Mary P. Edmonds (May 7, 1922 – April 16, 2005) was an American

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

who made key discoveries regarding the processing of messenger RNA (mRNA). She spent most of her career at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

Education and career

Edmonds was born May 7, 1922, in

Racine, Wisconsin Racine ( ) is a city in Racine County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River (Wisconsin), Root River, south of Milwaukee and north of Chicago. It is the List ...

. She received a bachelor's degree from

Milwaukee-Downer College Milwaukee-Downer College was a women's college in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in operation from 1895 until its merger with Lawrence University in 1964. History Milwaukee-Downer College was established in 1895 with the merger of two institutions: Milwau ...

in 1943, a master's degree from

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a Private university, private Women's colleges in the United States, historically women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henr ...

in 1945, and a Ph.D. from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

in 1951. Following her Ph.D., she was a postdoctoral researcher at

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

(1950-1952) and

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

(1952-1955), and then joined Montefiore Hospital in Pittsburgh as a research associate from 1955 until 1965. Starting in 1962 she held appointments at the

, initially as adjunct and research professor positions, until she joined the faculty in 1971 and was promoted to professor in 1976. Edmonds took emeritus status in 1992, and died of complications related to a heart attack on April 16, 2005.

Research

Edmonds was known for her research in mRNA processing, specifically on 3'-end processing and how RNA is spliced. Her research showed that the end of mRNA is a

poly-A tail Polyadenylation is the addition of a poly(A) tail to an RNA transcript, typically a messenger RNA (mRNA). The poly(A) tail consists of multiple adenosine monophosphates; in other words, it is a stretch of RNA that has only adenine bases. In euka ...

composed of multiple

adenosine Adenosine (symbol A) is an organic compound that occurs widely in nature in the form of diverse derivatives. The molecule consists of an adenine attached to a ribose via a β-N9- glycosidic bond. Adenosine is one of the four nucleoside build ...

residues. In her memoirs posted at the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

, her work discovering the poly-A tails on eukaryotic mRNA and purification of the poly-A polymerase enzyme are described as "landmarks in the field". Edmonds also developed the first method to use the poly-A tail to separate mRNA from other nucleic acids, a protocol which forms the beginning of all modern

transcriptomics Transcriptomics technologies are the techniques used to study an organism's transcriptome, the sum of all of its RNA, RNA transcripts. The information content of an organism is recorded in the DNA of its genome and Gene expression, expressed throu ...

analysis. In the 1980s, Edmonds showed that poly-A RNA is branched, a stage that arises during processing of hnRNA into mRNA. This research led to the development of antibodies targeting branched RNA.

Selected publications

* * * * *

Awards and accolades

Edmonds was elected to the

in 1991. She was awarded an honorary degree by

Lawrence University Lawrence University is a Private college, private liberal arts college and Music school, conservatory of music in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1847, its first classes were held on November 12, 1849. Lawrence was the second colle ...

in 1983, named woman of the year in science by

Chatham University Chatham University is a private university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Originally founded as a women's college, it began enrolling men in undergraduate programs in 2015. It enrolls about 2,110 students, including 1,002 undergraduate students and ...

in 1986, and received the Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award Winners from the University of Pittsburg in 1989. After her death, the University of Pittsburg established the Mary P. Edmonds Award given each year to a graduate student in recognition of an "outstanding research paper".

References

External links

Marlene Belfort, "Mary P. Edmonds", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences (2014)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edmonds, Mary 1922 births 2005 deaths People from Racine, Wisconsin Milwaukee-Downer College alumni Scientists from Wisconsin Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Wellesley College alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni University of Pittsburgh faculty 20th-century American biochemists American women biochemists American women geneticists American geneticists 20th-century American women scientists