Arthur D. Riggs, a pioneer in the field of human genetics, died on March 23 in California. He died at the age of 22.
The cause of his death was lymphoma, according to the City of Hope National Medical Center.
The impact on the field of biotechnology was revolutionary. He was a researcher who could claim to be one of the founding fathers of the $500 billion industry.
He is known for his role in the invention of artificialinsulin. He and his colleagues developed a way to use the ability to splice together strands of DNA to turn E. coli into factories for the production of hormones.
The analogy of a strip of magnetic tape was used to explain the process.
He told an interviewer from City of Hope that a cassette tape has instructions for playing music. One bit will tell you what note to play, and the next will tell you another.
It will sound different when you play it back if you cut the strip and use tape from a different recording. More or less, the same goes for DNA.
He said that when you put a gene from a mouse into a bacterium, you have to cut out a piece of mouse tape. It is possible to cut and put genes where you want them.
The basic technology behind recombinant DNA was developed by Dr. Boyer and Stanley Cohen. The technology could be used to make artificial hormones for humans.
He told The Los Angeles Business Journal that there was a need and that they chose to use cowinsulin. The rate of allergic reactions was high.
In the mid-1970s, he and his team, working alongside scientists at Genentech, a Bay Area start-up, raced against two other groups, one at Harvard and one at the University of California, San Francisco.
To prove that their idea worked, they began by making a small hormone called somatostatin. The hormone produced by thebacteria would quickly degrade. The somatostatin could be attached to a largerProtein while it was still in thebacteria and separate later.
They only needed a year to get the same results with somatostatin. The Food and Drug Administration approved a commercial version of Humulin in 1982. It was the first significant product to be approved by the agency.
The discovery made Genentech rich. He returned to City of Hope full time after Genentech ended its contract in 1984 and he declined the opportunity to make more money working in the for-profit sector.
He lived in the same house for 50 years. He gave most of his money to anonymous donors. He made an additional $100 million donation to the hospital last year.
He told The Los Angeles Business Journal that the City of Hope convinced him that if his donations were made public, he could encourage others to do the same.
Dr. Riggs later developed the foundations for a new type of immune system called a monoclonal antibodies, using the same technology to trickbacteria into producing a new type of immune system. Major advances have been made in treating cancer and other diseases.
The study of how markers attached to a gene change the way it works was begun in the 2000s.
Epigenetics is a field that is still poorly understood. Even after retiring in October 2020, Dr. Riggs continued his research, knowing that it would lead to more discoveries.
I could have retired into a South Pacific mansion and enjoyed myself on the beach, but I would have been bored within a week.
Arthur Dale Riggs was born in the state of California to a family that owned a farm.
After the Great Depression, his father moved the family to San Bernardino, where he built and operated a trailer park. Despite having only an eighth-grade education, John Riggs was able to design the park's electrical and plumbing systems himself and built autogiros, which combine elements of an airplane and a helicopter.
When Arthur was a child, his mother encouraged his interest in science by buying him a chemistry set and taking him to the library to read science fiction.
He received a degree in chemistry from the University of California in 1961, and a PhD in biochemistry from the California Institute of Technology in 1966. In 1969 he arrived at City of Hope.
Jane Merrill was married to him in 1960. He is survived by his sister, three children and three grandchildren.
In his City of Hope interview, Dr. Riggs said that he was disappointed that he never made it as a space-traveling scientist or a space cadet.
He said that he was amazed at what the field had done and that he had been a part of it. It is absolutely incredible.
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