The Path to the Nobel Prize

Speaker, Richard J. Roberts:  I will briefly describe how I became interested in science and how I almost became a professional billiards player. Following my early interests in chemistry, and my pursuit of a Ph.D. in chemistry I became fascinated with biology and read a book, “The Thread of Life” by John Kendrew that led to my becoming a molecular biologist.  I will describe the research that led to the discovery of RNA splicing, which turned out to be a temporary diversion from my real interests in DNA restriction and modification.