Oliver Smithies
Facts
© The Nobel Foundation. Photo: U. Montan
Oliver Smithies
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2007
Born: 23 June 1925, Halifax, United Kingdom
Died: 10 January 2017, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Affiliation at the time of the award: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Prize motivation: “for their discoveries of principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells”
Prize share: 1/3
Work
DNA carries organisms' genomes and also determines their vital processes. The ability to artificially alter DNA opens the way to both new scientific understanding and new treatment methods for various illnesses. In conjunction with attempts to find treatment methods for hereditary blood diseases, Smithies discovered that a disease-causing gene could be modified. In 1986, Smithies and Mario Capecchi were able to achieve specific modifications in the genomes of mice. By inactivating specific genes, their functions could be determined.
Nobel Prizes and laureates
Six prizes were awarded for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. The 12 laureates' work and discoveries range from proteins' structures and machine learning to fighting for a world free of nuclear weapons.
See them all presented here.
