# Carol S. Newlon
**Carol Shaw Newlon** is an American molecular biologist known for her work on [DNA replication](https://www.edgepedia.org/dna-replication) origins in the budding yeast *Saccharomyces cerevisiae*, a model eukaryote in which chromosome replication is better understood than in any other eukaryotic organism.[1](https://cshmonographs.org.pkpps06.publicknowledgeproject.org/index.php/monographs/article/view/4721) Her research program at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School was funded by the National Institutes of Health for 33 years.[2](https://njms-web.njms.rutgers.edu/profile/myProfile.php?mbmid=newlon) She is best known for showing in 1988 that a yeast replication origin is built from multiple copies of a small conserved sequence.[3](https://doi.org/10.1016/s0959-437x(05)80094-2)
| Key facts | |
|---|---|
| Field | Molecular biology; DNA replication in *Saccharomyces cerevisiae*[2](https://njms-web.njms.rutgers.edu/profile/myProfile.php?mbmid=newlon) |
| Signature work | "A yeast replication origin consists of multiple copies of a small conserved sequence", *Cell*, 1988[3](https://doi.org/10.1016/s0959-437x(05)80094-2) |
| Training | BS with highest honors, University of Florida, 1965; PhD, MIT, 1971; postdoc, University of Washington, 1972–1973[2](https://njms-web.njms.rutgers.edu/profile/myProfile.php?mbmid=newlon) • [4](https://studylib.net/doc/6889969/newlon---rutgers-new-jersey-medical-school) |
| Funding | [4](https://studylib.net/doc/6889969/newlon---rutgers-new-jersey-medical-school) |
## Education and early career
According to the article itself, her June 1975 *Cell* article "Molecular information in developmental genetics" carries her [University of Iowa](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-iowa) affiliation.[5](https://doi.org/10.1016/0092-8674(75)90029-x) Her work from this period included a 1974 Cold Spring Harbor Symposium paper on the size, structure, and replication of yeast chromosomal DNA.[4](https://studylib.net/doc/6889969/newlon---rutgers-new-jersey-medical-school)
## Career at Rutgers
Newlon joined the Department of Microbiology at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School (then part of UMDNJ) in 1985.[2](https://njms-web.njms.rutgers.edu/profile/myProfile.php?mbmid=newlon) She became Director of Faculty Affairs for NJMS in 2010 and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs in 2011.[2](https://njms-web.njms.rutgers.edu/profile/myProfile.php?mbmid=newlon) • [4](https://studylib.net/doc/6889969/newlon---rutgers-new-jersey-medical-school)
## Representative work
The 1988 *Cell* paper on yeast origin structure is the work for which she is best known. "A yeast replication origin consists of multiple copies of a small conserved sequence", published in 1988, showed that a yeast replication origin is composed of multiple copies of a short conserved sequence rather than a single element.[3](https://doi.org/10.1016/s0959-437x(05)80094-2) In the same year she published a *Nucleic Acids Research* paper demonstrating a close association between a [DNA replication origin](https://www.edgepedia.org/origin-of-replication) and an *ARS* element on chromosome III of *Saccharomyces cerevisiae*, and a sole-authored review, "Yeast chromosome replication and segregation", in *Microbiological Reviews* (52(4):568–601), which later work cites for the finding that active origins are spaced at approximately 40-kilobase intervals with a regular temporal order of replication.[3](https://doi.org/10.1016/s0959-437x(05)80094-2) • [6](https://doi.org/10.1128/mmbr.52.4.568-601.1988)
According to her 1997 *Cell* review "Putting It All Together: Building a Prereplicative Complex", published in December 1997, it synthesized the mechanism of origin licensing: the Cdc6p-dependent loading of Mcm proteins onto pre-replicative chromatin in budding yeast, a process regulated by cyclin-dependent kinases.[7](https://doi.org/10.1016/s0092-8674(00)80459-6)
## Contributions to replication-origin biology
Her 1993 review "The structure and function of yeast ARS elements" in *Current Opinion in Genetics & Development* drew together this work on ARS structure for the field.[3](https://doi.org/10.1016/s0959-437x(05)80094-2) Her Cold Spring Harbor monograph chapter "DNA Replication in Yeast" describes how ARS elements were dissected using the plasmid assay and how two-dimensional gel analysis assays chromosomal origin activity.[1](https://cshmonographs.org.pkpps06.publicknowledgeproject.org/index.php/monographs/article/view/4721)
A 1993 Cold Spring Harbor Symposia paper analyzed replication origin function across chromosome III, with all authors affiliated with Rutgers.[8](https://doi.org/10.1101/sqb.1993.058.01.048)
## Honors, funding and society service
Her NIGMS grant "DNA replication in *Saccharomyces cerevisiae*" ran from 1974 to 2007, and a Burroughs Wellcome Fund grant covered chromosome structure and function in *Cryptococcus neoformans*.[4](https://studylib.net/doc/6889969/newlon---rutgers-new-jersey-medical-school) Her listed research interests include *Cryptococcus neoformans*.[2](https://njms-web.njms.rutgers.edu/profile/myProfile.php?mbmid=newlon)
## References
1. [DNA Replication in Yeast, Cold Spring Harbor Monograph Archive](https://cshmonographs.org.pkpps06.publicknowledgeproject.org/index.php/monographs/article/view/4721)
2. [Carol S. Newlon, PhD, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School faculty profile](https://njms-web.njms.rutgers.edu/profile/myProfile.php?mbmid=newlon)
3. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0959-437x(05)80094-2
4. [Curriculum Vitae, Carol Shaw Newlon, August 19, 2011, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School](https://studylib.net/doc/6889969/newlon---rutgers-new-jersey-medical-school)
5. https://doi.org/10.1016/0092-8674(75)90029-x
6. [Yeast chromosome replication and segregation, Microbiological Reviews, 1988](https://doi.org/10.1128/mmbr.52.4.568-601.1988)
7. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0092-8674(00)80459-6
8. [Analysis of Replication Origin Function on Chromosome III of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology, 1993](https://doi.org/10.1101/sqb.1993.058.01.048)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Life and health scientists › Life scientists › Researchers in molecular and cell biology › DNA replication, repair, and recombination*
*Initially written Sep 21, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 25, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Sep 25, 2026*
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