Jaenisch's first breakthrough occurred in 1974, when he andBeatrice Mintz showed that foreignDNA could be integrated into the DNA of early mouseembryos[5] They injectedretrovirus DNA into early mouse embryos and showed that leukemia DNA sequences had integrated into the mousegenome and also into that of its offspring. These mice were the first transgenic mammals in history.[6]
His current research focuses on theepigenetic regulation ofgene expression,[7] which has led to major advances in creating embryonic stem cells and "induced pluripotent stem" (IPS) cells, as well as their therapeutic applications. In 2007, Jaenisch’s laboratory was one of the first three laboratories worldwide to report reprogramming cells taken from a mouse's tail into IPS cells. Jaenisch has since shown therapeutic benefits of IPS cell-based treatment forsickle-cell anemia andParkinson's disease in mice. Additional research focuses on the epigenetic mechanisms involved in cancer and brain development.[3]
Jaenisch’s therapeutic cloning research deals exclusively with mice, but he is an advocate for using the same techniques with human cells in order to advance embryonic stem cell research.[8] However, in 2001, Jaenisch made a public case againsthuman reproductive cloning, testifying before a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee[9] and writing an editorial inScience magazine.[10]
Jaenisch received his doctorate in medicine from theUniversity of Munich in 1967, preferring the laboratory to the clinic. He became a postdoc at the Max Planck Institute in Munich, studying bacteriophages.[11] He left Germany in 1970 for research positions atPrinceton University,Fox Chase Institute for Cancer Research and theSalk Institute. He returned to Germany in 1977 to become the head of the Department of Tumor Virology at theHeinrich Pette Institute at theUniversity of Hamburg. He arrived at MIT in 1984.[12] He participated in the 2005 science conference on human cloning at theUnited Nations and serves on the science advisory boards of the Genetics Policy Institute[13] and Stemgent.[14] He also served on the Life Sciences jury for theInfosys Prize in 2010.
^Ferrone, Frank A. (2015). "2013 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science presented to Rudolf Jaenisch".Journal of the Franklin Institute.352 (7):2587–2590.doi:10.1016/j.jfranklin.2015.03.004.
