PBTF grant recipient wins Nobel Prize for developing gene targeting techniques

Photo of Dr. Mario Capecchi by Sean Graff, courtesy of the University of Utah.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation (PBTF) research grant recipient Mario Capecchi, Ph.D., of the University of Utah School of Medicine, has received the 2007 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. He shares the award with Oliver Smithies, Ph.D., of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Sir Martin J. Evans, Ph.D., of Cardiff University, for developing "gene targeting" technology in mice.

The discoveries made by Capecchi and the other scientists are being applied to everything from basic research to the development of new therapies for a multitude of diseases, the Nobel Prize committee said.

"Gene targeting in mice has pervaded all fields of biomedicine," the committee said. "Its impact on the understanding of gene function and its benefits to mankind will continue to increase over many years to come."

The PBTF supported Capecchi's work in 2000 with a grant for "A Conditional Mouse Model of Medulloblastoma." Medulloblastoma is the most common brain tumor of childhood and is associated with significant impairment and mortality.

Capecchi's project explored whether the early and intermediate events in the progression of medulloblastoma occur with a predictable sequence. The project used gene targeting to generate a mouse model of medulloblastoma in which the Patched gene was carefully controlled.

"We congratulate Dr. Capecchi for his Nobel Prize, and for his groundbreaking work in the field of gene targeting," said Dianne Traynor, PBTF Director of Research Funding and Advocacy. "To see so many of our research initiatives prosper gives us all an incredibly good feeling knowing our diligent efforts to fulfill our mission to help the children is producing world-class results."

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