Mario Capecchi lived a difficult life, Imagine what went through his mind when he got a call at 3 a.m. notifying him that he had been named one of three winners of this year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Later he says that the tone of voice of the gentleman on the line from Sweden was very serious, which he discarded the idea that the call could be a joke.In fact, Capecchi, how works as a researcher at the University of Utah since 1973, did win a Nobel Prize, which recognizes him, Martin J. Evans of North Carolina and Oliver Smithies of Wales for their discoveries of principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells. These incredible discoveries concerning embryonic stem cells and DNA recombination in mammals led to the creation of an immensely powerful technology referred to as gene targeting in mice. It is now being applied to virtually all areas of biomedicine, from basic research to the development of new therapies.
These studies have revolutionized the idea of mammalian biology. Mice genes are about 95 percent identical to humans in sequence - and allowed the creation of animal models for hundreds of human diseases, including the modeling of cancers in the mouse. Most science is the result of collaboration, and Capecchi was generous when he said that the prize is a tribute to a efforts.
The progress of the science of genetics has been one of the spectacular stories of the past 50 years. Capecchi how studied under James Watson supervision, one of the co-discoverers of the structure of DNA, in his laboratory at Harvard. And it was Watson who counseled Capecchi that he could pursue good science anywhere in the early 1970s.
source & image:
news.independent.co.uk
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