The 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

 
The winners of the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine were just announced this morning. This year's prize goes to Mario R. Capecchi, Martin J. Evans and Oliver Smithies for their work on "principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells."

This is a bit of a surprise. These were not names that came up regularly in Nobel Prize Gossip. Many people, including me, thought that there would be a specific award for stem cells before anyone got the prize for exploiting stem cells. This doesn't mean that todays winners aren't worthy. I doubt that anyone will question the award to Oliver Smithies, for example. I don't know as much about Capecchi and Evans.

See Press release for a complete description of the work of Capecchi, Evans, and Smithies. Here's the summary ...

This year's Nobel Laureates have made a series of ground-breaking discoveries concerning embryonic stem cells and DNA recombination in mammals. Their discoveries led to the creation of an immensely powerful technology referred to as gene targeting in mice. It is now being applied to virtually all areas of biomedicine – from basic research to the development of new therapies.

Gene targeting is often used to inactivate single genes. Such gene "knockout" experiments have elucidated the roles of numerous genes in embryonic development, adult physiology, aging and disease. To date, more than ten thousand mouse genes (approximately half of the genes in the mammalian genome) have been knocked out. Ongoing international efforts will make "knockout mice" for all genes available within the near future.

With gene targeting it is now possible to produce almost any type of DNA modification in the mouse genome, allowing scientists to establish the roles of individual genes in health and disease. Gene targeting has already produced more than five hundred different mouse models of human disorders, including cardiovascular and neuro-degenerative diseases, diabetes and cancer.

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[Photo Credit: GETTY, Time magazine]