Richard Marc Losick ( ; born 1943) is an American

molecular biologist Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...

. He is the Maria Moors Cabot Professor of Biology at Harvard University, a

Howard Hughes Medical Institute The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is an American non-profit medical research organization based in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It was founded in 1953 by Howard Hughes, an American business magnate, investor, record-setting pilot, engineer, fil ...

Professor. He is especially noted for his investigations of

endospore An endospore is a dormant, tough, and non-reproductive structure produced by some bacteria in the phylum Bacillota. The name "endospore" is suggestive of a spore or seed-like form (''endo'' means 'within'), but it is not a true spore (i.e., no ...

formation in

Gram positive In bacteriology, gram-positive bacteria are bacteria that give a positive result in the Gram stain test, which is traditionally used to quickly classify bacteria into two broad categories according to their type of cell wall. Gram-positive bact ...

organisms such as '' Bacillus subtilis''.

Education and career

Losick received his AB in Chemistry from Princeton University in 1965, and his PhD in biochemistry from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1969. Following his graduate studies, Losick was named a Junior Fellow of the Harvard Society of Fellows. He joined the Harvard faculty in 1972. He has held the position of chairman in the Departments of Cellular and Developmental Biology and Molecular and Cellular Biology. Along with Daniel Kahne,

Robert Lue Robert A. Lue (23 May 1964 – 11 November 2020) was a researcher and an academic. On 1 March 2013, he became the inaugural Richard L. Menschel Faculty Director of the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard University. He was forme ...

, and Susan Mango, he teaches Life Sciences 1a, an introductory