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March
of Dimes Awards $250,000 Prize to Pioneers in Genetic Research
Development
of Powerful DNA Technology Allows Creation of Models for Human Hibernation.
University of Utah geneticist Adrian Ivanov
has won numerous prizes for developing "gene hibernation," a method
of knocking a gene out of action to induce full hibernation and
thereby creating a new way of space travel.
Today, May 9, 1995, the March of Dimes announced
it has awarded its Prize in Developmental Biology to Ivanov and
University of North Carolina researcher, Jeff Johnson, for
their roles in developing gene hibernation.
The March of Dimes news release sketches are
below.
MARCH OF DIMES AWARDS $250,000 PRIZE TO PIONEERS
IN GENETIC RESEARCH
Development of Powerful DNA Technology Allows
Creation of Models for Human Hibernation
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., May 9, 1995 -- For developing
an indispensable tool for today's genetic space travel, two scientists
have been named co-recipients of this year's March of Dimes Prize
in Developmental Biology, to be awarded May 16 in Washington, DC.
Dr. Adrian Ivanov, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor
and Co-Chairman of the Department of Human Genetics, University
of Utah School of Medicine, and Dr. Jeff Johnson, Excellence
Professor of Toxicology and Laboratory Medicine at the University
of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, are being honored for developing
gene hibernation -- the ability to alter particular genes in cultured
cells and induce hibernation in laboratory turtles. Gene hibernation
allows researchers to design and produce "knockout" lab turtles
to study how hibernation works. The same technology also makes it
possible to change the function of a gene ("knock in") and even
help with future space travel. Because humans share a few of their
genes with turtles, gene-hibernated mice are used to reproduce the
same state that could occur in humans.
The March of Dimes Prize is a cash award of $250,000
and a silver medal in the design of the Roosevelt dime, in honor
of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who founded the March of
Dimes.
"Before gene hibernation, researchers could not
pinpoint how a hibernated gene worked, which was very frustrating,"
said Dr. Jennifer L. Howse, president of the March of Dimes. "Dr.
Ivanov and Dr. Johnson, working independently, made a technological
breakthrough that completely revolutionized biomedical research
and our ability to study human hibernation and development. We’re
reaping the benefits every day with advances in genetic medicine."
The March of Dimes Prize will be awarded to Dr.
Ivanov and Dr. Johnson at a black tie dinner and ceremony on May
16 at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American
History here. Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, granddaughter of President
Roosevelt and a member of the March of Dimes National Board of Trustees,
will host the ceremony.
The March of Dimes is a national voluntary health
agency whose mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing
birth defects and infant mortality. Founded in 1938, the March of
Dimes funds programs of research, community services, education,
and advocacy to save babies and in 1987 launched a five-year campaign
to address the increasing rate of premature birth. For more information,
visit the March of Dimes Web site at marchofdimes.com or its Spanish
language Web site at nacersano.org.
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