Neuroscience
From the Nobel Assemble press release:
The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has today decided to award The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 2007 jointly to
Mario R. Capecchi, Martin J. Evans and Oliver Smithies
for their discoveries of "principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells"
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.
[ ... Read the full release ... ]
- Upcoming Event: 06 October 2008, Stockholm
From the Nobel Prize website: Announcement of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine The names of the year's Nobel Laureates in Physiology or Medicine are announced during a press conference at the Nobel Forum, Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm....
- Multiple Sclerosis
From a National Institutes of Health press release issued on the 29th: After a Decades-Long Search, Scientists Identify New Genetic Risk Factors for Multiple Sclerosis A pair of large-scale genetic studies supported by the National Institutes of Health...
- P16-ink4a
From The New York Times: Gene Found to Switch Off Stem Cells During Aging By NICHOLAS WADE Published: September 6, 2006 Biologists have uncovered a deep link between lifespan and cancer in the form of a gene that switches off stem cells as a person ages....
- Genetics And Aggressive Behavior In A Mouse Model
From The Globe and Mail:Rampaging mice made more human By CAROLYN ABRAHAM Wednesday, July 6, 2005 Updated at 8:57 AM EDT From Wednesday's Globe and Mail A breakthrough experiment has used a human gene to turn vicious mice into very gentle creatures...
- The Nobel Nose
This year's Nobel Prize for Medicine has been announced: Press release and Nobel website page. Richard Axel and Linda Buck have been awarded the prize "for their discoveries of odorant receptors and the organization of the olfactory system." Here...
Neuroscience
Nobel Knockout!
From the Nobel Assemble press release:
The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has today decided to award The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 2007 jointly to
Mario R. Capecchi, Martin J. Evans and Oliver Smithies
for their discoveries of "principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells"
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.
[ ... Read the full release ... ]
- Upcoming Event: 06 October 2008, Stockholm
From the Nobel Prize website: Announcement of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine The names of the year's Nobel Laureates in Physiology or Medicine are announced during a press conference at the Nobel Forum, Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm....
- Multiple Sclerosis
From a National Institutes of Health press release issued on the 29th: After a Decades-Long Search, Scientists Identify New Genetic Risk Factors for Multiple Sclerosis A pair of large-scale genetic studies supported by the National Institutes of Health...
- P16-ink4a
From The New York Times: Gene Found to Switch Off Stem Cells During Aging By NICHOLAS WADE Published: September 6, 2006 Biologists have uncovered a deep link between lifespan and cancer in the form of a gene that switches off stem cells as a person ages....
- Genetics And Aggressive Behavior In A Mouse Model
From The Globe and Mail:Rampaging mice made more human By CAROLYN ABRAHAM Wednesday, July 6, 2005 Updated at 8:57 AM EDT From Wednesday's Globe and Mail A breakthrough experiment has used a human gene to turn vicious mice into very gentle creatures...
- The Nobel Nose
This year's Nobel Prize for Medicine has been announced: Press release and Nobel website page. Richard Axel and Linda Buck have been awarded the prize "for their discoveries of odorant receptors and the organization of the olfactory system." Here...