling glucose molecules with radioactive carbon, and his postdoctoral research on the hydrolysis of high-energy phosphates, molecules which are key in human metabolism. He reflects on his career trajectory, from the Manhattan Project to the University of Chicago, Harvard University, Brookhaven National Laboratory and Rockefeller University, and finally the University of California, Berkeley. (9 minutes)

 TRACK 5: "You Can Never Convince Your Critics, Just Outgrow Them"
Koshland remembers his years at Brookhaven National Laboratory. He discusses his experiences publishing novel and sometimes controversial research, including his landmark "induced fit" theory of enzyme interactions. (10 minutes)

 TRACK 6: The Academic Culture
Koshland compares the experiences of working in industry and academia. He emphasizes the importance of learning to change your thinking completely when evidence warrants it; each revolution prepares you for the next. In the late 1980s, he and his wife spearheaded a massive, then-controversial restructuring of the biological sciences at Berkeley. Although the university’s biology offerings were top-ranked, a growing inability to attract the best young professors and graduate students spurred the changes. (10 minutes)

 TRACK 7: Life Beyond the Laboratory
Koshland talks about life outside the laboratory -- specifically, his committee service at Berkeley, his philanthropy, and his tenure as editor of Science magazine. (11 minutes)

 TRACK 8: The Marian Koshland Science Museum
A grant from Koshland established the National Academy of Sciences' Marian Koshland Science Museum in honor of his late wife, also an NAS member. The museum focuses on increasing the public understanding of science, which was one of Marian Koshland's passions. Daniel Koshland discusses the development of the museum, which opened in April 2004. (8 minutes)

Last Updated: 07-23-2007