biologist educator physician author molecular biologist
James Edwin Darnell Jr. was born on September 9, 1930, in Columbus, Mississippi. He grew up in a poor Mississippi community and initially viewed medicine as a means of leaving the South. His early scientific direction changed during laboratory work at Washington University, where he developed a strong interest in microbiology and research rather than clinical practice. He subsequently pursued a career combining medical training with experimental biology.
Darnell graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1951 after completing his undergraduate studies in approximately three years. He then entered the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, receiving the M.D. degree in 1955. Laboratory experience during medical school introduced him to microbiology and helped lead him toward a physician-scientist career focused on molecular biology and gene expression.
After receiving his medical degree in 1955, Darnell completed an internship at Barnes Hospital and subsequently undertook research at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, where he worked on poliovirus and RNA biology. He also conducted research at the Pasteur Institute in Paris with François Jacob. In 1961 he joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an assistant professor, remaining there until 1964. He later joined the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where he became a professor and pursued research on RNA synthesis and processing, and he subsequently held an academic appointment at Columbia University. In 1974 he joined The Rockefeller University as Vincent Astor Professor, later becoming Vincent Astor Professor Emeritus. From 1990 to 1991 he served as Rockefeller's vice president for academic affairs. His research established important principles of RNA processing and transcriptional regulation in animal cells and helped define the JAK-STAT pathway through which extracellular cytokine signals regulate gene expression in the nucleus. His later work also examined persistent STAT3 activation in cancer and its possible therapeutic inhibition. Alongside his laboratory work, he became a major scientific educator and mentor, contributing to the training of more than 120 doctoral students and postdoctoral scientists.
Discovered and characterized important mechanisms of RNA synthesis and processing in eukaryotic cells, including the generation and regulation of messenger RNA.
Helped define the JAK-STAT signaling pathway, showing how cytokine signals at the cell surface activate transcription factors that regulate gene expression in the nucleus.
Advanced the study of STAT3 signaling and its contribution to cancer-cell survival and metastasis.
Made major contributions to scientific education through the widely used textbook Molecular Cell Biology and through the training of more than 120 doctoral students and postdoctoral scientists.
Activation of transcription by IFN-gamma: tyrosine phosphorylation of a 91-kD DNA binding protein
(Coauthored research identifying a key phosphorylation eve...)
1992Polyribosomes in normal and poliovirus infected HeLa cells and their relationship to messenger RNA
(Coauthored research on polyribosomes, poliovirus infectio...)
1963Demonstration of an unstable RNA and precursor to ribosomal RNA in HeLa cells
(Coauthored with K. Scherrer and H. Latham; an early contr...)
1963Interferon-dependent tyrosine phosphorylation of a latent cytoplasmic transcription factor
(Coauthored with C. Schindler, K. Shuai, and V. R. Prezios...)
1992STAT3 as an oncogene
(Coauthored with J. F. Bromberg and other colleagues; demo...)
1999(A comprehensive account of RNA research, covering RNA's r...)
2011(Founding author with Harvey F. Lodish and David Baltimore...)
1986General Virology
(Coauthored with S. E. Luria; a foundational textbook on v...)
Darnell has been a member of the National Academy of Sciences since 1973 and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is also a member of the American Philosophical Society and the European Academy of Sciences. His international affiliations include foreign membership in the Royal Society, foreign membership in the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and honorary membership in the Japanese Biochemical Society.
Elected member in 1973.
National Academy of Sciences , United States
1973 - present
Elected fellow in 1973.
American Academy of Arts and Sciences , United States
1973 - present
Foreign member.
Royal Society , United Kingdom
1996 - present
Honorary member.
Japanese Biochemical Society , Japan
Foreign member.
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences , Sweden
2004 - present
Member.
European Academy of Sciences , Belgium
Elected member.
American Philosophical Society , United States
2013 - present
Darnell is the son of Helen and James Darnell. He and his wife, Jane, have three sons. His family includes Robert B. Darnell, a physician-scientist and molecular biologist.
