11 Facts About Gerald Joyce

Gerald Francis "Jerry" Joyce was born on 1956 and is president and professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and was previously the director of the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation.

Gerald Joyce is best known for his work on in vitro evolution, for the discovery of the first DNA enzyme, for his work in discovering potential RNA world ribozymes, and more in general for his work on the origin of life.

Gerald Joyce's mother was a grade-school teacher, father was a business executive, and maternal grandfather was an Italian immigrant with a Ph.

Gerald Joyce decided to pursue both medical and doctoral degrees, so that his future did not hinge on a successful career as a Darwinian engineer.

Gerald Joyce was a postdoctoral fellow and senior research associate at the Salk Institute from 1985 to 1989, and joined the faculty at Scripps Research in 1989.

When he first joined the Salk Institute in 1985, Gerald Joyce worked under prominent RNA world researcher Leslie Orgel.

Gerald Joyce was a professor at The Scripps Research Institute until 2017 and served as their dean of the faculty from 2006 to 2011, during which time he was instrumental in founding a second campus in Jupiter, Florida.

Gerald Joyce has served as the chair of the JASON advisory group, which he joined in 1996.

Gerald Joyce served as the institute director of the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation.

In 2017, Gerald Joyce returned to the Salk Institute as a professor, where he then became chief science officer in 2022 and president in 2023.

In 2009, Gerald Joyce's lab was the first to produce a self-replicating in vitro system, capable of exponential growth and continuing evolution, composed entirely of RNA enzymes.