Reed B. Wickner (born c. 1942) is an American

yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constitut ...

geneticist. In 1994 he proposed that the 'PSI''+and RE3

phenotype In genetics, the phenotype () is the set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism. The term covers the organism's morphology or physical form and structure, its developmental processes, its biochemical and physiological proper ...

s in ''

Saccharomyces cerevisiae ''Saccharomyces cerevisiae'' () (brewer's yeast or baker's yeast) is a species of yeast (single-celled fungus microorganisms). The species has been instrumental in winemaking, baking, and brewing since ancient times. It is believed to have been o ...

'', a form of budding yeast, were caused by

prion Prions are misfolded proteins that have the ability to transmit their misfolded shape onto normal variants of the same protein. They characterize several fatal and transmissible neurodegenerative diseases in humans and many other animals. It ...

forms of native

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...

s - specifically, the

Sup35p Sup35p is the ''Saccharomyces cerevisiae'' (a yeast) eukaryotic translation release factor. More specifically, it is the yeast eukaryotic release factor 3 (eRF3), which forms the translation termination complex with eRF1 (Sup45p in yeast). This co ...

and

Ure2p Ure2p is a yeast protein that represses transcription of genes involved in nitrogen catabolism. It specifically regulates the utilization of poor nitrogen sources in the presence of preferred nutrients such as ammonia or glutamine. Ure2p is one ...

proteins, respectively. Wickner graduated from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

with a B.A. degree in 1962. He then went to medical school at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

and received his M.D. degree in 1966. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences AAAS)"AAAS Honors Three from NIH"
/ref> and the American Academy of Microbiology, and has been a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is (as of 2012) Chief of the Laboratory of Biochemistry and Genetics at the National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases, part of the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

. His research interests pertain to prions and amyloid diseases.

References

American geneticists Cornell University alumni Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences 1940s births Living people Georgetown University School of Medicine alumni National Institutes of Health people Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science {{geneticist-stub