Byron Backus:
CLASS OF 1959
Leonia High SchoolClass of 1959
Leonia, NJ
Walter Johnson High SchoolClass of 1959
Bethesda, MD
Garfield Junior High SchoolClass of 1956
Berkeley, CA
Whittier/Arts Magnet Elementary SchoolClass of 1953
Berkeley, CA
Angell Elementary SchoolClass of 1953
Ann arbor, MI
Byron's Story
College
Received a B.S. in biology at GWU (George Washington University) in 1967.
Received an M.S. in biology from American University in 1976. Went back to GWU for a PhD in biology in 1990. I had some outstanding professors, particularly when I was going to American University for the MS and GWU for the PhD. Special thanks to Professor Bill Banta at AU (he's now retired) and to Professor Diana Johnson at GWU (she headed the genetics department there, now she's retired); as both inspired me to put my best effort in my studies and research. I did my research on the genetics (and cytogenetics) of a relatively obscure group of organisms (bryozoans), and have published several articles in scientific journals.
I have been working at the Environmental Protection Agency since April of 1976, and have no immediate plans for retirement (although it seems to be looking more and more attractive).
I had a minor heart attack in the early morning of March 14, 2008. There was no pain, only mild to moderate pressure, which I first thought was indigestion. However, although I moved around, it would not go away, so after about 20 minutes (about 1:30 a.m.) I called 911. The ambulance personnel did an EKG on me in my living room. The comment was: "I've picked up something; it could be angina, so we'd better take you in for observation." I wound up at Washington Adventist; the initial blood sample did not contain cardiac enzymes, so I was scheduled for a stress test around 1 p.m. However, before the stress test they took another blood sample and the cardiac enzymes showed up. They did a coronary artery catheterization at about 8 p.m. One of my major coronary arteries was completely blocked and they did an angioplasty and put in two stents. They said that I had good collateral circulation in the heart - perhaps a tribute to the fact that I am physically active - and this is probably why the symptoms were so minor. The blockage had apparently built up over a period of time; if it had occurred suddenly it c...Expand for more
ould have been fatal. I'm on some drugs (Plavex, aspirin, Lipitor, plus two blood pressure medications) now. I remain active (mowed my lawn yesterday, June 1, 2008) and my cholesterol and LDL readings are now considerably lower than before this episode (although they weren't that bad before). My HDL still is too low - genetics, I've been told. There is no indication of permanent heart damage.
My mother had a heart attack when she was 50, but she lived for an additional 35 years, although she went through two bypass procedures. She remained physically and mentally active until almost the very end of her life, and her determination is an inspiration.
Added March 3, 2013: Still working at EPA; will have 37 years in as of April 4. I've been interested in my family origins - sent in a buccal (cheek) swab to Genebase. Found out my many-times-great-grandfather (male lineage) most likely came from Ibiza (one of the Balearic Islands, in the Mediterranean, just off the eastern coast of Spain), probably about the time the Romans invaded Britain (lots of male relatives in the British Islands that diverged from my lineage 40-80 generations ago). Of course, when the Romans invaded Britain they used Hispanic legions. By one of those not-so-strange coincidences, my ancestor, William Backus (born in the early 1600's, came to America in the 1650's) came from the vicinity of York, where a lot of legionnaires retired to during Roman times.
My closest relative in Genebase (other than members of my mother's family) as far as the mitochondrial DNA is concerned turns out to be a pleasant young lady of Jewish-Italian extraction (only one mutation distance away when comparing HVR-1 and HVR-2). I gave her my phone number by email one night and she immediately called me and we had a most interesting conversation. Subsequently, we both had our mitochondrial DNA completely sequenced and I compared them - 12 mutation differences or roughly 96 generations (2400 years) since we shared a common matrilineal ancestor.
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