Gerald Francis "Jerry" Joyce (born 1956) is a senior vice president and chief science officer at

Salk Institute for Biological Studies The Salk Institute for Biological Studies is a scientific research institute located in the La Jolla community of San Diego, California, U.S. The independent, non-profit institute was founded in 1960 by Jonas Salk, the developer of the polio va ...

and was previously the director of the

Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation Novartis AG is a Swiss-American multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland and Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (global research).name="novartis.com">https://www.novartis.com/research-development/research-loc ...

. He is best known for his work on in vitro evolution, for the discovery of the first DNA enzyme (

deoxyribozyme Deoxyribozymes, also called DNA enzymes, DNAzymes, or catalytic DNA, are DNA oligonucleotides that are capable of performing a specific chemical reaction, often but not always catalytic. This is similar to the action of other biological enzyme ...

), for his work in discovering potential

RNA world The RNA world is a hypothetical stage in the evolutionary history of life on Earth, in which self-replicating RNA molecules proliferated before the evolution of DNA and proteins. The term also refers to the hypothesis that posits the existen ...

ribozymes, and more in general for his work on the

origin of life In biology, abiogenesis (from a- 'not' + Greek bios 'life' + genesis 'origin') or the origin of life is the natural process by which life has arisen from non-living matter, such as simple organic compounds. The prevailing scientific hypothes ...

. Joyce received his Bachelor of Arts from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

in 1978, completed his M.D. and Ph.D. at the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is ...

in 1984. He was a postdoctoral fellow and senior research associate at the

Salk Institute The Salk Institute for Biological Studies is a scientific research institute located in the La Jolla community of San Diego, California, U.S. The independent, non-profit institute was founded in 1960 by Jonas Salk, the developer of the polio vacci ...

from 1985 to 1989, and joined Scripps in 1989. Joyce was elected to the

U.S. National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Natio ...

in 2001, to the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

(2011) and to the

Institute of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly called the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Eng ...

(2014). He has been a professor at

The Scripps Research Institute Scripps Research, previously known as The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), is a nonprofit American medical research facility that focuses on research and education in the biomedical sciences. Headquartered in San Diego, California, the instit ...

until 2016 and served as Dean of the Faculty at Scripps from 2006 to 2011, during which time he was instrumental in founding a second campus in Jupiter, Florida. Joyce has served as the chair of the JASON advisory group, which he joined in 1996. Joyce received the Urey medal of the

International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

(ISSOL) in 2005."ISSOL Medals and Honors"
/ref> In 2009, Joyce's lab was the first to produce a self-replicating in vitro system, capable of exponential growth and continuing evolution, composed entirely of RNA enzymes.

Awards

NAS Award in Molecular Biology The NAS Award in Molecular Biology is awarded by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences "for recent notable discovery in molecular biology by a young scientist who is a citizen of the United States." It has been awarded annually since its inception ...

, 1994 *

Pfizer Award in Enzyme Chemistry The Pfizer Award in Enzyme Chemistry, formerly known as the Paul-Lewis Award in Enzyme Chemistry was established in 1945. Consisting of a gold medal and honorarium, its purpose is to stimulate fundamental research in enzyme chemistry by scientists ...

, 1995 * Herbert W. Dickerman Award, 1997 *

Hans Sigrist Prize The Hans Sigrist Prize is awarded by the Hans Sigrist Foundation, at the University of Bern in Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other fe ...

, 1997 * H. C. Urey Award, 2005 * Dannie Heineman Prize, 2009 *

Stanley Miller Medal The Stanley Miller Medal is an award to be presented by the National Academy of Sciences every five years to promote research and study in the fields of "research on Earth's early development as a planet, including prebiotic chemistry and the origin ...

, 2010

References

External links

Summary of Joyce's researchGerald Joyce profile

The Joyce Laboratory
a
The Scripps Research InstituteGerald Joyce at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Joyce, Gerald 1956 births Living people Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences American biochemists People from San Diego University of California, San Diego alumni Scripps Research faculty Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of JASON (advisory group) Novartis people Salk Institute for Biological Studies people Members of the National Academy of Medicine