Oliver Smithies ForMemRS | |
|---|---|
.JPG) Smithies with theAmerican Institute of Chemists Gold Medal (2009) | |
| Born | (1925-06-23)23 June 1925 Halifax, West Yorkshire, England |
| Died | 10 January 2017(2017-01-10) (aged 91) Chapel Hill, North Carolina, US |
| Alma mater | University of Oxford (BA, DPhil) |
| Known for | |
| Spouse | Nobuyo Maeda[2] |
| Awards |
|
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | |
| Institutions | |
| Thesis | Physico-chemical properties of solutions of proteins (1951) |
| Doctoral advisor | Alexander G. Ogston[1] |
Oliver Smithies (23 June 1925 – 10 January 2017) was a British-Americangeneticist andphysical biochemist. He is known for introducingstarch as a medium forgel electrophoresis in 1955,[3] and for the discovery, simultaneously withMario Capecchi andMartin Evans, of the technique ofhomologous recombination of transgenicDNA with genomic DNA, a much more reliable method of altering animal genomes than previously used, and the technique behindgene targeting andknockout mice.[4][5][6] He received theNobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2007 for his genetics work.[7][8]
Smithies was born inHalifax,West Yorkshire, England, to William Smithies and his wife Doris, née Sykes. His father sold life insurance policies and his mother taught English atHalifax Technical College. He had a twin brother and a younger sister. He attended a primary school in the nearby village ofCopley and then went toHeath Grammar School in Halifax.[9] He said that his love of science came from an early fascination with radios andtelescopes.[10]
He attendedBalliol College, Oxford on aBrackenbury Scholarship, initially readingmedicine. He studiedanatomy andphysiology, winning a prize in anatomy, and graduated with afirst-classBachelor of Arts degree in animal physiology, includingbiochemistry, in 1946. Inspired by tutorials fromAlexander G. Ogston on applyingphysical chemistry to biological systems, Smithies then switched away from medicine to earn a second bachelor's degree in chemistry.[9][10][11] He published his first research paper, co-written with Ogston, in 1948.[9] In 1951, he received aMaster of Arts degree and aDoctor of Philosophy in biochemistry under Ogston's supervision; his thesis was entitled "Physico-chemical properties of solutions of proteins".[12][1]
Smithies was awarded aCommonwealth Fund fellowship to take up a post-doctoral position in the United States, in the laboratory of J. W. Williams at theUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison's Department of Chemistry.[9] A problem with acquiring a U.S. visa, due to a condition of the Commonwealth Fund fellowship, then forced him to leave the U.S. From 1953 to 1960, he worked as an associate research faculty member, underinsulin researcher David A. Scott, in theConnaught Medical Research Laboratory at theUniversity of Toronto in Canada.[9][10] He learnedmedical genetics from Norma Ford Walker at theHospital for Sick Children in Toronto.[13]
In 1960, Smithies returned to the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he worked in the Department of Genetics until 1988 as, successively, assistant, associate and Leon J. Cole and Hilldale Professor of Genetics and Medical Genetics.[10] Subsequently, he was the Excellence Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at theUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.[14] He continued to work in his lab there daily into his eighties.[5][15] He co-authored a total of more than 350 research papers and reviews, dating from 1948 to 2016.[16]
Smithies developed the technique ofgel electrophoresis using astarch matrix, as a sideline of (unproductive) research into an insulin precursor molecule, at the University of Toronto.[9][17] This improved the ability to resolve proteins by electrophoresis.[5] He was assisted technically in his later electrophoresis work by Otto Hiller. He used starch electrophoresis to reveal differences between normal humanplasma proteins, and in collaboration with Norma Ford Walker, showed that the variation was inherited, which stimulated his interest ingenetics.[9]
While at the University of Wisconsin in the 1980s, Smithies developedgene targeting in mice, a method of replacing single mouse genes usinghomologous recombination.Mario Capecchi also developed the technique independently.[14][17] This research is the basis of methods used worldwide to investigate the role of particular genes in a wide range of human diseases includingcancer,cystic fibrosis anddiabetes.[18] In 2002, Smithies worked with his wife,Nobuyo Maeda, studyinghigh blood pressure using genetically altered mice.[14]
Smithies won the 2001Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research, jointly withMartin Evans (Cardiff University) andMario Capecchi (University of Utah), for their work on homologous recombination.[19] He received theWolf Prize in Medicine, with Capecchi andRalph L. Brinster, in 2002/3.[20] He won the 2007Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, jointly with Capecchi and Evans, "for their discoveries of principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells."[7]
His other awards include twoGairdner Foundation International Awards (1990 and 1993),[21][22] theNorth Carolina Award for Science (1993),[23] theAlfred P. Sloan, Jr. Prize from the General Motors Foundation, jointly with Capecchi (1994),[24] the Ciba Award from the American Heart Foundation (1996),[17] theBristol Myers Squibb Award (1997),[25] theAssociation of American Medical Colleges' Award for Distinguished Research, jointly with Capecchi (1998),[17] the International Okamoto Award from the Japan Vascular Disease Research Foundation (2000),[26] theO. Max Gardner Award, the highest award for faculty in theUniversity of North Carolina system (2002),[17] theMassry Prize of the Meira and Shaul G. Massry Foundation (2002), shared with Capecchi,[14] theMarch of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology, jointly with Capecchi (2005),[27] and theAmerican Institute of Chemists Gold Medal (2009).[28]
Smithies was elected to theUnited States National Academy of Sciences (1971),[17] theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences (1978),[17] theAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science (1986),[17] theInstitute of Medicine (2003),[25] and as a foreign member of theRoyal Society[29] (ForMemRS; 1998).[30] He received honorary degrees from theUniversity of Chicago (1991),[31] theUniversity of São Paulo (2008)[32] and theUniversity of Oxford (2011).[33]
Ablue plaque to him was erected by theHalifax Civic Trust.[34]
Smithies married Lois Kitze, a virologist at the University of Wisconsin, in the 1950s; they separated in 1978.[9][11] His second wife,Nobuyo Maeda, is a pathology professor at the University of North Carolina.[11] Smithies was a naturalized American citizen,[35] and, despite beingcolor-blind, was a licensed private airplane pilot who enjoyed gliding.[10][11] He described himself as an atheist.[12]
Smithies died on 10 January 2017 at the age of 91.[36]
But that tells you about my religious affiliation, which is not very strong, and I must say I'm not even an agnostic. I'm just an atheist in real life.
