James F. Bonner

James Frederick Bonner (September 1, 1910 – September 13, 1996) was an American molecular biologist and plant physiologist, a member of the National Academy of Sciences,

Bonner developed improved methods for collecting natural rubber from trees, an advance that contributed to substantial increases in production.

Life and career Bonner was born in Ansley, Nebraska in 1910. Bonner grew up in a family with strong scientific interests; several of his siblings later pursued scientific careers, including his younger brother, the biochemical geneticist David M. Bonner, who was also subsequently elected to the National Academy of Sciences. During a family sabbatical year at the California Institute of Technology in 1929, James Bonner worked as a research assistant to Theodosius Dobzhansky. showed that histone, a protein associated with the genes, shuts off gene activity. If the histone fraction is extracted from isolated chromatin, more RNA is made whereas if histone is added back, the transcription of RNA is greatly decreased.

Bonner wrote over 500 scientific papers on all aspects of plant physiology as well as 10 textbooks. the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1960, and the American Philosophical Society in 1966.

James F. Bonner died on September 13, 1996.