Baltimore, David (1938-…), an American virologist (an expert who deals with viruses and viral diseases), carried out research into how certain viruses affect the genes of cancer cells. For his work, Baltimore was awarded the 1975 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine, along with Howard Temin and Renato Dulbecco from Italy. See Dulbecco, Renato ; Temin, Howard Martin .
It was evident that certain viruses could cause the formation of tumors, but Baltimore and fellow American Howard Temin carried out research into how the ribonucleic acid (RNA) genes in these viruses could attach themselves to the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in animal cells, thereby causing them to transform and become cancerous (see Cancer ; Cell ). In 1970, Baltimore and Temin also discovered an enzyme in the potentially cancerous RNA virus particles; these particles could produce DNA versions of the virus’s genetic material in an infected host cell. Scientists previously thought that it was only possible to produce the simpler genetic substance of RNA from DNA and that the process could not work in reverse order.
Baltimore was born on March 7, 1938, in New York City. From 1956 to 1964, he studied at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Rockefeller University in New York City, receiving a degree in chemistry and two Ph.D.’s. From 1968 to 1972, he was an associate professor of microbiology at MIT and later became a professor of biology. He returned to Rockefeller University to serve as president in 1990 and 1991, and as a faculty member until 1994. He returned to MIT as professor from 1995 to 1997. From 1997 to 2006, he served as president at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). He continues to teach and conduct research at Caltech.
