SITE MENU

Rowland H. Davis

Professor Emeritus, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry School of Biological Sciences

PH.D., Harvard University, 1958

Research Interests Microbial genetics, history, arginine, polyamines, metabolism, Neurospora

Professional Society Genetics Society of America American Society for Microbiology International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Abstract Dr. Davis now concentrates on the history of the use of microorganisms during the rise of genetics and molecular biology in the 20th century. During that time, model microbes, such as filamentous fungi, yeast, bacteria, bacteriophage, paramecium, and the alga Chlamydomonas, came to play a central role in these fields. All were simple, displayed the capacity for genetic recombination, and most could be used easily for biochemical and molecular analysis, particularly after the discovery of DNA structure. The concentration on a few species reflected the fact that genetic analysis required intraspecific crosses. Because of the simplicity and small number of the organisms used, a widespread impression that living things were fairly simple prevailed, a view that has been overturned in the modern, genomic age. Davis has published two books and several articles in this area, one on the fungus Neurospora, and the other entitled The Microbial Models of Molecular Biology. Davis has published over 100 articles, most of them on laboratory studies of the physiology, biochemical genetics, and molecular biology of arginine and polyamine biosynthesis, using Neurospora as an experimental organism.

Other Experience

Member, National Science Foundation Genetic Biology Panel, 1967—1970 Member, National Institutes of Health Genetics Study Section, 1974—1977 Chair, National Institutes of Health Genetics Study Section, 1982—1986

Updated: Last Updated: 02/07/2006