Stephen Harrison received his A.B. and Ph.D. from Harvard University. He became interested in molecular structures and began his studies using X-ray crystallography as a graduate student. After receiving his Ph.D., he remained at Harvard and continued his work to improve the resolution of the tomato bushy stunt virus structure. In 1977, after 7 years of study, Harrison obtained the first high-resolution structure of any virus particle. Currently, Harrison is a professor at Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital, Boston. He is also an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. His lab studies the atomic structure of macromolecular complexes including viruses and the molecules with which they interact. Harrison is a member of the National Academy of Sciences amongst other honors.
Using x-ray crystallography, Stephen Harrison obtains beautiful and informative images of virus structures that help scientists better understand viral infection. (Talk recorded in July 2011)
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