My youth held little forecast of a career in biomedical research. I was born on February 22, 1936, in York, Pennsylvania, and spent my childhood in a rural area on the west bank of the Susquehanna River. J. Michael Bishop More Quotes by J. Michael Bishop More Quotes From J. Michael Bishop Science now finds itself in paradoxical strife with society: admired but mistrusted; offering hope for the future but creating ambiguous choice; richly supported yet unable to fulfill all its promise; boasting remarkable advances but criticized for not serving more directly the goals of society. J. Michael Bishop future hope science The modern research laboratory can be a large and complicated social organism. J. Michael Bishop research complicated science I wrote a letter to Harvard, explaining that I was having difficulty deciding between it and the University of Pennsylvania. Could I come and visit? Years later, the dean of students at Harvard told me that my letter had been posted in the dean’s office for the amusement of the staff. Thus did I learn the measure of institutional arrogance. J. Michael Bishop arrogance office years In San Francisco, I found Warren Levinson, who had set up a program to study Rous Sarcoma Virus, an archetype for what we now call retroviruses. At the time, the replication of retroviruses was one of the great puzzles of animal virology. Levinson, Levintow and I joined forces in the hope of solving that puzzle. J. Michael Bishop great hope time animal I obtained eight years of elementary education in a two-room school, where I encountered a stern but engaging teacher who awakened my intellect with instruction that would seem rigorous today in many colleges. History figured large in the curriculum, exciting for me what was to become an enduring interest. J. Michael Bishop me education teacher history Tests conducted before I graduated predicted a future for me in journalism, forestry, or the teaching of music; persons who know me well could recognize some truth in those seemingly errant prognoses. J. Michael Bishop me future music truth During the summer months of my high-school years, I befriended Dr. Robert Kough, a physician who cared for members of my family. Although he was practicing general medicine in a rural community when I met him, he was well equipped to arouse in me an interest not only in the life of a physician but in the fundaments of human biology. J. Michael Bishop me family community life My life in science has been rich and rewarding. I have sacrificed very little. J. Michael Bishop my-life rich life science I entered Harvard Medical School knowing nothing of research. J. Michael Bishop nothing medical research school In my first publishable research, I obtained evidence that the replication of polio viral RNA engendered a multi-stranded intermediate, although my description of that intermediate proved flawed in its details. J. Michael Bishop first evidence details research
