2020 Distance Meeting: Farewell to Professor David Yaffe - A pillar of the Myogenesis Field

Published: 9 September 2020
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David Yaffe, PhD passed away on July 3, 2020 at the age of 91. His funeral and burial were held at his kibbutz in Israel, Givat Brenner. At the time of his death, he was emeritus professor of molecular cell biology at the Weizmann Institute of Science. If there is one word to describe David, it would be “pioneer”, Halutz in Hebrew. He participated in the birth of his country as a soldier during the War of Independence, contributed his efforts to expanding the kibbutz movement and the nascent scientific community in Israel. He was a major figure in creating the field of muscle cell biology by generating the immortalized cell lines that could be induced to differentiate into muscle fibers in tissue culture. This made myogenesis a prime candidate for studying cell differentiation, accessible to hundreds of scientists during the dawn of molecular cell biology. Many prominent scientists, among them students of David made their careers on studying the molecular events that occurred as the myoblast cell lines developed into the syncytial myofibers that twitched spontaneously. This opened the field to studies on muscle diseases, such as muscular dystrophy, that could then be addressed through a tractable model for molecular studies. David claimed he was never paid for his scientific activities; his salary at the Weizmann Institute went directly to the kibbutz in compensation for his time taken away from work there. He never knew what his salary was, he said, since it was negotiated between the kibbutz and the Weizmann. Even so, he had to take off weeks from his science occasionally to perform daily tasks, usually in the kibbutz dining hall washing dishes. Disconnected from the material aspects of life, David was driven solely by his love for nature and science, which he continued until the very end. David remains an inspiration to all of us. In this issue several of David Yaffe’s lab members, pupils, coauthors and colleagues meet at a “David Yaffe myogenesis distance meeting" to pay tribute with their collective reflections.

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Yablonka-Reuveni Z, Stockdale F, Nudel U, Israeli D, Blau HM, Shainberg A, Neuman S, Kessler-Icekson G, Meghid Krull E, Paterson B, Saxel Fuchs O, Greenberg D, Sarig R, Halevy O, Ozawa E, Katcoff DJ. Farewell to Professor David Yaffe–A Pillar of the Myogenesis Field. Eur J Transl Myol 2020;30(3):9306. doi.org/10.4081/ejtm.0.9306 https://www.pagepressjournals.org/index.php/bam/article/view/9306/8904 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4081/ejtm.2020.9306
Kessler-Icekson G, Singer RH, Yaffe D. The capacity of polyadenylated RNA from myogenic cells treated with actinomycin D to direct protein synthesis in a cell-free system. Eur J Biochem 1978;88:403-10. doi: 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1978.tb12462.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1432-1033.1978.tb12462.x
Singer RH, Kessler Icekson G. Stability of polyadenylated RNA in differentiating myogenic cells. Eur J Biochem. 1978;88:395-402. doi: 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1978.tb12461.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1432-1033.1978.tb12461.x
Lawrence JB, Taneja K, Singer RH. Temporal resolution and sequential expression of muscle-specific genes revealed by in situ hybridization. Dev Biol 1989;133:235-46. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(89)90314-x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0012-1606(89)90314-X

How to Cite

Singer, R. H. (2020). 2020 Distance Meeting: Farewell to Professor David Yaffe - A pillar of the Myogenesis Field. European Journal of Translational Myology, 30(3). https://doi.org/10.4081/ejtm.2020.9327