Mario R. Capecchi Wins Nobel Prize In Physiology or Medicine
Mario R. Capecchi, Ph.D., distinguished professor of human genetics
and biology at the University of Utah's Eccles Institute of Human
Genetics and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, has won
the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
The announcement was made this morning by the Nobel Assembly at the
Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. The prize recognizes
Capecchi's pioneering work on "knockout mice" technology, a
gene-targeting technique that has revolutionized mammalian biology and
allowed the creation of animal models for hundreds of human diseases,
including modeling cancer in the mouse.
"This is a tremendous honor for our University, for our Department of
Human Genetics, and, specifically, for all the members of my
laboratory, past and present," said Capecchi upon receiving
notification of the Nobel Prize early this morning. "The support and
genuine interest of the community have been marvelous."
"It is a great honor to share this prize with Drs. Oliver Smithies and
Martin Evans. We have all been very fortunate in having a longstanding
scientific friendship and in being able to profoundly contribute to
each other's work. This prize is a tribute to our collective efforts."
Smithies is at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and
Evans is at the University of Cardiff, Wales.
The Nobel tops a long list of prestigious honors for Capecchi, who, as
a child, was forced to wander four years on the streets of Italy after
the Nazis imprisoned his
mother in a concentration camp. His achievements in gene targeting
were recognized with the 2001 Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical
Research and the 2001 National Medal of Science, America's highest
award for lifetime achievement in scientific research, presented by
President George W. Bush. In 2003, he also received the Wolf Prize in
Medicine, Israel's highest award for medical science, and the 2003
Pezcoller Foundation-AACR (American Association for Cancer Research)
International Award for Cancer Research. Capecchi also received the
2005 March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology.
"The University of Utah proudly joins the Nobel Foundation and the
entire international scientific community in congratulating Mario
Capecchi on his outstanding scientific achievements," said University
of Utah President Michael K. Young. "His accomplishments are
particularly remarkable in light of the tremendous challenges he faced
in his youth. He has drawn upon these life experiences to propel
himself into doing the most extraordinary things—ultimately enabling
people across the globe to live healthier, longer, and more productive
lives. Mario Capecchi's groundbreaking work in gene targeting will
have an incalculable impact on generations to come. We are deeply
honored and grateful that he is one of ours."
Capecchi's development of gene targeting in mouse embryo-derived stem
cells allows investigators to create mice with mutations in any
desired gene and gives them virtually complete freedom to manipulate
the DNA sequences in the genome of living mice.
Knockout technology makes possible detailed evaluation of the function
of every mouse gene at any stage of development or in the adult. The
technology not only has made possible the production of animal models
for human disease, but it also is providing Capecchi and other
researchers with insights into understanding fundamental biological
questions, including development of the brain in the embryo or its
function in the adult.
Capecchi was born in Verona, Italy, in 1937. His mother was imprisoned
during World War II, but found him after the war and they eventually
came to the United States to live with his aunt and uncle. Capecchi
received his B.S. degree in chemistry and physics from Antioch College
in 1961 and his Ph.D. in biophysics from Harvard University in
1967. He completed his thesis work under the guidance of Nobel
laureate James D. Watson, who, along with Francis Crick, determined
the structure of DNA. Capecchi became a junior fellow at Harvard and
was an associate professor of biochemistry there when, in 1973, he
left to join the University of Utah faculty.
A scientist at the Eccles Institute of Human Genetics at the
University of Utah medical school, Capecchi also serves as co-chair of
the Department of Human Genetics and is a founding member of the Brain
Institute at the University of Utah. He holds the Helen Lowe Bamberger
Colby and John E. Bamberger Presidential Endowed Chair in the Health
Sciences at the U of U.
Capecchi is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Among his
numerous other honors are the Fifth Annual Bristol-Myers Squibb Award
for Distinguished Achievement in Neuroscience Research (1992),
Gairdner Foundation International Award for Achievements in Medical
Science (1993), General Motors Corporation's Alfred P. Sloan Jr. Prize
for Outstanding Basic Science Contributions to Cancer Research (1994),
Kyoto Prize in Basic Sciences (1996), the Franklin Medal for Advancing
Our Knowledge of the Physical Sciences (1997), and the University of
Utah's Rosenblatt Prize for Excellence (1998).
For more information on the Nobel Prize see the Nobel Prize Web site:
www.nobelprize.org.
or more information on Mario Capecchi, see the
University of Utah Health Sciences Center Web site:
http://healthcare.utah.edu
/capecchi; the University
Source: University of Utah Release: Mario R. Capecchi Wins Nobel Prize In Physiology or Medicine
