Errol C. Friedberg

Errol Friedberg was born in South Africa in 1937 and immigrated to the US in 1963. He is a trained pathologist and molecular biologist who works in the field of DNA damage and repair. He published the first textbook on this topic ("DNA Repair") in 1984 and has since contributed two editions of a more comprehensive text ("DNA Repair & Mutagenesis") with multiple co-authors. Friedberg has a passionate interest in the history of molecular biology and related topics. He has published a history of the DNA repair field ("Correcting the Blueprint of Life-An Historical Account of the Discovery of DNA Repair Mechanisms") as well as a book on the writings of James Watson, the famous co-discoverer of the structure of DNA and the author of "The Double Helix", entitled "The Writing Life of James D. Watson". Friedberg is a professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and has documented a history of this institution ("From Rags to Riches: The Phenomenal Rise of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas"). Most recently he has completed an authorized biography of another famous pioneer of molecular biology, Sydney Brenner ("Sydney Brenner: A Biography"). In 1992 Friedberg published a small book on cancer for lay readers ("Cancer Answers-Encouraging Answers to 25 Questions You Were Always Afraid to Ask").