Sir Richard J. Roberts
Richard J. Roberts, Ph.D., Hon DSc is Nobel Laureate, Biochemist, Molecular Biologist, and Chief Scientific Officer at New England Biolabs, working on restriction enzymes.
Rich was awarded the 1993 Nobel Prize in Medicine, along with Phillip Allen Sharp, for the discovery of introns in eukaryotic DNA and the mechanism of gene splicing. It has since been established that the discontinuous gene structure discovered by Roberts and Sharp is the most common structure found in higher organisms, specifically eukaryotes. In addition to having significant implications for the study of genetic diseases, this structure is believed to drive evolution by allowing information from different parts of the gene to be combined in new ways.
Rich’s discovery of the alternative splicing of genes has had a profound impact on the study and applications of molecular biology. The realization that individual genes could exist as separate, disconnected segments within longer strands of DNA first arose in his 1977 study of adenovirus, one of the viruses responsible for causing the common cold. The segments of DNA that code for proteins are interrupted by lengthy stretches of DNA that do not contain genetic information. The coding segments are called exons; the noncoding ones are called introns.
His research in this field led to a fundamental shift in our understanding of genetics and resulted in the discovery of split genes in higher organisms, including humans. Read An amazing sequence arrangement at the 5’ ends of adenovirus 2 messenger RNA.
Rich joined the Massachusetts-based biotechnology company New England Biolabs permanently in 1992. He became their chief consultant after meeting the company’s founder, Don Comb, around 1974. He had previously tried unsuccessfully to convince James Watson to start a restriction enzyme company at Cold Spring Harbor. Rich admires the philosophy of Don Comb, who founded the company primarily to support research. Researchers at New England Biolabs are allowed to spend two-thirds of their time on basic research.
At NEB, his role is to oversee and conduct his research. In addition, Rich is interested in using bioinformatics to explore microbial genomes and using restriction systems as a paradigm for other types of genes that are present. His laboratory has a long history of working on restriction enzymes and their DNA methyltransferases. These DNA methyltransferase genes are a specific example of a more general class of mosaic genes, which contain a mixture of well-conserved segments and more variable regions. The restriction enzyme genes exemplify the species and/or strain-specific genes that typically have no homologs in GenBank. He looks for general ways to predict function in such cases.
He is interested in discovering new enzymes through the combination of bioinformatics and biochemical experiments. He runs REBASE, a database of restriction enzymes and their associated methyltransferases. Read A Modern Day Gene Genie Sir Richard Roberts on Rebase.
His most recent studies have focused on DNA methyltransferases. These enzymes are exciting thanks to the advent of a new technique called PacBio sequencing, also known as SMRT sequencing. This technology permits the simple discovery of recognition sequences for methylases, revealing hundreds of new specificities and many enzymes not part of restriction systems. The technique has shown that bacteria may use DNA methylation in more complex ways than previously thought.
He is also involved in the COMBREX project, which aims to annotate prokaryotic genomes. A specific example of his current interest is the methylase M.Cdi361 found in Clostridium difficile. He notes that blocking the expression of this methylase prevents C. diff from sporulating, which is crucial for the infection. Discoveries related to this have led to two drugs in clinical trials that aim to cure C. diff infections by blocking this sporulation process. Read COMBREX: a project to accelerate the functional annotation of prokaryotic genomes.
Rich has also been involved in a large project with the National Cancer Institute, examining over a thousand Helicobacter pylori strains from cancer patients worldwide to understand the differences between strains that cause cancer and those that do not. This bacterium has more methylases than any other known bacterium, and his work there explores the different roles of Type I and Type II methylation systems. Read Gene content, phage cycle regulation model and prophage inactivation disclosed by prophage genomics in the Helicobacter pylori Genome Project.
Beyond his research, Rich is known for his activism and advocacy. He was knighted in 2008. He believes that Nobel laureates have a platform and a responsibility to communicate science and work towards positive change. He has advocated for causes like open access to scientific literature. He is a prominent leader in the pro-GMO campaign, advocating for the safety and benefits of GMOs, particularly in developing countries. Read An open letter to Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi.
