2008 Woodie Awards
UNC professor receives Nobel Prize in Medicine
John Boschini
Issue date: 10/16/07 Section: Campus News
Over the course of last past week, recipients of the Nobel Prizes for the fields of Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, Literature, and Peace were announced. Among the winners of the Nobel Prize in Medicine this year was Dr. Oliver Smithies, a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Smithies was recognized along with his colleagues Dr. Mario R. Capecchi of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Sir Martin J. Evans of Cardiff University in the United Kingdom. The researchers discovered a technique that, through the use of stem cells, allowed them to target and cause mutations in specific genes in mice. This technology has been used to create "designer mice" with genetic deficiencies allowing the creation of the first animal model of cystic fibrosis. The technique has also been used to study heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes.
Smithies was recognized along with his colleagues Dr. Mario R. Capecchi of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Sir Martin J. Evans of Cardiff University in the United Kingdom. The researchers discovered a technique that, through the use of stem cells, allowed them to target and cause mutations in specific genes in mice. This technology has been used to create "designer mice" with genetic deficiencies allowing the creation of the first animal model of cystic fibrosis. The technique has also been used to study heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes.
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