Capecchi Shares 2007 Nobel Prize In Medicine For His Revolutionary Genetic

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Capecchi Shares 2007 Nobel Prize In Medicine For His

Revolutionary Genetic Approach To Mammalian Biology, Disease

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/85001.php

R. Capecchi, Ph.D., distinguished professor of human genetics

and biology at the University of Utah's Eccles Institute of Human

Genetics and a 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, in Stockholm, Sweden. The prize recognizes

Capecchi's pioneering development of " knockout mice " technology, a

gene-targeting technique that has revolutionized the study of

mammalian biology and allowed the creation of animal models for

hundreds of human diseases, including the modeling of cancers in the

mouse.

Capecchi shared the Noble prize with Oliver ies, D.Phil., of

the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and Sir ,

Ph.D., at the University of Cardiff, Wales.

The Nobel committee cited the three " for their discoveries of

principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by

the use of embryonic stem cells. "

" 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 who have contributed to this work, "

said Capecchi upon receiving notification of the Nobel Prize early

this morning. " The strong support and genuine interest of the

University and Salt Lake City communities have been marvelous. "

" It is a great honor to share this prize with Drs. Oliver ies

and . 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. "

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 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

Capecchi on his outstanding scientific achievements, " said

University of Utah President 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. 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 D. , 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 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 lin Medal for

Advancing Our Knowledge of the Physical Sciences (1997), and the

University of Utah's Rosenblatt Prize for Excellence (1998).