In 2016, Rich and other Nobel laureates composed and signed a Laureates Letter Supporting Precision Agriculture (GMOs) addressed to the leaders of Greenpeace, the United Nations, and global governments. He has advocated for Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in general and Golden Rice in particular to advance health in developing countries, noting the high safety record of GM foods.
He famously mobilized Nobel laureates and diplomats to help free Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian student sentenced to death in Libya in connection with an HIV outbreak. Rich emphasizes the importance of science communication, suggesting the use of visuals and collaborative efforts with creative arts. He strongly advocates for educating young people in science and encouraging them to become activists, believing they can influence older generations and policy.
He is an atheist and has also spoken about the historical mistreatment of women in science and recommended books highlighting these issues. Read A bright journey to atheism, or a road that ignores all the signs?
In 1992, Rich received an honorary doctorate from Uppsala University’s Faculty of Medicine in Sweden. After becoming a Nobel laureate in 1993, he was awarded an Honorary Degree, Doctor of Science, by the University of Bath in 1994. He also received the Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement and the Convocation Award from Sheffield University, both in 1994. In 2021, he was awarded the Lomonosov Gold Medal by the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Roberts was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1995 and a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) in the same year. He was awarded The Gabor Medal from the Royal Society in 2007. In 2005, a multimillion-pound expansion to the chemistry department at the University of Sheffield, where he had studied, was named after him. A refurbished science department at Beechen Cliff School (previously City of Bath Boys’ School) was also named after him, as he had donated a substantial sum of his Nobel Prize winnings to the school.
Richard was knighted in the 2008 Birthday Honours. He is a member of the Advisory Board of Patient Innovation. This nonprofit, international, multilingual platform provides a free venue for patients and caregivers of any disease to share their innovations.
Rich has been a Member of the Advisory Board of the International Peace Foundation since 2004 and is a Member of the Advisory Board at the Vaccine & Immunotherapy Center (VIC) and Member of the American Association for Cancer Research. He became Medicus Magnus of the Polish Academy of Medicine in 1998, and in 1997, he was Elected Fellow at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and became a Fellow at the American Academy of Microbiology in the same year. He was also Elected Foreign Fellow at National Academy of Sciences, Pakistan, in 1996.
Richard has been a keynote speaker at the Congress of Future Medical Leaders in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2020. He is also the chairman of The Laureate Science Alliance, a nonprofit that supports research worldwide.
Read New England Biolabs® Chief Scientific Officer Elected to National Academy of Sciences and Interview with Sir Richard Roberts: Microbes and Bacteria, Your Friendly Neighborhood Watch.
His papers include The Sequence of the Human Genome, Predictive Motifs derived from Cytosine methyltransferases, Homing endonucleases: keeping the House in order. The DNA (cytosine-5) methyltransferases, A nomenclature for restriction enzymes, DNA methyltransferases, homing endonucleases and their genes, AdoMet-dependent methylation, DNA methyltransferases and base flipping, and Restriction and modification enzymes and their recognition sequences.
Rich earned his BSc in Chemistry at the University of Sheffield, Sheffield, England, in 1965. He earned his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry in 1968, also at the University of Sheffield.
Between 1969 and 1972, he conducted postdoctoral research at Harvard University before moving to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where James Dewey Watson, a co-discoverer of the structure of DNA and a fellow Nobel laureate, hired him.
In this period, he also visited the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology for the first time, working alongside Fred Sanger. In 1977, he published his discovery of RNA splicing while working as a Senior Staff Investigator at Cold Spring Harbor. He became Assistant Director for Research in 1986 and remained in that position until 1992 when he joined New England Biolabs permanently as Research Director. He held this role until 2005 and has since served as Chief Scientific Officer.
Read Science Portrait: Sir Richard John Roberts, Nobel laureate.
Watch Richard Roberts, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1993: Interview, Nobel Laureate Richard J. Roberts: “What makes us listen to science?”, and Nobel Lecture — Richard Roberts, NOBEL Prize for Medicine.
Read his Nobel Lecture, An Amazing Distortion in DNA Induced by a Methyltransferase.
Read his Wikipedia profile, his Curriculum Vitae, and his Nobel Prize profile.
Visit his ResearchGate page and Britannica page.