Phillip Allen Sharp
His discovery that genes are split into pieces rewrote the textbook on genetics, revealing a hidden layer of complexity in all living things.
Born 1944 (age 82)·American geneticist and molecular biologist·Birthday: June 6·The Silent Generation
Biography
Phillip Sharp's path to a Nobel Prize began not in a lab, but on a farm in Kentucky, where a childhood curiosity about the natural world took root. He entered the field of molecular biology just as its tools were becoming powerful enough to ask profound questions. In the early 1970s, while studying adenoviruses at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and MIT, Sharp and his team made a startling observation. Messenger RNA from the virus did not match its DNA template in a simple, linear way. The genes were interrupted by nonsense segments—introns—that were edited out. This process, called splicing, showed that the genetic code was far more dynamic and modular than anyone had imagined. Sharp's work didn't just solve a puzzle; it opened an entirely new field of study, explaining how one gene can produce multiple proteins and fundamentally altering our understanding of disease and evolution.
The Silent Generation
1928–1945
Born between the Depression and the end of WWII. Too young to fight, old enough to remember. They became the conformist middle managers of the 1950s — and the civil rights leaders who quietly dismantled Jim Crow.
Phillip was born in 1944, placing them squarely in The Silent Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Phillip Was Born
The biggest hits of 1944
#1 Movie
Going My Way
Best Picture
Going My Way
Phillip's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1944Born
D-Day: Allied forces land at Normandy
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $3,400Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Swinging on a Star" — Bing CrosbyBest Picture: Going My Way
1949Started school
NATO founded; Mao proclaims the People's Republic of China
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,450Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Riders in the Sky" — Vaughn MonroeBest Picture: All the King's Men
1957Became a teenager
Sputnik launches the Space Age
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $10,550Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"All Shook Up" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: The Bridge on the River Kwai
1960Could drive
Kennedy-Nixon debates become first televised presidential debates
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,900Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Theme from A Summer Place" — Percy FaithBest Picture: The Apartment
1962Could vote
Cuban Missile Crisis brings the world to the brink
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,800Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Stranger on the Shore" — Acker BilkBest Picture: Lawrence of Arabia
1965Turned 21
US sends combat troops to Vietnam
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,600Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" — The Rolling StonesBest Picture: The Sound of Music
1974Turned 30
Nixon resigns the presidency
Gas: $0.53/galHome: $22,600Min wage: $2.00/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"The Way We Were" — Barbra StreisandBest Picture: The Godfather Part II
1984Turned 40
Apple Macintosh introduced
Gas: $1.13/galHome: $59,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"When Doves Cry" — PrinceBest Picture: Amadeus
1994Turned 50
Nelson Mandela elected president of South Africa
Gas: $1.11/galHome: $90,400Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"The Sign" — Ace of BaseBest Picture: Forrest Gump
2004Turned 60
Indian Ocean tsunami kills over 230,000
Gas: $1.88/galHome: $157,300Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Yeah!" — UsherBest Picture: Million Dollar Baby
2014Turned 70
Russia annexes Crimea; Ebola outbreak in West Africa
Gas: $3.37/galHome: $160,700Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Happy" — Pharrell WilliamsBest Picture: Birdman
2024Turned 80
AI reshapes industries; Paris Olympics
Gas: $3.31/galHome: $372,000Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Joe Biden"Espresso" — Sabrina CarpenterBest Picture: Anora
2026Age 82 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Co-discovered RNA splicing and introns in 1977, a breakthrough that earned him the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
- Founded the world-renowned biology research institution, the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT.
- Played a pivotal role in the founding and growth of the biotech company Biogen (now Biogen Idec).
- Awarded the National Medal of Science in 2004 for his contributions to genetics and molecular biology.
Did You Know?
He was the first in his family to attend college, graduating from Union College in Kentucky.
Sharp is an avid fly fisherman.
He served on the board of directors for the pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb for over two decades.
The building housing MIT's Department of Biology is named the "Phillip A. Sharp Laboratory" in his honor.
“The discovery of split genes was one of those moments when you look at the data and suddenly the world is different.”
