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 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 Smithies, D.Phil., of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill,and Sir Martin Evans, 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 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.”
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.