CONTRIBUTIONS OF DR. HOWARD M. TEMIN

This Second Annual Symposium is a tribute to the life and work of Dr. Howard M. Temin. A dedicated researcher, teacher, and mentor, he was a tremendous inspiration to all who knew him, especially to those who had the privilege to work and learn with him during his 34-year tenure at the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research.

Dr. Temin received his PhD from the California Institute of Technology, where he worked with Renato Dulbecco. After a brief postdoctoral period, he joined the faculty at UW-Madison in 1960, where he and his colleagues continued to study the replication of Rous sarcoma virus (RSV). They discovered that inhibiting DNA synthesis or DNA-dependent RNA synthesis inhibited RSV replication. This observation led Dr. Temin to propose that although RSV contained an RNA genome, the virus maintained itself in infected cells as a DNA “provirus”. As this “provirus hypothesis” overturned the “central dogma” of unidirectional information flow from DNA to RNA, it was highly controversial and met with general disdain. Nevertheless, Dr. Temin continued to provide more and more experimental support for his provirus hypothesis, culminating in his prediction and demonstration of an RNA-dependent DNA polymerase in virions.  Almost simultaneously, Dr. David Baltimore demonstrated an equivalent activity associated with mouse mammary tumor virus. The general importance of their results was immediately perceived throughout the scientific community and Drs. Temin, Baltimore, and Dulbecco were awarded the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine.

In the years following, Dr. Temin continued his work on retroviruses, made numerous additional important contributions, mentored many students who became scientific leaders, and was an outspoken advocate on a number of public health issues. Dr. Temin passed away on February 9, 1994, at the very young age of 59, after a one-and-a-half-year long battle with cancer. Dr. Temin was a devoted husband and father to his wife Rayla and his two daughters, Sarah and Miriam.