Eckard Wimmer

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Eckard Wimmer

Eckard Wimmer (born May 22, 1936 in Berlin ) is an American virologist and biochemist of German origin, known for discoveries about the molecular biology of the poliovirus and the first chemical synthesis of a virus.

Life

Wimmer studied chemistry at the University of Rostock in the GDR . In 1956 he fled to West Germany because “we knew the wall was coming”. He continued his studies at the Georg-August-University of Goettingen away and was on January 8, 1957 in the Corps Teutonia Hercynia recipiert . He graduated in 1959 and obtained his doctorate in organic chemistry in 1962 . Until 1964 he was an assistant in organic chemistry at the University of Göttingen. He was then until 1966 at the University of British Columbia Research Fellow in Biochemistry and until 1968 at the University of Illinois Research Associate in Molecular Biology. In 1968 he became an assistant professor and later an associate professor of microbiology at the St. Louis University School of Medicine. In 1969 he was visiting professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . From 1974 he was Associate Professor and from 1979 Professor of Microbiology at the School of Medicine of the State University of New York at Stony Brook (SUNY). From 1984 to 1999 he was head of his faculty there. In 2002 he received the rank of Distinguished Professor. Wimmer continues to work scientifically at the age of 76 (2012). Wimmer is married and has two children. He has become an American citizen.

plant

Eckard Wimmer investigated various aspects of the poliovirus (and other picornaviruses), which he and his research group used as simple study models for human pathogenic viruses. He made several breakthroughs in research. In 1981 he and colleagues determined the complete sequence of the poliovirus RNA genome. Previously, he had elucidated the mechanism of RNA replication in the virus and the protein involved. He identified the opening sequence of virus replication in its genome (IRES, Internal Ribosomal Entry Site). Together with his group, he identified and cloned the receptor to which the poliovirus docks on the cell (CD 155) and various antigens of the virus, and he and his group are researching various aspects of the pathogenesis of the virus.

After it had been known for a long time that the replication of viruses and these themselves could in principle be chemically synthesized, Wimmer and his group demonstrated this in 2002 using the case of the relatively simply constructed poliovirus, which attracted great media attention, especially with regard to the dangers of bioterrorism and biological weapons development. First he and his group succeeded in in vitro synthesis of the poliovirus in a cell-free environment in 1991 and then in 2002 the complete chemical synthesis of a virus (the poliovirus). By injecting the synthetically produced virus into mice, they found no difference to normal polio infection. Wimmer was thus a pioneer in synthetic virology.

In 2006, he proposed to produce improved vaccines with genetically modified (less infectious) viruses, using a novel technique that was applicable to certain viruses such as the poliovirus ( codon de-optimization , changing the ratio of the codon pairs). Wimmer also works with computer scientists such as Steve Skiena from SUNY on the computer-aided design of the vaccines and applied the process to the development of vaccines against influenza, for example.

Prices and memberships

In 1996 Wimmer received the Alexander von Humboldt Research Prize and in 2011 the M. W. Beijerinck Prize in Virology from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences . In 2001 he gave the Maurice R. Hilleman Lecture at the Pritzker School of Medicine at the University of Chicago. In 2012 he received the Robert Koch Medal . Wimmer is a member of the Leopoldina (1998), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2008), the American Academy of Microbiology (1994), the National Academy of Sciences (2012) and the Loeffler-Frosch-Medal (2014). In 2008 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Research Foundation of the State University of New York.

Fonts

  • E. Wimmer, S. Mueller, TM Tumpey, JK Taubenberger Synthetic viruses: a new opportunity to understand and prevent viral disease , Nature Biotechnology , Volume 27, 2009, pp. 1163-1172
  • E. Wimmer, Aniko V. Paul Synthetic poliovirus and other designer viruses: what have we learned from them? Annual Review of Microbiology, Volume 65, 2011, pp. 583-609, doi : 10.1146 / annurev-micro-090110-102957
  • E. Wimmer, Christopher Hellen, X. Cao Genetics of Polio Virus , Annual Review of Genetics , Vol. 27, 1993, pp. 353-436
  • E. Wimmer, Aniko Paul: Picornaviruses - Basics , in: Wolfram H. Gerlich, Hans W. Doerr (editor) Medical Virology , 2nd edition, Thieme 2010

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Life data according to American Men and Women of Science , Thomson Gale 2004
  2. ^ Roland Lindner: Eckard Wimmer. A heart for viruses. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 14./15. July 2012
  3. ↑ Kösener Corpslisten 1996, 172 , 307
  4. ↑ Dissertation: About substituted tetrachinones: A contribution to the chemistry of pyrromycinones, isopyrromycinones and rhodomycinones .
  5. ^ A heart for viruses in FAZ from July 14, 2012, page C3
  6. ↑ Kitamura, Wimmer et al. a. Primary structure, gene organization and polypeptide expression of poliovirus RNA , Nature, 1981, Volume 291, 1981 pp. 547-553
  7. ↑ A. Nomoto, B. Detjen, R. Pozzatti, E. Wimmer The location of the polio genome protein in viral RNAs and its implication for RNA synthesis , Nature, Volume 268, 1977, pp. 208-213
  8. ↑ Jang, SK, MV Davies, RJ Kaufman, E. Wimmer Initiation of protein synthesis by internal entry of ribosomes into the 5 'nontranslated region of encephalomyocarditis virus RNA in vivo , J. Virology, Volume 63, 1989, pp 1651-1660
  9. ↑ CL Mendelsohn, E. Wimmer, VR Racaniello Cellular receptor for poliovirus: molecular cloning, nucleotide sequence, and expression of a new member of the immunoglobulin superfamily , Cell, Volume 56, 1989, pp. 855-865
  10. ↑ BBC News, July 11, 2002, First Synthetic Virus Created
  11. ↑ A. Molla, AV Paul, E. Wimmer Cell-free, de novo synthesis of poliovirus , Science, Volume 254, 1991, pp. 1647-1651
  12. ↑ J. Cello, AV Paul, E. Wimmer Chemical synthesis of poliovirus cDNA: generation of infectious virus in the absence of natural template , Science, Volume 297, 2002, pp. 1016-1018
  13. ↑ S. Mueller, JR Papamichail, S. Coleman, S. Skiena, E. Wimmer Reduction of the rate of poliovirus protein synthesis through large-scale codon deoptimization causes attenuation of viral virulence by lowering specific infectivity , J. Virology, Volume 80, 2006, pp. 9687-9696
  14. ↑ JR Coleman, D. Papamichail, S. Skiena, B. Futcher, E. Wimmer, S. Mueller Virus attenuation by genome-scale changes in codon pair bias , Science, Volume 320, 2008, pp. 1784-1787
  15. ↑ S. Mueller, JR Coleman, JR, D. Papamichail, CB Ward, A. Nimnual, B. Futcher, S. Skiena, E. Wimmer Live attenuated influenza virus vaccines by computer-aided rational design , Nature Biotechnology, Volume 28, 2010, pp. 723-727
  16. ↑ Member entry by Prof. Dr. Eckard Wimmer (with picture) at the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina , accessed on July 20, 2016.
personal data
SURNAME Wimmer, Eckard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American virologist
DATE OF BIRTH May 22, 1936
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin