Mario R. Capecchi
From the Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can change
| Image:No picture of Mario |
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| Born | October 6, 1937 (age 70) Verona, Italy |
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| Field | Genetics |
| Institutions | Harvard School of Medicine Duke University University of Utah |
| Alma mater | George School Antioch College, Ohio Harvard University |
| Known for | Knockout mouse |
| Notable prizes | Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research (2001) Wolf Prize in Medicine (2002)  Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2007) |
Mario Renato Capecchi (born 6 October 1937) is an Italian-born American molecular geneticist who won the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine along with Sir Martin J. Evans and Oliver Smithies.[1] He is a Distinguished Professor of Human Genetics and Biology at the University of Utah School of Medicine, which he joined in 1973.
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[change] Life
Mario Capecchi was born in the Italian city of Verona in 1937. His father was called Luciano Capecchi,[2] . Luciano was an Italian airman who would was reported as missing in action while using in an anti-aircraft gun in the Western Desert Campaign,[3] His mother was called Lucy Ramberg. Lucy was an American-born[4] daughter of Impressionist painter Lucy Dodd Ramberg and German archaeologist Walter Ramberg. During World War II, his mother was sent to the Dachau concentration camp[4][5] as punishment for handing out pamphlets and belonging to an anti-Fascist group.[6] Before her arrest[2] she had sold her belongings and gave the money to a poor family near Bolzano[3] to give her son a place to live. After one year,[7] the money was all spent and the family was unable to care for him. At four-and-a-half years old he was left to live on the streets of northern Italy for the next four years,[3] living in various orphanages and roving through towns with groups of other homeless children.[7]
He almost died of hunger. His mother had been freed from Dachau and began a year-long search for him. She finally found him in a hospital bed in Reggio Emilia,[3] ill with a fever and living one bowl of chicory coffee and bread crust each day. She took him to Rome, where he had his first bath in six years.[7]
In 1946 his uncle, Edward Ramberg,[2] an American physicist at RCA, sent his mother money to return to the United States. Mario and his mother moved to Pennsylvania to live at an intentional cooperative community called Bryn Gweled,[8] which had been started by his uncle. (Capecchi's other maternal uncle, Walter Ramberg, was also an American physicist who served as the tenth president of the Society for Experimental Stress Analysis.[9]) Professor Capecchi graduated from George School, a Quaker boarding school in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in 1956.
Mario Capecchi received his Bachelor of Science in chemistry and physics in 1961 from Antioch College in Ohio. Capecchi came to MIT as a graduate student to study physics and mathematics,[10] but he soon became interested in molecular biology. He moved to Harvard to join the laboratory of James D. Watson, co-discoverer of the shape of DNA.[11] Capecchi received his Ph.D. in biophysics in 1967 from Harvard University, he was taught for his exams by Watson.
Capecchi was a Junior Fellow of the Society of Fellows at Harvard University from 1967 to 1969. In 1969 he became an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry at Harvard Medical School. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1971. In 1973 he joined the faculty at the University of Utah. Since 1988 Capecchi has also been an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He has taught for Duke University's Program in Genetics and Genomics.[12]
After the Nobel committee announced that Capecchi had won the Nobel prize, an Austrian woman named Marlene Bonelli claimed that Capecchi was her long-lost half-brother.[13]
[change] Knockout mice
Mario Capecchi is well known for his new work in gene targeting of the mouse embryonic stem cells which helped him study other transgenic technologies such as cloning and genetic changing. This work was finished with the efforts of Martin Evans and Oliver Smithies working on the knockout mice. This work was awarded 2007 Nobel prize for medicine or physiology.
Dr. Capecchi has also pursued a systematic analysis of the mouse Hox gene family. This gene family is used to control embryonic development in all multicellular animals.
[change] Honours
- 1992 - Bristol-Myers Squibb Award for Distinguished Achievement in Neuroscience Research
- 1993 - Gairdner Foundation International Award for Achievements in Medical Sciences
- 1993 - Gairdner Foundation International Award
- 1994 - General Motors Cancer Research Foundation Alfred P. Sloan Jr. Prize
- 1996 - Kyoto Prize in Basic Sciences
- 1996 - German Molecular Bioanalytics Prize
- 1997 - Franklin Medal for Advancing Our Knowledge of the Physical Sciences
- 1998 - Feodor Lynen Lectureship
- 1998 - Rosenblatt Prize for Excellence
- 1998 - Baxter Award for Distinguished Research in the Biomedical Sciences
- 1999 - Helen Lowe Bamberger Colby and John E. Bamberger Presidential Endowed Chair in the University of Utah Health Sciences Center
- 2000 - Lectureship in the Life Sciences for the Collège de France
- 2000 - Horace Mann Distinguished Alumni Award, Antioch College
- 2000 - Italian Premio Phoenix-Anni Verdi for Genetics Research Award
- 2001 - Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research, co-winner with Martin Evans and Oliver Smithies[14]
- 2001 - Spanish Jiménez-Diáz Prize
- 2001 - Pioneers of Progress Award
- 2001 - National Medal of Science
- 2002 - John Scott Medal Award
- 2002 - Massry Prize
- 2003 - Pezcoller Foundation-AACR International Award for Cancer Research
- 2002/3 - Wolf Prize in Medicine
- 2005 - March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology[15]
- 2007 - Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, co-winner with Martin Evans and Oliver Smithies[1]
[change] References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2007. Nobelprize.org. Retrieved on 8 October 2007.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Susan Sample (2007). Scientist Profile: Mario Capecchi. University of Utah.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Vittorio Zucconi (2007-10-07). "Ero un ragazzo di strada mia madre mi ha salvato" (Italian). La Repubblica.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lois M. Collins (2007-10-08). U. scientist Capecchi wins Nobel Prize. Deseret Morning News.
- ↑ Karl Ritter and Matt Moore (2007-10-08). US, UK Scientists Win Nobel in Medicine. ABC News.
- ↑ Troy Goodman (2001-09-16). U. scientist Mario Cappechi scores a 'knockout'. Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved on 8 October 2007.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Christopher Lee (2007-10-10). From Child on Street to Nobel Laureate. Washington Post.
- ↑ American Philosophical Society. Edward G. Ramberg Papers. American Philosophical Society.
- ↑ C.E. Taylor. A tribute to Walter Ramberg.
- ↑ Andrew Gumbel (2007-10-09). Mario Capecchi: The man who changed our world. Belfast Telegraph.
- ↑ Arkajit Dey (2007-10-16). Two Nobel Prize Winners MIT-Affiliated. The Tech.
- ↑ Distinguished Lecture Series. Duke University.
- ↑ Peter Popham (2007-10-18). Reunion beckons for Nobel winner and his long lost step-sister. Belfast Telegraph.
- ↑ 2001 Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research. Lasker Foundation. Retrieved on 1 October 2007.
- ↑ March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology: Previous Recipients. March of Dimes. Retrieved on 10 October 2007.
