# Richard Losick > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Richard_Losick > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Richard_Losick.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Losick > Source revision: 1346593128 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American molecular biologist}} {{Infobox scientist | image = Richard Losick.jpg | birth_name = | birth_date = 1943 | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | fields = Molecular Biology | workplaces = [Harvard University](/source/Harvard_University), [Howard Hughes Medical Institute](/source/Howard_Hughes_Medical_Institute) | education = [Princeton University](/source/Princeton_University), [MIT](/source/MIT) | known_for = Investigating endospore formation in Gram positive organisms | awards = [National Academy of Sciences](/source/National_Academy_of_Sciences), [American Academy of Arts and Sciences](/source/American_Academy_of_Arts_and_Sciences), [American Association for the Advancement of Science](/source/American_Association_for_the_Advancement_of_Science), [American Academy of Microbiology](/source/American_Academy_of_Microbiology), [American Philosophical Society](/source/American_Philosophical_Society), [Selman A. Waksman Award in Microbiology](/source/Selman_A._Waksman_Award_in_Microbiology) }}'''Richard Pero Losick''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|l|oʊ|s|ɪ|k}} {{Respell|LOH|sik}};{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgAbRc0T2po |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211218/PgAbRc0T2po |archive-date=2021-12-18 |url-status=live|title=Richard Losick (Harvard) Part 3: Stochasticity and Cell Fate|website=[YouTube](/source/YouTube) |accessdate=7 September 2019}}{{cbignore}} born 1943) is an American [molecular biologist](/source/molecular_biology). He is the Emeritus Maria Moors Cabot Professor of [Biology](/source/Biology) at [Harvard University](/source/Harvard_University){{cite web|url=https://www.mcb.harvard.edu/mcb/faculty/profile/richard-m-losick/ |accessdate=29 October 2016 |title=Faculty Profile: Richard M Losick |publisher=Harvard University}} and was from 2002 to 2024 a professor at the [Howard Hughes Medical Institute](/source/Howard_Hughes_Medical_Institute).{{cite web|url=http://www.hhmi.org/scientists/richard-m-losick |accessdate=29 October 2016 |title=Our Scientists: Richard M. Losick, PhD |publisher=Howard Hughes Medical Institute}} He is especially noted for his investigations of [endospore](/source/endospore) formation in [Gram positive](/source/Gram_positive) organisms such as ''[Bacillus subtilis](/source/Bacillus_subtilis)''. == Education and career == Losick received his AB in Chemistry from [Princeton University](/source/Princeton_University) in 1965, and his PhD in biochemistry from [Massachusetts Institute of Technology](/source/Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology) in 1969 working under supervision of [Phillips Robbins](/source/Phillips_Robbins).{{cite web|url=https://www.ibiology.org/ibioseminars/microbiology/richard-losick-part-1.html |accessdate=29 October 2016 |title=Richard Losick: Developmental Biology of a Simple Organism - Speaker Bio |publisher=iBiology}}{{cite journal|last1=Losick|first1=Richard|title=Richard Losick|journal=Current Biology|date=April 2022|volume=32|issue=7|pages=PR298-R299|doi=10.1016/j.cub.2022.03.011|pmid=35413250}} Following his graduate studies, Losick was named a Junior Fellow of the [Harvard Society of Fellows](/source/Harvard_Society_of_Fellows), and there initially worked in the laboratory of [Jack L. Strominger](/source/Jack_L._Strominger). He joined the Harvard faculty in 1972.{{cite web|url=https://news.cornellcollege.edu/2000/09/harvard-biologist-lectures-as-phi-beta-kappa-visiting-scholar/|title=Harvard biologist lectures as Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar|date=6 September 2000|website=Cornell College News Center|publisher=Cornell College|access-date=22 April 2019}} He has held the position of chairman in the Departments of Cellular and Developmental Biology and Molecular and Cellular Biology. Along with Daniel Kahne, [Robert Lue](/source/Robert_Lue), and [Susan Mango](/source/Susan_Mango), he teaches Life Sciences 1a, an introductory [biology](/source/biology) and [chemistry](/source/chemistry) course, which was the fourth largest lecture course taught at [Harvard College](/source/Harvard_College) in 2015.{{cite news|url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2015/9/14/ec10-cs50-largest-enrollments/|title=Ec 10 and CS50 Compete for Largest Enrollment Numbers|last=Rodman|first=Melissa C.