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Leslie Orgel Papers
MSS 0176
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Table of contents
Creator:
Orgel, Leslie E.
Title: Leslie Orgel Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1960 - 1991
Extent:
16.40 linear feet
(39 archives boxes and 1 oversize file folder)
Abstract: Papers of Leslie Orgel, chemist, molecular biologist and Senior Fellow and Research Professor at the Salk Institute for Biological
Studies, where he directs the Chemical Evolution Laboratory. Orgel's research interests include nucleic acid chemistry, molecular
evolution, prebiotic chemistry, and problems related to the origin of life. The bulk of the papers dates from 1964 to 1991
and includes correspondence, journal articles, conference and meeting material, contracts and grants, subject files, Salk
Institute administrative files, and referee reports.
The papers are arranged in eight series: 1) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL, 2) CORRESPONDENCE, 3) WRITINGS, 4) CONTRACTS, GRANTS AND
PROPOSALS, 5) CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS, 6) SUBJECT FILES, 7) SALK INSTITUTE, and 8) REFEREE REPORTS.
Repository:
University of California, San Diego. Geisel Library. Mandeville Special Collections Library.
La Jolla, California 92093-0175
Collection number: MSS 0176
Language of Material:
Collection materials in English
Referee reports in boxes 37, 38, and 39 are restricted until the death of Leslie Orgel.
Not Available
Leslie Orgel Papers, MSS 0176. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UCSD.
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
Leslie Eleazer Orgel was born in London, England, on January 12, 1927. He received his B.A. in chemistry with first class
honors from Oxford university in 1949. In 1950 he was elected a Fellow of Magdalen College and in 1951 was awarded his Ph.D
in chemistry at Oxford.
Orgel started his career as a theoretical inorganic chemist and continued his studies in this field at Oxford, the California
Institute of Technology and the University of Chicago. In 1955 he joined the chemistry department at Cambridge university.
There he did work in transition metal chemistry, published articles and wrote a textbook entitled TRANSITION METAL CHEMISTRY:
LIGAND FIELD THEORY (1960).
In 1964 Orgel was appointed Senior Fellow and Research Professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, where he directs
the Chemical Evolution Laboratory. He is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the
University of California, San Diego, and he is one of five principal investigators in the NASA-sponsored NSCORT program in
exobiology. Orgel also participated in NASA's Viking Mars Lander Program as a member of the Molecular Analysis Team that
designed the gas chromatography mass spectrometer instrument.
Orgel's work in the Chemical Evolution Laboratory is in nucleotide chemistry and is mainly concerned with non-enzymatic polymerization
reactions that depend on the formation of double-helical complexes between a preformed polynucleotide template and one or
more complementary mononucleotide or polynucleotide substrates. In the context of chemical evolution, selected templates
are employed to facilitate synthesis of complementary RNA sequences. In other work, oligonucleotide sequences are used to
direct reactive molecules (warheads) to a complementary target DNA, so as to cleave a crosslink to the target at a predetermined
position. Methods for crosslinking transcription factors irreversibly to their DNA recognition sequences are also being developed.
His NASA-sponsored research focuses on the catalysis of nucleic acid replication by mineral surfaces.
Orgel wrote THE ORIGINS OF LIFE: MOLECULES AND NATURAL SELECTION (1970)
and co-authored, with Stanley Miller, THE ORIGINS OF LIFE ON THE EARTH (1974). He has published over three hundred articles
in his research areas.
Orgel's contributions have been recognized throughout his career. In Britain he was awarded the Harrison Prize in 1957 for
his work in inorganic chemistry and elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1962. In the United States he received a Guggenheim
Fellowship in 1971, the Evans Award from Ohio State University in 1975, and the H.C. Urey Medal from the International Society
for the Study of the Origin of Life. He was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1990.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Leslie Orgel Papers document research in nucleic acid chemistry and molecular evolution conducted between 1964 and 1991
at the Chemical Evolution Laboratory of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. The papers contain correspondence, manuscripts
of Orgel's books and journal articles, grants and proposals, conference and meeting material, subject files, Salk Institute
files, and referee reports written by Orgel.
The papers are arranged in eight series: 1) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL, 2) CORRESPONDENCE, 3) WRITINGS, 4) CONTRACTS, GRANTS AND
PROPOSALS, 5) CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS, 6) SUBJECT FILES, 7) SALK INSTITUTE, and 8) REFEREE REPORTS.
SERIES 1: BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL
Arranged alphabetically, the BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL series contains Orgel's annotated wall calendars, newspaper clippings and
his application for naturalization as a U.S. citizen.
SERIES 2: CORRESPONDENCE
The CORRESPONDENCE series is arranged in four subseries: A) Outgoing Chronological Files, B) General, C) Scientific, and D)
Personal.
A) The Outgoing Chronological Files subseries contains copies of outgoing letters (1964-1991).
