The Yeast Collections: James Hicks

The James Hicks, Amar Klar and Jeffrey Strathern Collections are often referred to as the “Yeast Collection” -- this is in reference to their work on the micro-organism at CSHL in the 1980s.


The Yeast Group in 1980
James “Jim” Hicks obtained his B.A. in Biology from Willamette University in Salem, Oregon and in 1975 received his PhD in Molecular Biology and Genetics from the University of Oregon Institute of Molecular Biology. He earned his Ph.D. degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics from the University of Oregon, working with Ira Herskowitz. Dr. Hicks continued his post doctoral studies in Molecular Genetics at Cornell University. From 1977 until 1985 when he left CSHL, Dr. Hicks collaborated with Jeff Strathern and Amar Klar in the Cold Spring Harbor Yeast group where they researched the mechanisms of mating type switching in yeast. Dr. Hicks returned to CSHL as a visiting professor in 2003 and works with Dr. Michael Wigler on the genomics of breast cancer.

The James Hicks Collection was in excellent shape and simply needed rehousing. The Collection totaled 5 laboratory notebooks (2 boxes).

One of my favorite things I find when processing collections is something to which we can all relate – an item which makes the subject “real” and the material more understandable. In Jim Hicks’ lab notebooks, I found just that – a reading list titled: “Yeast – General Reading List”.



To me, this shows that even at a sophisticated level of study, there remains a need and a value for simple information. More fun than a reading list, however, was a page in the notebooks with “Happy Cells”.



As a bonus, I unearthed the below photo of Dr. Hicks – which shows that scientific theory is not all “pie in the sky”.


-Amy Driscoll, Project Archivist

The Yeast Collections: Amar Klar and Jeffrey Strathern

The Amar Klar and Jeffrey Strathern Collections are often referred to as the “Yeast Collection” -- this is in reference to their work on the micro-organism at CSHL in the 1980s.

“The Three Yeastketeers” - an affectionate nickname that Amar Klar (center) coined when he, Jeff Strathern and Jim Hicks began working together at CSHL.

The Amar Klar Collection was my third collection processed under the NHPRC Basic Processing grant. The Collection was in excellent shape and simply needed rehousing. The Collection totaled 11 boxes (1 notebook per box) for 3 linear feet.

Amar J. S. Klar was born in 1947 in Sangrur, India. He received his undergraduate degree in biochemistry (1967) and masters of science in microbiology (1969), both from Punjab Agriculture University, Hissar, India. Dr. Klar then received his Ph.D. in bacteriology at the University of Wisconsin in 1975 and afterwards studied genetics as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California. In 1978, Dr. Klar joined the staff at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where he served as director of the Delbruck laboratory from 1985 to 1988. Since 1999, Dr. Klar works at the Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute in Frederick, Maryland. The bulk of this collection refers to his time at CSHL.

Throughout his career, Dr. Klar has been studying the sex life of yeast cells (yeast cells are studied because of their simplicity and because they double in 90 minutes) and he is a leading authority on “handedness” (the distribution of motor skills between the left and right hands).

Dr. Klar at the Frederick Street Fair (Frederick, MD) in 1996 with a solicitation for research subjects.

The Jeffrey Strathern Collection documents the experimental laboratory work performed by Dr. Jeffery N. Strathern during his tenure at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in what was known as the “Yeast Group”. The collection consists of laboratory notebooks which include photographs and audiographs and consists of 10 three ring binders (3 linear feet). This collection, too, was in excellent shape and only needed rehousing.

Jeffrey Strathern obtained his Ph.D. from the Molecular Biology Institute at the University of Oregon in 1977 and then moved to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory where he became a senior staff member with the Yeast Genetics Laboratory. In 1984, he joined the ABL-Basic Research Program at the National Cancer Institute's Frederick Cancer Research Development Center. In 1999, Dr. Strathern joined the Division of Basic Sciences, also at NCI. In addition to his research duties, Dr. Strathern is a Deputy Director for the NCI-Center for Cancer Research. Dr. Strathern’s research remains centered on aspects of gene regulation and genetic recombination as revealed by studies in yeast.

- Amy Driscoll, Project Archivist