Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Opinion
  • Published:

The Rockefeller Foundation and the rise of molecular biology

Abstract

The Rockefeller Foundation began to support a systematic transfer of physico-chemical technology to experimental biology in the early 1930s. A close look at three key projects in the United Kingdom shows the impact and limits of private philanthropy on scientific innovation.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: John D. Rockefeller, Sr (1839–1937) and John D. Rockefeller, Jr (1874–1960).
Figure 2: Sir Lawrence Bragg (1890–1971).

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Anheier, H. K. & Toepler, S. (eds) Private Funds, Public Purpose, Philanthropic Foundations in International Perspective (Kluwer, New York, 1999).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Condliffe Lageman, E. (ed.) Philanthropic Foundations, New Scholarship, New Possibilities (Indiana Univ. Press, Bloomington and Indianapolis, 1999).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Science and its Cultures (ed.) International Social Science Journal 168 (Blackwell UNESCO, Oxford, 2001).

  4. Abir-Am, P. G. The discourse on physical power and biological knowledge in the 1930s: a reappraisal of the Rockefeller Foundation's 'policy' in molecular biology. Soc. Studies Sci. 12, 341–382 (1982).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Abir-Am, P. G. Beyond deterministic sociology and apologetic history: reassessing the impact of research policy upon new scientific disciplines. Soc. Studies Sci. 14, 252–263 (1984).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Abir-Am, P. G. The Biotheoretical Gathering, transdisciplinary authority and the incipient legitimation of molecular biology in the 1930s: new perspective on the historical sociology of science. Hist. Sci. 25, 1–70 (1987).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Abir-Am, P. G. in Denationalizing Science (eds Crawford, E. et al.) 153–186 (Kluwer Dordrecht, 1993).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  8. Abir-Am, P. G. in Science in the 20th Century (eds Krige, J. & Pestre, D.) 495–520 (Harwood, London, 1997).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Zallen, D. The Rockefeller Foundation and spectroscopy research: the programs at Chicago and Utrecht. J. Hist. Biol. 25, 67–89 (1992).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Kohler, R. E. Partners in Science, Natural Scientists and Foundations (Univ. Chicago Press, Chicago, 1991).

    Google Scholar 

  11. Kay, L. E. Molecular Visions, Caltech, The Rockefeller Foundation and the New Biology (Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, 1993).

    Google Scholar 

  12. Picard, J.-F. La Fondation Rockefeller et la Recherche Medicale (PUF, Paris, 1999).

    Google Scholar 

  13. Abir–Am, P. G. 'New' trends in the history of molecular biology. Hist. Stud. Phys. Biol. Sci. 26, 167–196 (1995).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Gemelli, G. (ed.) The Unacceptables, American Foundations and Refugee Scholars between the Two World Wars (Presses Interuniversitaires Europeenes, Brussels, 2000).

    Google Scholar 

  15. Gemelli, G. (ed.) American Foundations and Large Scale Research (CLUEB, Bologna, 2001).

    Google Scholar 

  16. Weindling, P. Philanthropy and World Health: The Rockefeller Foundation and the League of Nations Health Organization, Minerva XXXV, 269–281 (1997).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Stapleton, D. H. Internationalism and nationalism: The Rockefeller Foundation, public health, and malaria in Italy, 1923–1951. Parasitologia 42, 127–134 (2000).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Abir-Am, P. G. The assessment of interdisciplinary research in the 1930s: the Rockefeller Foundation and physico-chemical morphology. Minerva XXVI, 153–176 (1988).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Abir-Am, P. G. in American Foundations and Large Scale Research: Construction and Transfer of Knowledge (ed. Gemelli, G.) 71–90 (CLUEB, Bologna, 2001).

    Google Scholar 

  20. Kamminga, H. & Weatherall, M. The making of a biochemist. I: Frederick Gowland Hopkins' construction of dynamic biochemistry. Med. His. 40, 269–292 (1996).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Weatherall, M. & Kamminga, H. The making of a biochemist. II: The construction of Frederick Gowland Hopkins' reputation. Med. His. 40, 415–436 (1996).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Schneider, W. H. Allan Gregg and the Rockefeller Foundation's Medical Sciences Division. Minerva (in the press).

  23. Weaver, W. Medicine: The new science and the old art. J. Med. Edu. 35, 313–318 (1960).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Morange, M. A History of Molecular Biology (Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1998).

    Google Scholar 

  25. Chadarevian, S. & Kamminga, H. (eds) Molecularizing Biology and Medicine (Harwood, London, 1998).

    Google Scholar 

  26. Abir-Am, P. G. A historical ethnography of a scientific anniversary in molecular biology: the first protein X-ray photo, 1934. Social Epistemology 7, 323–354; 361–362; 372–373; 380–387 (1992).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Perutz, M. F. Is Science Necessary? (Barrie and Jenkins, London, 1989).

    Google Scholar 

  28. Perutz, M. F. Protein Structure (Freeman, San Francisco, 1992).

    Google Scholar 

  29. Keilin, D. The Molteno Institute of Biology and Parasitology (Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1951).

    Google Scholar 

  30. Keilin, D. A History of Cell Respiration and the Cytochrome (Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1965).

    Google Scholar 

  31. Watson, J. D. The Double Helix (Atheneum, New York, 1968).

    Google Scholar 

  32. Wilkins, M. H. F. John Turton Randall, 1905–1984. Biogr. Mem. Fel. Roy. Soc. 33, 493–535 (1987).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Rasmussen, N. The mid-century biophysics bubble. Hist. Sci. 35, 245–296 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Weaver's diary, May 26, 1948, Series 401D, Biophysics, King's College, Rockefeller Archive Center (RAC), Sleepy Hollow, NY.

  35. Austoker, J. & Bryder, L. (eds) Historical Perspectives on the Role of the MRC (Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, 1989).

    Google Scholar 

  36. Dale, H. H. Edward Mellanby, 1884–1955. Biogr. Mem. Fel. Roy. Soc. 1, 193–222 (1955).

    Google Scholar 

  37. Black, D. & Gray, J. Harold P. Himsworth, 1905–1993. Biogr. Mem. Fel. Roy. Soc. 39, 201–218 (1995).

    Google Scholar 

  38. Sayre, A. Rosalind Franklin and DNA (Norton, New York, 1975).

    Google Scholar 

  39. Appel, T. A. Shaping Biology, The National Science Foundation and American Biological Research, 1945–1975 (Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, Baltimore, MD, 2000).

    Google Scholar 

  40. Abir–Am, P. G. Research Schools of Molecular Biology in the UK, US, and France: Science Policy and the Origins of the Biotech Revolution (in the press).

  41. Tate, P. Obituary Notice, David Keilin, 1987–1963. Parasitology 55, 1–28 (1965).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  42. Perutz, M. Keilin and the Molteno. The Cambridge Review, October, 152–156 (1987).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Related links

Related links

DATABASES

Encyclopedia of Life Sciences:

Francis Crick

James D. Watson

Max Perutz

FURTHER READING

Rockefeller Archive Center

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Abir-Am, P. The Rockefeller Foundation and the rise of molecular biology. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 3, 65–70 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm702

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm702

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing