Abstract
The invitation to contribute a “Reflections” article has brought back many memories as I recall the events early in my career that were most significant in determining the path I have taken for more than 50 years. I could reflect on several periods in my career, such as the early work on serotonin biosynthesis and metabolism or later studies on the role of GTP and elongation factors in protein synthesis, but the period when I worked on vitamin B12 in the late 1950s and early 1960s especially stands out in my mind, and I will focus mainly on these studies.
Highlights
I am taking the liberty throughout this article to include some biographical information and personal thoughts since it is hard for me to reflect on my early years in science without providing some personal history
I knew by the winter of 1952 that I was headed for a career in biochemistry, and early in 1953, Mazur arranged for me to meet Sidney Udenfriend, a City College of New York (CCNY) alumnus, to discuss doing my graduate studies at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under a new program with George Washington University (GWU) Medical School
Studies by Buchanan and co-workers [24] demonstrated that the vitamin and a reducing system were required for methionine synthesis, and there was evidence that three methyl donors might be involved in the reaction: S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), methyl-B12, and N5-methyltetrahydrofolic acid (5-MeTHF)
Summary
From the Center for Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida 33431. The invitation to contribute a “Reflections” article has brought back many memories as I recall the events early in my career that were most significant in determining the path I have taken for more than 50 years. I am taking the liberty throughout this article to include some biographical information and personal thoughts since it is hard for me to reflect on my early years in science without providing some personal history. I followed my brother through the superb public school system in New York City, including the Bronx High School of Science, which was close enough to our apartment in the West Bronx that I could walk to and save the cost of public transportation. It started me on the path that I have followed until now
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