Boris Rotman

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Marcos Boris Rotman
Universidad de Chile
Karolinska Institute
Weizmann Institute of Science – Dept. of Chemical Immunology
ThesisA heritable conversion of phenotype in yeast. (1952)
Doctoral advisorSalvador Luria and Sol Spiegelman
Other academic advisorsJoshua Lederberg

Marcos Boris Rotman (December 4, 1924 – July 11, 2021) was a Chilean American

single molecule experiments in biology.[3][4][5][6][7] He died in July 2021 at the age of 96.[8]

Education

Rotman attended elementary and high school at the

Research career

In 1961, Rotman developed a system capable of measuring the enzymatic activity of individual molecules of beta-galactosidase and used it to conduct the first single-molecule experiment in biology.[4][5][6][7][11]

These early experiments remained obscure for more than 30 years, but they are now recognized as pioneering and highly influential.

beta-galactosidase activity producing uniform populations of beta-galactosidase molecules with individual partial activity.[11]

It is noteworthy that the first single-molecule experiment utilized two innovative technologies, droplet-based microfluidics and fluorogenic substrates. The former was developed by J. F. Collins to measure penicillinase content of individual Bacillus licheniformis.[13] The latter, fluorogenic substrates are non-fluorescent compounds yielding fluorescent products upon enzymatic action. Fluorogenic substrates serve to increase the sensitivity of enzyme assays and many are commercially available.

In 1966, Rotman and Papermaster discovered fluorochromasia, a universal cellular phenomenon characterized by the immediate appearance of bright green fluorescence inside viable cells upon exposure to certain membrane permeable fluorogenic substrates such as fluorescein diacetate, fluorescein dibutyrate, and fluorescein dipropionate.[14] The phenomenon is commonly used to measure cellular viability of many different species including animals, embryos, plants, and microorganisms.

In 1968, Rotman and Celada reported existence of a subset of

antibodies with the unprecedented ability to restore the activity of mutated molecules of defective beta-galactosidase by conformational change.[15] Subsequently, this exceptional ability of some antibodies has been subject of many studies.[16]

Awards

In 1990, Rotman received the State of Rhode Island Governor's Award for Scientific Excellence.[17]

Selected publications

References

  1. ^ American Men & Women of Science (2008), Vol. 6, pg. 345
  2. ^ "Brown University". Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  3. PMID 20163145
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  8. ^ Homenaje a Marcos Boris Rotman (Q.E.P.D)
  9. ^ Mathys, J.M.; Smithsonian Archives; Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (1992). Guide to the collections of the Smithsonian Videohistory Program: sponsored by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Smithsonian Institution Archives. p. 8. Retrieved June 23, 2019. Marcos Boris Rotman received his MS in chemical engineering from the University F. Santa Maria in Chile in 1948, and his Ph.D. in microbiology, organic chemistry, and biochemistry from the University of Illinois in 1952. After completing his ...
  10. ^ "The History of the Cell Sorter Interviews · SOVA". SOVA. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
  11. ^
    PMID 14038788
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  12. .
  13. ^ Collins, J. F. (1962). "Estimation of penicillinase in single bacterial cells". Biochem. J. 82: 28 P.
  14. . Retrieved June 22, 2019. The other fluorochrome, fluorescein diacetate, first shown in 1966 (Rotman and Papermaster 1966) to induce fluorescence in animal cells was subsequently adapted to plant cells (Heslop-Harrison and Heslop-Harrison 1970, Widholm 1972) ...
  15. .
  16. . Retrieved June 22, 2019.
  17. ^ "Rotman, Boris". Researchers @ Brown. February 14, 2019. Archived from the original on February 14, 2019. Retrieved June 22, 2019.