|  Kary
Mullis isn't your typical scientist. He believes in astrology. He's
a surfer. He's taken LSD. He's won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. And he's
a libertarian.
Mullis talked about his "libertarian philosophy" in an interview
with the Fort Bragg Advocate News (California). Noting that
politics is just one of his "wildly divergent interests,"
Mullis said, "[Government] is best suited to protect groups of
people from outside interference, but ill-suited to dictate how individuals
should lead their private lives."
Mullis' thinking-outside-the-box approach to politics is no surprise,
given his idiosyncratic personality. Born in North Carolina, he received
his doctorate in biochemistry from the University of California at Berkeley,
and experimented with LSD in 1966 (before it was made illegal). Mullis
later said the psychedelic drug made possible his subsequent pioneering
discoveries in biotechnology.
In 1993, Mullis won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for inventing the
polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a method of duplicating small amounts
of DNA. The discovery opened the doors for modern biotechnology, including
gene therapy and genetic fingerprinting. Mullis learned about his Nobel
win when he returned to his beachside house in California, still wet
from surfing. As he noted later, "None of the other Nobel laureates
that year were serious about surfing, and 'Surfer Wins Nobel Prize'
made headlines."
Mullis also won the National Biotechnology Award (1991), the California
Scientist of the Year Award (1992), and the Thomas A. Edison Award (1993).
In 1998, he published an autobiographical collection of essays, Dancing
Naked in the Mind Field, that cemented his reputation as a scientific
free spirit. In it, he acknowledged his belief in astrology (a "valuable
tool for understanding human beings"), disputed that the HIV virus
causes AIDS (the link is promoted by "professional jackals"
with NIH grants), and questioned the theory of global warming (an invention
of "parasites with degrees in economics or sociology").
Publishers Weekly praised the book for its "eccentric and
often insightful opinions" that challenged readers "to reexamine
their own beliefs."
In recent years, Mullis worked as a Distinguished Researcher at Children's
Hospital and Research Institute in Oakland. He also founded GeneStones,
a company that sold artificial gemstones implanted with the DNA of famous
people, including Marilyn Monroe, John F. Kennedy, and Napoleon. In
2000, he joined the board of directors of the National Organization
for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).
--
Bill Winter
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