Background
Markert, Clement Lawrence was born on April 11, 1917 in Las Animas, Colorado, United States. Son of Edwin John and Sarah (Norman) Markert.
Markert, Clement Lawrence was born on April 11, 1917 in Las Animas, Colorado, United States. Son of Edwin John and Sarah (Norman) Markert.
He attended the University of Colorado, and in 1937, left college to fight in the Spanish Civil War—stowing away aboard a freighter to circumvent government travel restrictions. After returning to college, Markert completed his bachelor"s degree in 1940. Upon graduation, he married Margaret Rempfer, and they moved to University of California, Los Angeles for graduate work.
After the war, he finished a master"s degree at University of California, Los Angeles followed by a Doctor of Philosophy from Johns Hopkins University in 1948.
Markert"s Doctor of Philosophy research, and subsequent postdoctoral work at Caltech, focused on the sexuality and other physiological and genetic aspects of Glomerella, a genus of pathogenic plant fungi.
He enrolled in the United States Merchant Marine to take part in World World War World War II By 1954 they would have three children. At Caltech, he also worked with George Beadle on corn and Neurospora genetics.
In 1950 he began teaching at the University of Michigan, part of the new wave of what would become molecular biology. In 1954, Markert became a victim of McCarthyism.
He was suspended from teaching because he refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee.
He was later reinstated, and continued at the University of Michigan until moving to Johns Hopkins in 1957, followed by Yale University—as head of the Department of Biology. In 1966, he served as president of the American Institute of Biological Sciences. He remained at Yale until retiring in 1986 to North Carolina State University, where he continued researching until 1993.
Early in his career, Markert developed the concept of isozymes based on electrophoresis and histochemical staining of enzymes.
He found that often what had been assumed to be a single enzyme catalyzing a specific reaction was in fact multiple enzymes, with different proteins present in different tissues. In biochemistry, this forced a re-evaluation of some basic assumptions of enzyme kinetics.
In genetics, it contributed to the shift from the "one gene-one enzyme hypothesis" to the "one gene-one polypeptide" concept. Markert"s early work with isozymes, many of which are formed by gene duplication, was a precursor to the concept of gene families.
Markert"s later career focused on developmental biology, particularly developmental genetics in experiments with mosaic animals.
Markert was Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Experimental Zoology from 1963 to 1985. He also edited the Journal of Developmental Biology. In 1990, the University of Michigan created the annual "Davis, Markert, Nickerson Lecture on Academic and Intellectual Freedom" series, in honor of Markert and two other Michigan faculty suspended for refusing to testify in 1954.
Served with International Brigades, 1938, Spain. With Merchant Marine, 1944-1945. Member American Institute Biological Sciences (president 1965), NAS (governing county 1970-1971, 77-80), Institute Medicine, American Society Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, International Society Developmental Biologists, American Society Developmental Biology (president 1963-1964), Society Study of Reproduction, American Academy Arts and Sciences (governing council 1980-1984), American Genetic Association (president 1980), American Society Naturalists (vice president 1967), American Society Zoologists (president 1967), Genetics Society American, American Society Animal Science, Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi.
Married Margaret Rempfer, July 29, 1940. Children— Alan Ray, Robert Edwin, Betsy Jean.