Allan Maxam Explained

Allan Maxam
Doctoral Advisor:	Walter Gilbert
Known For:	Maxam–Gilbert sequencing

Allan Maxam (born October 28, 1942) is one of the pioneers of molecular genetics. He was one of the contributors to develop a DNA sequencing method at Harvard University, while working as a student in the laboratory of Walter Gilbert.^[1]

Walter Gilbert and Allan Maxam developed a DNA sequencing method - now called Maxam-Gilbert sequencing - which combined chemicals that cut DNA only at specific bases with radioactive labeling and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis to determine the sequence of long DNA segments.^[2]

Allan Maxam and Walter Gilbert’s 1977 paper “A new method for sequencing DNA” was honored by a Citation for Chemical Breakthrough Award from the Division of History of Chemistry of the American Chemical Society for 2017. It was presented to the Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology, Harvard University.^[3]

References

• Gilbert, Walter and Maxam. Allan, The Nucleotide Sequence of the Lac Operator, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 70, 3581-3584 (1973).
• Maxam AM, Tizard R, Skryabin KG, Gilbert W, Promoter region for yeast 5S ribosomal RNA, Nature. 1977 June 16;267(5612):643-5

See also

• Walter Gilbert
• Fred Sanger

Notes and References

1. http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1980/gilbert-lecture.pdf DNA SEQUENCING AND GENE STRUCTURE, Walter Gilbert Nobel lecture, 8 December, 1980
2. Maxam AM, Gilbert W, Sequencing end-labeled DNA with base-specific chemical cleavages, Methods Enzymol. 1980;65(1):499-560
3. Web site: Citations for Chemical Breakthrough Awards 2017 Awardees. Division of the History of Chemistry. 12 March 2018.