David Hogness, a biochemist, geneticist, and developmental biologist at Stanford University, died at his home on December 24. He was 94 years old.
Hogness is well known for a series of experiments during the 1970s and 1980s that were instrumental in launching both molecular genetics and genomics, according to a university statement.
“His lab brought molecular biology to Drosophila, discovered the first core promotor element in eukaryotes, cloned the Hox genes, studied the basis of steroid hormone signaling, the list goes on and on. He was a giant,” says biologist Mark Peifer of the University of North Carolina in a tweet.
Hogness was born in Oakland, California, on November 17, 1925, and grew up in Chicago. In 1949, he received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Caltech, where he also earned his PhD in biology and chemistry in 1952.
While a faculty member at Washington University in St. Louis, Hogness ...
