mario capecchi

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. For more information on Mario Capecchi, see the University of Utah Health Sciences Center Web site MARIO R. CAPECCHI was born in Verona, Italy in 1937. He received his B.S. degree in chemistry and physics from Antioch College in 1961 and his Ph.D. degree in biophysics from Harvard University in 1967. His thesis work, under the guidance of Dr. James D. Watson, included the analysis of the mechanisms of nonsense suppression; the initiation of protein synthesis, including the demonstration of Formylmethionine tRNA as the initiator of protein synthesis; and the mechanisms of protein termination. From 1967-69 Dr. Capecchi was a Junior Fellow of the Society of Fellows at Harvard University. In 1969 he became an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Harvard School of Medicine. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1971. In 1973 he joined the faculty at the University of Utah as a Professor of Biology. Since 1988 Dr. Capecchi has been an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute; since 1989, a Professor of Human Genetics at the University of Utah School of Medicine; and since 1993, Distinguished Professor of Human Genetics and Biology. He is also co-chairman of the Department of Human Genetics.

Dr. Capecchi is best known for his pioneering work on the development of gene targeting in mouse embryo-derived stem (ES) cells. This technology allows scientists to create mice with mutations in any desired gene. The power of this technology is that the investigator chooses both which gene to mutate and how to mutate it. The investigator has virtually complete freedom on how to manipulate the DNA sequences in the genome of living mice. This allows scientists to evaluate in detail the function of any gene during the development or post-developmental phase of the mouse. His research interests include the molecular genetic analysis of early mouse development, neural development in mammals, production of murine models of human genetic diseases, gene therapy, homologous recombination and programmed genomic rearrangements in the mouse.

Dr. Capecchi is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (1991) and the European Academy of Sciences (2002). He has won numerous awards, including the Bristol-Myers Squibb Award for Distinguished Achievement in Neuroscience Research (1992), the Gairdner Foundation International Award for Achievements in Medical Sciences (1993), the General Motors Corporation's Alfred P. Sloan Jr. Prize for Outstanding Basic Science Contributions to Cancer Research (1994), the German Molecular Bioanalytics Prize, (1996), the Kyoto Prize in Basic Sciences (1996), the Franklin Medal for Advancing Our Knowledge of the Physical Sciences (1997), the Feodor Lynen Lectureship (1998), the Rosenblatt Prize for Excellence (1998), the Baxter Award for Distinguished Research in the Biomedical Sciences (1998), the Helen Lowe Bamberger Colby and John E. Bamberger Presidential Endowed Chair in the University of Utah Health Sciences Center (1999), lectureship in the Life Sciences for the Collège de France (2000), the Horace Mann Distinguished Alumni Award, Antioch College (2000), the Italian Premio Phoenix-Anni Verdi for Genetics Research Award (2000), the Spanish Jiménez-Diáz Prize (2001), the Pioneers of Progress Award (2001), the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research (2001), the National Medal of Science (2001), the John Scott Medal Award (2002), the Massry Prize (2002), the Pezcoller Foundation-AACR International Award for Cancer Research (2003), the Wolf Prize in Medicine (2002/03) and the March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology (2005).

Research interests include: the molecular genetic analysis of early mouse development, neural development in mammals, production of murine models of human genetic diseases, gene therapy, homologous recombination and programmed genomic rearrangements in the mouse.
Recent winners of the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine, and their research, according to the Nobel Foundation:

_ 2007: U.S. citizens Mario R. Capecchi and Oliver Smithies and Sir Martin J. Evans of Britain for groundbreaking discoveries that led to a technique for manipulating mouse genes.


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_ 2006: Andrew Z. Fire and Craig C. Mello of the United States for their work in controlling the flow of genetic information.

_ 2005: Barry J. Marshall and Robin Warren of Australia for their work in how the bacterium Helicobacter pylori plays a role in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease.

_ 2004: Richard Axel and Linda B. Buck of the United States for their work in studying odorant receptors and the organization of the olfactory system in human beings.

_ 2003: Paul C. Lauterbur, United States, and Sir Peter Mansfield, Britain, for discoveries in magnetic resonance imaging, a technique that reveals the brain and inner organs in breathtaking detail.

_ 2002: Sydney Brenner and John E. Sulston, Britain, and H. Robert Horvitz, United States, for discoveries concerning how genes regulate organ development and a process of programmed cell death.


_ 2001: Leland H. Hartwell, United States, R. Timothy Hunt and Sir Paul M. Nurse, Britain, for the discovery of key regulators of the process that lets cells divide, which is expected to lead to new cancer treatments.

_ 2000: Arvid Carlsson, Sweden, Paul Greengard and Eric R. Kandel, United States, for research on how brain cells transmit signals to each other, thus increasing understanding on how the brain functions and how neurological and psychiatric disorders may be better treated.

_ 1999: Guenter Blobel, United States, for protein research that shed new light on diseases, including cystic fibrosis and early development of kidney stones.

_ 1998: Robert F. Furchgott, Louis J. Ignarro and Ferid Murad, United States, for the discovery of properties of nitric oxide, a common air pollutant but also a lifesaver because of its capacity to dilate blood vessels.

_ 1997: Stanley B. Prusiner, United States, for the discovery of prions, an infectious agent at the heart of several forms of brain-wasting disease.


the University of Utah Department of Human Genetics Web site: www.genetics.utah.edu; or the University of Utah Genetic Science Learning Center Web site: