TWiV 197: Cloning HeLa cells with Professor Philip I Marcus

August 26, 2012

Philip I. MarcusHosts: Vincent Racaniello and Philip I. Marcus

Vincent travels to the University of Connecticut to meet up with Professor Philip I. Marcus to discuss his development of the single cell cloning technique in the early 1950s.

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  • ErikCarter

    Such a wonderful TWiV episode! I’m very happy that you were able to get ahold of Dr. Marcus. He told this story briefly in our virology class, but he didn’t go into as much detail as here, so this was very valuable.

  • Liliana Souza

    Thanks for this great interview, you guys are an inspiration.

  • Fili_bucardo

    This was great!!

  • Matt

    I love listening to him describe the first experiment where he sees the HeLa cells divide on the platform.  ”First there was one cell, and then 24 hours later there were 2 cells!”  You can tell still sees it in his memory and remembers everything about that day.  Love it.

  • http://www.virology.ws profvrr

    He had an amazing recall of the events, and is still highly enthusiastic. It’s great to see that after so many years. I hope I do (well, I’ll have the enthusiasm, not sure about the memory).

  • Elle P

    By far one of my favorite Twiv’s! I love it when you interview someone and let them tell their story.

  • Matt

    I think this is the beginning of a “Pioneers of Science” series.  Who else is still around?

  • Roseanne

    I hope other scientists may be this genuine in attributing credit to contribution by others.

  • http://www.facebook.com/ray.thor.5 Ray Thor

    Genetic engineering or cloning can extend the life-span of
    humans. Both can be used for good or evil purposes, many of which we are not
    presently aware. It will change every aspect of our culture. In scientific
    research when you open one door of discovery you find many more doors across
    the threshold. I wrote an ebook mystery novel on the subject titled BLOODGUILTY
    which is available on KINDLE bookstore by RAYMOND THOR.

    Click here:

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_nr_i_0?rh=k%3Araymond+thor%2Ci%3Adigital-text&keywords=raymond+thor&ie=UTF8&qid=1344014633

  • http://www.facebook.com/raphaeldiyfernandez Raphael Fernandez

    While doing the transcribing and researching for the many names that Drs. Racaniello and Marcus were mentioning during their conversation, I chanced upon a PDF document of the life and work of another distinguished scientist whose name was mentioned in the interview – Dr. Bill Joklik. The article, entitled “The Adventures of a Biochemist in Virology” was written by no other than Dr. Joklik in 2005. Link:  
    http://mgm.duke.edu/faculty/images/joklik_bio.pdf

  • Joseph Coco

    I hate to say negative things, but this web cast didn’t catch my interest nearly as much as other TWiVs. My apologies to Dr. Marcus. If it’s any consolation, my life is much less interesting than his :)

  • Virologist

    It would be more interesting if one understood basic biology that led to molecular biology and eventually bioinformatics.