Episode 82: Bioinformatics moments before the millennium
👥Guest
Professor Mark Pallen traces his journey in bioinformatics on the microbinfie podcast, revealing the transformative early moments of computational biology before the millennium.
Early Days in Bioinformatics
Mark's journey into bioinformatics began in 1977. This was the year Fred Sanger revolutionized DNA sequencing as we know it today. At the time, Mark was tasked with assembling amino acid sequences under exam conditions. He shares with us how little was known about sequences then and his initial grasp of molecular biology.
Career Milestones
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Bart's Hospital and a Eureka Moment: In the late 1980s, at Bart's Hospital in London, Mark met Brendan Wren. His first eureka moment came when he analyzed sequences encoding the enzyme urease from Helicobacter pylori. He also studied genes from a clostridial butanol fermentation pathway, which he intriguingly notes played a critical role in the formation of the state of Israel.
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PhD with Gordon Dougan: Mark's next big break was pursuing a PhD under Gordon Dougan. During this time, he honed his laboratory and bioinformatics skills and even captained a winning team on University Challenge. Remarkably, he also introduced the medical profession to the Internet.
Sequencing a Bacterial Genome
Mark recounts the thrilling moment upon hearing that a bacterial genome had been sequenced. He then recruited an 18-year-old gap year student, Nick Loman, to help analyze the first Campylobacter jejuni genome.
Looking Ahead
The episode wraps up as the new millennium begins, with hints of more exciting developments to come in future episodes.