How did a young native of the American South, raised in an era of racism and segregation, rise to a highly decorated position at the forefront of molecular biology research? Up from Mississippi follows the remarkable career of James Darnell, a major player in some of the discoveries that illuminated our understanding of gene expression, paving the way for medical technologies—including some COVID-19 vaccines—based on messenger RNA. Darnell relates not only the circumstances and details of these landmark findings, but also the shared curiosity and excitement that drove him and his colleagues, and continues to drive his many protégés today.
From childhood and college in Mississippi to medical school in St. Louis, to Paris for a stint at the Pasteur Institute and back stateside to a series of prestigious institutions instrumental to the emergence of molecular biology as a discipline, Up from Mississippi is the story of a life spent in groundbreaking research, among colorful characters who went on to win worldwide recognition—as well as a history of science in the twentieth century.
James E. Darnell is a member of the American National Academy of Sciences and recipient of the National Medal of Science and the Lasker Award for Medical Science. He has taught at the Rockefeller University since 1974, and done research and teaching at the National Institutes of Health, the Pasteur Institute, MIT, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and Columbia University. 

1. Cover Page
2. Title Page
3. Copyright Page
4. Forewords
   1. August 2016
   2. Spring 2018
5. Chapter 1 - Growing Up in Mississippi (1930–1951)
   1. Family history
   2. Lessons from family history
   3. 1932–1935
   4. 1935-1937: House #1
   5. 1937–1939: House #2
   6. Big events in house #3: 1939–1942
   7. St. Louis in the summer of 1943
   8. The fateful eighth grade
   9. Beginning high school: 1944
   10. Tenth grade: 1945–1946
   11. Off to college at Ole Miss
   12. Beginning medical school: September 1951
   13. Life and times in the Eagle lab
   14. Salva Luria, Jim Watson, and my first independent job
6. Chapter 2 - A Pasteur Institute Visit (1960–1961)
   1. Discovering how genes are regulated
7. Chapter 3 - The MIT Years (1961–1964)
   1. Molecular biology of eukaryotic RNA in 1961: uncharted territory
8. Chapter 4 - Albert Einstein College of Medicine (1964–1968)
   1. Continuing investigation of RNA molecules
   2. Pre-tRNA: discovery and processing of a second class of RNA
9. Chapter 5 - Columbia University (1968–1974)
   1. Cy Levinthal and another move
   2. Accepting a Columbia professorship
   3. Discovery (or co-discovery) of 3' polyA tails on mRNA
   4. Larry Puckett and proof of conservation of nuclear polyA → cytoplasmic mRNA
   5. Studying nuclear events in adenovirus mRNA formation
   6. Sociopolitical events at Columbia and moving to Rockefeller
   7. Happy (busy) last years at Columbia
   8. A second Rockefeller University visit
10. Chapter 6 - Rockefeller University (1974 – present)
    1. The 1977 Cold Spring Harbor symposium
    2. Splicing in the historical context of “gene activity”
    3. Completing our studies of adenovirus mRNA formation
    4. The splicing discovery stimulates others in RNA chemistry
    5. The signal transduction problem: summer 1988
    6. Aiming to purify ISGF-3
    7. Identification of proteins in ISGF-3
    8. The George Stark lab: background, discoveries, and initial collaborations
    9. Cell line missing Tyk2 kinase fails to activate ISGF-3 proteins
    10. The JAK-STAT pathway expands
    11. Identification of JAK kinases
    12. STAT3 and Cancer
    13. Structure of DNA-bound STATs 1 and 3
11. Chapter 7 - Thoughts and Actions about Faculty Matters at Rockefeller (1974 – present)
    1. A personal request from Seitz: no faculty interest
    2. Clinical appointments
    3. Getting (really) acquainted with Rockefeller University
    4. Early efforts at independent junior faculty recruitment
    5. Building an independent junior faculty at Rockefeller
    6. HHMI interactions
    7. David Baltimore becomes Rockefeller University president
    8. Writing books and teaching
    9. Teaching through the years
    10. A moment for awards
12. Underpinnings of Molecular Biology Before 1960
13. Items on the Back of My Office Door (pictures 31, 32)
14. Honors and Awards
15. Endnotes
16. Photo credits
17. Acknowledgments
18. Photos Insert
19. Contents