(The chords: verses: CC/GC/CC/GC; choruses (bold): FC/GC/FC/GC)
In the Horvitz lab, he showed what lineage could tell us
By working out the cell divisions in Panagrellus
Then with Iva, he started to delve
Into the gain and loss of function phenotypes of lin-12
That's a thesis there; to keep on going might seem dopey,
But he was thinking 'bout some genes that showed pleiotropy
How to explain the effects of lin-4 and lin-14?
It's in the timing, that's right, heterochronic genes.
Well happy birthday Paul, we just wanted to sing,
You deserve all the good things that life can bring.
And from everybody here and everyone you've helped along the way,
We want to wish you a happy birthday.
At the end of his PhD, things were going well,
As Paul devoted himself to seven cells.
The anchor cell signals the VPCs to change their fate;
Without a signal they stay in the default state.
Things were going fine but he thought the time was ripe
To move on to a postdoc in yeast mating type.
But in the end who can resist the seduction
Of studying C. elegans vulval induction?
Well happy birthday Paul, we wanted to proclaim
That without you, C. elegans just wouldn't be the same.
And from everybody here and everyone you've helped along the way,
We want to wish you a happy birthday.
In the Sternberg lab, you could say things have gone alright,
and if I tried to list the papers, we'd be here all night.
On the EGF receptor, we know he wrote the book,
But he's studied everything from lin-3 to the hook.
There's Ras and Raf, Sli-1 and Sos, just to name a few.
Trp channels, Wnt and lin-15, lin-11 and Gq.
Wormbase, textpresso and genome-wide interactions,
Evolution, pathogenesis and mating attractions.
From circuit design and the tracking of worms,
to spicule protraction and the transfer of sperm.
From kidney disease to P7.p orientation,
To IP3 signaling in ovulation.
Well Paul's a good advisor, and if you're ever in a state,
You can count on him to tell you everything's 'great, great'.
And he's pretty funny, but I think that you'll agree,
That it's not in the joke, it's in the delivery.
Well, trying to get grants can give you the blues,
But Paul's pretty good at it, and he's got Howard Hughes.
And he's a great geneticist so we think it's only fair,
That now he's sitting in Thomas Hunt Morgan's chair.
Well happy birthday Paul, we just wanted to show
That we think you're a great mentor and that you oughtta know
That from everybody here and everyone you've helped along the way,
We want to wish you a happy birthday.
Well happy birthday Paul, we just wanted to sing,
You deserve all the good things that life can bring.
From everybody here and everyone you've helped along the way,
We want to wish you a happy birthday.