REVISED

After my taste of the atmosphere in Ames’s lab, there was no question where I was going to be a postdoc--lured by my experience It was in Bruce's lab. This was one of the best scientific decisions I ever made. Bruce’s lab was exciting and NIH was a remarkable institution. At that time it was what has now been called “the golden years of NIH.” This was 1965 to 1967. So, it was a terrific time to be at NIH because there were so many remarkable scientists in one place. It was the Vietnam War and one could get out of going to Vietnam if you were chosen to go into the public health service. So, all the smart young doctors fresh out of medical school who wanted to get out of Vietnam, Phil Leder, Roy Vagelos, Brown and Goldstein--they all went to the NIH. So, I was surrounded by some of the best young scientists in the world. Many of these talented scientists had been sociologically pushed towards medical school by their families, but really were scientists at heart. And so with this influx of remarkable colleagues, it ended up being, for me, a really electric atmosphere, more to my liking than the formality of Yale.

Bruce was a lively person whose demeanor synched with mine. Every day when he came into the lab, he had a new idea. And that upset some people because they thought since he no longer discussed yesterday’s ideas, he had lost interest in their project. When I first came to NIH someone asked me, “How do you like being in Bruce Ames’ lab?” And I said, “I love it. Every day is something new.” In fact, at the beginning I thought, “What the hell am I going to work on here?” But if you picked something that you thought was interesting and just started working on it, Bruce encouraged lots of freedom to explore. So, it was a great atmosphere for someone like me, who was independent. I think Bruce was useful for a mentor if you were very independent, but if you wanted someone to tell you what to do, he wasn’t a good match. He was immersed in what excited him about science each and every day, and he would pursue his latest novel idea. This led to lots of exciting discussions in the laboratory, but you had to be independent. He gave you his judgment of an experiment at a group meeting, but he never told you what to do. I was in Bruce's lab for two and a half years and like the rest of the lab often met socially. Bruce and his wife Giovanna had parties where we did folk dancing and other fun things. The informal atmosphere was similar to that at Cold Spring Harbor, and I had a great time.

Gerald Fink, geneticist, changed the field of molecular yeast biology. He is a professor of genetics at MIT, a founding member of both the Whitehead Institute and the American Cancer Society and a member of the National Academy of Sciences (1981). After receiving his Ph.D. from Yale University, he was a part of the Cornell faculty for fifteen years and also served as president of the Genetics Society of America.

In 1976, Fink’s lab succeeded in performing yeast transformation. Gerald Fink currently researches baker's yeast and explores critical pathways in cell growth and metabolism; applications include cancer research and the development of new anti-fungal drugs. He also directs a plant research group heralded for new insights into root growth and salt metabolism.

Although Fink grew up on Long Island, it was not until he attended the 1966 Symposium that he visited Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. In 1970, he began teaching the CSHL course on yeast molecular biology and continued doing so for 17 years. In 1999, he received the first honorary doctorate awarded by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.