Obituary: Donald D. Brown, groundbreaking embryologist (1931–2023)
); US cell biologist Joseph Gall reported a similar result independently the same year. The finding challenged the idea that all the cells of an organism have a constant amount of DNA. It is now also appreciated that gene amplification can be a hallmark of cancer. Brown’s 1968 work involved gene isolation before the days of DNA cloning, and the massive amount of amplified rRNA genes fromoocytes was purified through centrifugation.
The ability to engineer zinc finger proteins so they bind to specific genes ushered in the first wave of the genome-editing revolution two decades ago. Targeted genetic engineering, now widely practised using CRISPR–Cas nucleases, owes a formidable debt to Brown’s work. Don’s final studies were on amphibian metamorphosis. His identification of genes controlled by thyroid hormone provided insight into the hormonal control of organ development, cell growth and programmed cell death.
Don was a scientific leader. He received the 2012 Lasker–Koshland Special Achievement Award, organized the first Developmental Biology Gordon Conference in 1970 and was president of the US Society for Developmental Biology and the American Society for Cell Biology . He was committed to young scientists and founded and led the Life Sciences Research Foundation, which awards postdoctoral fellowships in the United States.
Don had a bottom-up and democratic view of leadership. He published profiles of researchers in the ASCB newsletter to make everyone feel part of the society ‘family’. He was a great administrator, being straightforward, honest and approachable. He was a humble man with a great sense of humour. Don was a wonderful person who inspired the scientific community through his research, his leadership and his mentorship of the rising generation. He will be missed.
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