Many cancer treatments and genetic therapies rely on a cell’s ability to repair damaged DNA. The mechanism behind this SOS response was discovered by geneticist Evelyn Witkin, who died on July 8 at the age of 102 at a rehabilitation facility following a fall.
Born March 9, 1921 in New York City, Evelyn Witkin, née Maisel, was the daughter of a pharmacist and homemaker. Her father died when she was 3 years old, according to an interview Witkin gave PLOS Genetics in 2012.1 At her stepfather’s behest, she attended a prestigious all girls school and accelerated through it, graduating at 16.
Witkin attended New York University to study zoology and had intended to stay for graduate school, but her political advocacy changed that. She was one of the primary protest organizers who disagreed with the university’s policy to bench Black athletes during games against segregated Southern schools in the throes ...
