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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), the March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology (2005),and the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine (2007) with Oliver Smithies and Martin Evans.
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.
Click to view CV
Capecchi Algorithm Movie (mp4)
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