Roy J. Britten, 1956 DTM staff portrait, courtesy Shaun Hardy.

Roy John Britten, a former research staff member at the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism who carried out pioneering work on the organization of animal DNA and on gene expression during development, passed away on 21 January at the age of 92.

Britten received his B.S. from the University of Virginia, his Master’s Degree from The Johns Hopkins University (1940-1941) and his Ph.D. in 1951 from Princeton University, where he majored in physics (primarily nuclear, on the inelastic scattering of protons).  During World War II, he connected with the mass spectrograph activities of Jesse Beams (University of Virginia), Alfred Nier, and others at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory on the Manhattan Project.  While at Johns Hopkins he worked at the National Bureau of Standards on isotope separations.

On 17 April 1951, DTM Director Merle A. Tuve wrote to CIW President Vannevar Bush that he had “found another unusual man,” and recommended Britten be appointed to a Carnegie Institution Fellowship in the field of biology research for one year with the general expectation of renewal for a second year.  Tuve, however, offered Britten an appointment as temporary staff member “…should the international situation abruptly become worse, you may wish to spend a fraction of your time on defense work.  This would be inappropriate under a Fellowship.”  Britten accepted the appointment as temporary staff member; his plan in the acceptance letter was to go directly to Cold Spring Harbor and begin work at DTM on 14 or 15 July when his course on bacteriophage was over.  Britten was officially hired by DTM on 1 July 1951.

“Here is a physicist, with wide experience in fields we are active in at the Department, and who has developed a firm determination to apply himself to the study of processes in living matter."  (17 April 1951, letter from DTM Director Merle A. Tuve to CIW President Vannevar Bush.)

In 1954, Tuve wrote to Bush asking that Britten be considered for indefinite tenure, with yearly appointment.  He wrote, “Britten’s imagination was fired by the work of our biophysics group and he asked the privilege to join us for that work.”  In 1958 Tuve wrote CIW President C. P. Haskins to permit Britten to spend a year in a European biophysics laboratory, the Carlsberg.  In his memo on 8 December 1958, Britten wrote: “fundamentally novel ideas do not occur by rational processes, but through some magical synthesis in which the whole personality and background work together.”

The collegial and interdisciplinary atmosphere at DTM, in addition to its still active lunch club, helped Britten easily make his transition from nuclear physics to biophysics.

“I feel that the time I have spent here has been the most fruitful period of my life and I expect it to grow more fruitful. I say this for two principal reasons.  On the one hand the opportunity to work in biology is extraordinary as a result, to a great extent, of the balance between independence and cooperation in the group here and the wide range of ability and background combined with ease of communication among my colleagues.  On the other hand the possibilities of discussion and a lively interest in a wide range of subjects that occurs as a result of close communication with the other members of the staff (principally at the lunch club) is particularly valuable to me.”

“I have seriously thought about my position here relative to other opportunities that might be available and consider that it is greatly to my advantage to remain here…” wrote Britten on 24 December 1954 in a letter to DTM Director Merle A. Tuve.

According to an obituary posted by Caltech, “Britten’s research on the organization and evolution of DNA sequences and on gene expression during development helped lay the foundations for modern genomics, developmental biology, and the study of regulatory-gene evolution.”  His DNA work was highlighted in a 21 September 1968 article in The Washington Post entitled “Melting DNA Yields Clues to the Puzzle of Heredity.”

In 1971, Britten began collaborating with Eric Davidson, the Norman Chandler Professor of Cell Biology at Caltech, with the intent on putting “all my energy and capability into an attempt to understand the underlying mechanisms of evolution.”  He continued, “ In my view, the proper start toward this goal is to attempt to see into some aspects of the process of gene regulation – specifically the aspects that would allow us to understand the ways in which gene regulation could be modified in evolution.”   On 14 October 1972 Britten wrote to DTM Director Bolton asking to stay at Caltech but retain his employment at DTM.  He wrote, “I believe that the two main branches of the current work – nuclear and polysomal RNA and DNA sequence arrangement – are beginning to yield results with important implications.  The foundation laid in the past and coming year will almost certainly make it possible to move ahead in the succeeding year to the planned examination of the sequence arrangement of the RNA and hopefully to the function of the nuclear RNA."

In his final letter addressed to then CIW President Philip Abelson, DTM Director Ellis Bolton, and members of the DTM Biophysics group, Britten wrote, “My experience with the Carnegie Institution of Washington has been a magnificent one to me – up to 21 years – the majority of my potential active career.  It has been excellent in many ways – the most important being the role of generous colleagues and friends….The Institution has meant many good things and I do not plan to give up my connection if it is at all possible to maintain it. “

From 1971 until his designation as Emeritus at Caltech, Britten retained his title of “Staff Member, Carnegie Institution of Washington,” transitioning to “Distinguished Carnegie Senior Associate in Biology.”

In 1972, Britten was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.  In the words of former Carnegie Institution President Maxine F. Singer, “Roy was a scientists’ scientist.”

(Information compiled by Janice Dunlap from DTM's Roy J. Britten archival folder.  Photo courtesy of DTM Librarian Shaun Hardy.)