Not as well known to the general public as other scientists, his
contributions to the studies of the origin of life are well recognized
in the field.

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OBITUARY
Dr. Leslie Orgel, 80; at Salk, studied how life began

By Michael Kinsman
STAFF WRITER

November 3, 2007

Salk Institute scientist Leslie Orgel got as excited by his failed
experiments as he did with his successes.

³He was as delighted with a smashing negative finding as he was with a
smashing positive one,² said Dr. Gerald Joyce of Scripps Research
Institute, a former student. ³He would light up at the results, even if
they weren't what he wanted. The results still told him something.²

Dr. Orgel was an influential scientist who dedicated more than four
decades of his career to the study of how life began on Earth. The La
Jolla resident died Oct. 27 of pancreatic cancer at San Diego Hospice &
Palliative Care. He was 80.

Dr. Orgel joined Salk Institute in 1964, and through the years he and
Dr. Francis Crick, renowned as a co-discoverer of the double-helix
structure of DNA in 1953, served as inspirational leaders of the
organization.

³They elevated the entire intellectual level of the institute,² Dr.
Inder Verma said. ³They created an environment under which you aspired
to be as good as they were.²

In the 1960s, Dr. Orgel became one of the first scientists to suggest
that RNA, rather than DNA, was the crucial molecule in the development
of life. He suspected that a simpler precursor to RNA must have existed.

His notion of an ³RNA world,² as Dr. Orgel called it, was shared by
Crick.

³This was a very radical idea in the late 1960s, but Leslie believed
that RNA was instrumental and always paid attention to experiments that
might have disproved that,² Joyce said. ³Scientists are supposed to be
dispassionate about their work, but you often see them find a way to
'work their story.'

³Leslie never did that. He was enthusiastic about his work, but he never
let his enthusiasm get in the way of critical science. If a later
experiment could show his work was wrong, he was fully supportive of it.²

Dr. Orgel knew RNA produced proteins that were needed to replicate DNA.
Yet, proteins don't exist without DNA, creating a chicken-or-egg
scenario.

³Leslie suggested that maybe RNA was both a chicken and an egg,² Joyce
said.

Dr. Orgel, Crick and microbiologist Carol Woese, each working
independently, speculated that both DNA and proteins could be
descendants of RNA. Being more complex and stable, DNA could have then
taken over RNA's role as the guardian of heredity, while RNA took a
supporting role.

Dr. Orgel published his thoughts in his 1973 book, ³The Origins of Life:
Molecules and Natural Selection.²

³His RNA thesis has held up well through the years,² Joyce said. ³Most
scientists today agree that RNA had an important role.²

Verma said Dr. Orgel was widely recognized at Salk for his intellectual
honesty.

³You knew when he told you something, it was genuine and honest,² Verma
said. ³You could trust what he was saying.²

He said Dr. Orgel's well-rounded knowledge of physics, chemistry and
biology made him an influential mentor to many of the Salk scientists.

Dr. Orgel was born Jan. 12, 1927, in London. He earned a bachelor's
degree and doctorate in chemistry at Oxford University. He had research
fellowships at the California Institute of Technology and the University
of Chicago, He returned to Britain in 1955 to serve as assistant
research director at Cambridge University's theoretical chemistry
department.

Although he was officially retired, Dr. Orgel maintained an office at
Salk and was still working on projects. He was diagnosed with pancreatic
cancer during the summer, but had visited his office as recently as
three weeks ago.

Dr. Orgel is survived by his wife, Alice; sons, Robert Orgel and Richard
Orgel; daughter, Vivienne Orgel; and five grandchildren.

Dr. Orgel's remains were cremated. A celebration of life is planned for
Dec. 6 at the Salk Institute.

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http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20071103/news_1m3orgel.html
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John #1782