I - like so many others - are shocked, saddened and shaken by this
news. Warren's passing is a great loss to his friends, family and to our
scientific community.
Nearly exactly one year ago, when an MRI found that I had a brain tumor,
Warren wrote me an e-mail, part of which I will share here, because it
sums up part of him and his approach to life:
"...I am so sorry to read your startling news.
Not a one of us is excused from life-altering biology and random
accidents, any of which can strike suddenly without warning. For that
reason, we must never take anything for granted. Not a single day. Not
a single friend.
But as you well know, there are only two things we can do in defiance of
chance, whether in sickness or in health:
1. Do everything you feel is important in life, today, or as soon as
possible.
2. Never give up. Ignore the odds. Always believe you will survive and
thrive.
.....I am personally counting on you to get through this just fine and be back
in action .... "
Warren will be remembered well...and I wish for him to be at peace.
-Linda
Axel Brunger wrote:
Dear CCP4 Community:
I write today with very sad news about Dr. Warren Lyford DeLano.
I was informed by his family today that Warren suddenly passed
away at home on Tuesday morning, November 3rd.
While at Yale, Warren made countless contributions to the
computational tools
and methods developed in my laboratory (the X-PLOR and CNS programs),
including the direct rotation function, the first prediction of
helical coiled coil
structures, the scripting and parsing tools that made CNS a universal
computational
crystallography program.
He then joined Dr. Jim Wells laboratory at USCF and Genentech where he
pursued
a Ph.D. in biophysics, discovering some of the principles that govern
protein-protein interactions.
Warren then made a fundamental contribution to biological sciences by
creating the
Open Source molecular graphics program PyMOL that is widely used
throughout
the world. Nearly all publications that display macromolecular
structures use PyMOL.
Warren was a strong advocate of freely available software and the Open
Source
movement.
Warren's family is planning to announce a memorial service, but
arrangements have
not yet been made. I will send more information as I receive it.
Please join me in extending our condolences to Warren's family.
Sincerely yours,
Axel Brunger
Axel T. Brunger
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology
Stanford University
Web: http://atbweb.stanford.edu
Email: brun...@stanford.edu <mailto:brun...@stanford.edu>
Phone: +1 650-736-1031
Fax: +1 650-745-1463
--
Linda S. Brinen, PhD
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Dept of Cellular & Molecular Pharmacology and
The Sandler Center for Basic Research in Parasitic Diseases
Phone: 415-514-3426 FAX: 415-502-8193
E-mail: bri...@cmp.ucsf.edu
QB3/Byers Hall 508C
1700 4th Street
University of California
San Francisco, CA 94158-2550
USPS:
UCSF MC 2550
Byers Hall Room 508
1700 4th Street
San Francisco, CA 94158