B) The General subseries contains correspondence associated with routine laboratory business: letters of inquiry regarding
possible employment, correspondence with suppliers, requests for visits, and cordial correspondence. In most cases, the incoming
letters are accompanied by outgoing replies. The correspondence is arranged chronologically.
C) The Scientific subseries includes correspondence with colleagues and other scientists regarding scientific and technical
issues. The materials are arranged alphabetically by author. Prominent correspondents include F.H.C. Crick, Robin Holliday,
Jean-Michel Labouygues, Stanley Miller, Carl Sagan, S.A. Seleznev, and Eugene Wigner.
D) The Personal subseries includes letters to and from friends and correspondence related to personal interests, travel plans
and projects.
SERIES 3: WRITINGS
The WRITINGS series is organized in two subseries: A) Published, and B) Unpublished.
A) The Numbered Publications subseries, arranged numerically, largely contains research articles and begins with Orgel's numbered
chronological list of publications. The folders contain drafts, final versions, correspondence, redacted referee reports,
and reprints. The subseries contains 259 of the 302 listed titles, including the draft and correspondence for his textbook
entitled TRANSITION METAL CHEMISTRY: LIGAND FIELD THEORY (1960), the only representative from his work while in England.
Also included are materials for his other two books, THE ORIGINS OF LIFE: MOLECULES AND NATURAL SELECTION (1973) and, THE
ORIGINS OF LIFE ON THE EARTH (1974) with Stanley L. Miller. Of particular interest are Orgel's files for two collaborative
articles with Francis Crick, "Directed Panspermia" (#137) and "Selfish DNA: The Ultimate Parasite" (#186), which contain abundant
correspondence.
B) The Unpublished subseries contains titles that do not appear on Orgel's publications list.
SERIES 4: CONTRACTS, GRANTS AND PROPOSALS
The series is arranged by sponsoring agency in four subseries: A) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), B)
National Institutes of Health (NIH), C) National Science Foundation (NSF), and D) U.S. Army. Within each subseries the materials
are arranged chronologically and, in most cases, include a copy of the proposal or contract, correspondence and summary budget
information. The NASA series reflects the development of Orgel's long-term research grant entitled "Models for the Generation
of Prebiotic Condensing Agents" and his participation in planning for the 1975 Viking Mars Lander mission.
SERIES 5: CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS
The CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS series in arranged chronologically and begins with several summary lists of meetings that Orgel
attended. The conference materials include programs, speaker lists and correspondence.
SERIES 6: SUBJECT FILES
The SUBJECT FILES series begins with material associated with Orgel's research interest on the topic of aging, including drafts
of a planned, but never published, book written in collaboration with British colleague Robin Holliday, and correspondence
files arranged chronologically. Also included are grant files and material reflecting the Salk Institute's research and presentations
on aging.
The remaining subject files contain material about several colleagues and correspondence related to a planned book about the
history of the groundbreaking group of RNA researchers who belonged to the RNATIECLUB, a mid-1950's society with twenty members
dedicated to unraveling the genetic code. Included are photocopies of correspondence (1953-1962) from George Gamow to James
Watson and Alexander Rich.
SERIES 7: SALK INSTITUTE
The SALK INSTITUTE series contains files that document Orgel's association and interaction with the Salk Institute and is
arranged in six subseries: A) Chemical Evolution Laboratory, B) Faculty, C) Fellows, D) General, E) Salk Memoranda, and F)
Salk Institute Biotechnology/Industrial Associates (SIBIA). Included are numerous reports; memoranda with Jacob Bronowski,
Frederic De Hoffman and Edwin Lennox; and, files related to the commercial development of biotechnology research by Orgel
and his associates.
SERIES 8: REFEREE REPORTS
The REFEREE REPORTS series contains referee reports by Orgel arranged alphabetically by title of journal or name of agency.
Orgel was a referee for BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA, BIOINORGANIC CHEMISTRY, the JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR EVOLUTION, the JOURNAL
OF THEORETICAL BIOLOGY, and the National Science Foundation.
Referee reports are restricted until the death of Leslie Orgel.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Orgel, Leslie E. -- Archives
Salk Institute for Biological Studies. -- Chemical Evolution Laboratory
Salk Institute for Biological Studies -- Faculty
Journal of Theoretical Biology
Journal of Molecular Evolution
Chemistry, Inorganic
Chemists -- Biography
Ligand field theory
Valence (Theoretical chemistry)
Life -- Origin
Molecular evolution
Aging
Orgel, Leslie E. -- Origins of life
Orgel, Leslie E. -- Introduction to transition-metal chemistry
Gamow, George, 1904-1968, -- correspondent
Arrhenius, Gustaf, -- correspondent
Kornberg, Arthur, 1918- -- correspondent
Crick, Francis, 1916- -- correspondent
Holliday, R. -- (Robin), 1932- -- correspondent
Labouygues, Jean-Michel, -- correspondent
Miller, Stanley L., 1930- -- correspondent
Sagan, Carl, 1934- -- correspondent
Selezne, S. A., -- correspondent
Wigner, Eugene Paul, 1902- -- correspondent