|publisher=The Harvard Crimson|date=14 September 2015|access-date=22 April 2019}} == Research == Losick's research interests include [RNA polymerase](/source/RNA_polymerase), [sigma factor](/source/sigma_factor)s, regulation of [gene transcription](/source/gene_transcription), and bacterial development. He is known for his studies of [asymmetric division](/source/asymmetric_bacterium) in ''[Bacillus subtilis](/source/Bacillus_subtilis)'', which divides to form one [endospore](/source/endospore) and one nurturing cell. Currently, Losick studies [biofilm](/source/biofilm) formation by the opportunistic pathogen ''[Staphylococcus aureus](/source/Staphylococcus_aureus)''. His research group has demonstrated that chromosomal DNA is recycled to form an electrostatic [extracellular net](/source/extracellular_matrix) in order to hold neighboring bacterial cells together.{{cite web|url=https://scholar.harvard.edu/rlosick/pages/research|title=Research|website=Richard Losick|access-date=22 April 2019}} Notable trainees include [Robert Tjian](/source/Robert_Tjian). == Awards and honors == * [Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award](/source/Camille_Dreyfus_Teacher-Scholar_Awards), [The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation](/source/The_Camille_and_Henry_Dreyfus_Foundation) (1973){{cite web|url=https://www.dreyfus.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/camille-past.pdf|title=Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Past Awards|website=Dreyfus Foundation|access-date=22 April 2019}} * Member, [National Academy of Sciences](/source/National_Academy_of_Sciences) (1992){{cite web|url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/62035.html|title=Richard M. Losick|website=National Academy of Sciences|access-date=22 April 2019}} * Member, [American Academy of Arts and Sciences](/source/American_Academy_of_Arts_and_Sciences) (1996){{cite web|url=https://www.amacad.org/sites/default/files/academy/multimedia/pdfs/publications/bookofmembers/ChapterL.pdf|title=Book of Members 1780-2017, Chapter L|website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences|access-date=22 April 2019}} * Member, [American Association for the Advancement of Science](/source/American_Association_for_the_Advancement_of_Science) (1998){{cite web|url=https://www.aaas.org/fellows/historic|title=Historic Fellows|website=American Association for the Advancement of Science|access-date=22 April 2019}} * Fellow, [American Academy of Microbiology](/source/American_Society_for_Microbiology) (elected prior to 2000){{when|year unknown|date=April 2019}} * Visiting Fellow, [Phi Beta Kappa](/source/Phi_Beta_Kappa) (2000) * Member, [American Philosophical Society](/source/American_Philosophical_Society) (2005){{cite web|url=https://mcbpublic.unix.fas.harvard.edu/mcb/news/news-detail/3347/richard-losick-elected-to-american-philosophical-society/|title=Richard Losick Elected to American Philosophical Society|last=Hopkin|first=Karen|date=13 June 2005|website=Harvard Molecular & Cellular Biology|access-date=22 April 2019}} * [Selman A. Waksman Award in Microbiology](/source/Selman_A._Waksman_Award_in_Microbiology), National Academy of Sciences (2007){{cite web|url=http://www.nasonline.org/programs/awards/waksman-award-in-microbiology.html|title=Selman A. Waksman Award in Microbiology|publisher=National Academy of Sciences|access-date=22 April 2019}} * [Gairdner Foundation International Award](/source/Gairdner_Foundation_International_Award) (2009){{cite web|url=https://gairdner.org/award_winners/richard-losick/|title=Richard Losick|website=Les Prix Canada Gairdner Awards|access-date=22 April 2019}} * [Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize](/source/Louisa_Gross_Horwitz_Prize), [Columbia University](/source/Columbia_University) (2012){{cite web|url=https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/research/louisa-gross-horwitz-prize/horwitz-prize-awardees|title=Horwitz Prize Awardees|website=Columbia University Medical Center|date=20 June 2018 |access-date=22 April 2019}} ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== *[http://www.techtransfer.harvard.edu/crop/investigators/investigator.php?id=101 Research Summary & Profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120416194234/http://www.techtransfer.harvard.edu/crop/investigators/investigator.php?id=101 |date=2012-04-16 }}, Harvard University *[http://www.hhmi.org/research/professors/losick_bio.html Biography of Richard M. Losick] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090202094953/http://www.hhmi.org/research/professors/losick_bio.html |date=2009-02-02 }} on the Howard Hughes Medical Institute site {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Losick, Richard}} Category:Living people Category:1943 births Category:Princeton University alumni Category:MIT School of Science alumni Category:Harvard University faculty Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Category:Howard Hughes Medical Investigators Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society {{US-biologist-stub}} --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Richard Losick](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Losick) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Losick?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.