OLIVER SMITHIES — NOBEL LAUREATE
Smithies says
scientists should
have three things
in their lives:
their work,
a hobby and
a family.
microcosm of the necessarily slow pace of
genetics research; it can take as much as
two years to make a mouse.
The first breakthrough at UNC came
in Smithies’ lab when an associate of his
created the first animal model for cystic
fibrosis. The gene related to the disease in
humans had been found; now, that same
gene in the mouse could be altered and
the results studied. The goal is effective
therapies for humans.
But only about 50,000 people are
affected by cystic fibrosis. Some years ago,
a colleague urged Smithies to take a look
at hypertension, which affects millions.
“I decided to look for evidence that
hypertension might be due to small variations in more than one gene,” he said in
2000. “I’ve been at this almost nine years
now. It’s going quite well.”
At that time, 10 genes had been identified in mice that, if altered quantitatively,
have an effect on blood pressure.
“It’s hard to find a good drug for
hypertension that works for everybody,”
Smithies said. “A lot of times there are bad
side effects; some drugs work for some, not
TONY PEARCE
for others. People have to mess around
with a lot of drugs and side effects to try
to control blood pressure.
“I think it’s fair to say we’re the people
who have pursued this line of research the
most.”
In the 1950s, while at Connaught
Medical Research Laboratory in Toronto,
Smithies greatly improved gel electrophoresis, a process of separating proteins
to identify genes, using starch. The innovation simplified the procedure and became
Smithies’ hybrid
airplane enables him
to take off with
power, then cut the
engine and glide.
He’s a daytime pilot
only, due to severe
color blindness, a
condition that he
once hoped might be
remedied through
gene-based
therapies.
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