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Intellect

Nobel laureate Mario Capecchi to give pair of lectures Jan. 24

At Seventh Annual Reed M. Izatt and James J. Christensen Lecture on Biotechnology

Nobel laureate Mario Capecchi, Distinguished Professor of Human Genetics and Biology and co-chair of the Department of Human Genetics at the University of Utah, will deliver the Seventh Annual Reed M. Izatt and James J. Christensen Lecture on Biotechnology at Brigham Young University Friday, Jan. 24.

The lecture will be presented in two sessions. The technical presentation — “Gene Targeting into the 21st Century: Mouse Models of Human Diseases from Cancer to Neuropsychiatric Disorders” — will be given in W112 Ezra Taft Benson Building at 2 p.m. The general session — “The Making of a Scientist: An Unlikely Journey” — will be presented in the Joseph Smith Building Auditorium at 4 p.m.

Admission to both lectures is free, and the public is welcome.

Capecchi was born in Verona, Italy in 1937. After his mother was arrested and sent to the Dachau concentration camp during World War II, he lived on the streets for the next four years until they were reunited as he lay dying of malnutrition in a hospital. After moving to the United States, Capecchi began school for the first time at age 9.

The Harvard-trained Capecchi is best known for his pioneering work on the development of gene targeting in mouse embryo-derived stem cells. This technology allows scientists to create mice with mutations in any desired gene. His pioneering work on gene targeting set a new standard for research worldwide and holds possibilities for cures for a wide variety of human diseases.

He has won many awards, including the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine with Oliver Smithies and Martin Evans, the Pezcoller Foundation-AACR International Award for Cancer Research, the Wolf Prize in Medicine and the March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology.

The lecture is sponsored by the BYU Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Department of Chemical Engineering.

For more information, contact Peggy Erickson, pbericks@chem.byu.edu, 801.422.6269. 

Writer: Brett Lee

CapecchiHiRes-1.jpg
Photo by Jonathan Hardy/BYU Photo

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