Jacques H. van Boom (1937-2004)

摘要

Jacques van Boom, who died on 31 July, is best known for his seminal work in synthesizing strings of nucleic acids of defined sequence. Such oligonucleotide sequences are now made and delivered with a 24-hour turnaround time, but it wasn't always so. In the late 1970s, workable methods for producing them were few and far between, especially for the large quantities required for structural studies. Much of the revolution in biology that stems from techniques such as the polymerase chain reaction, or site-directed mutagenesis, would have been impossible without easy access to oligonucleotides of defined sequence.