Michael H. Wigler

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Michael Howard Wigler (born September 3, 1947 in New York City ) is an American biochemist and geneticist at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory , New York .

Wigler was able to make important contributions to the study of the variations in the number of gene copies ( Gene copy number variants ) and their relationship to certain diseases. Since 2014 Thomson Reuters has counted him among the favorites for a Nobel Prize ( Thomson Reuters Citation Laureates ) due to the number of his citations .

Life

Wigler earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Princeton University in Princeton , New Jersey in 1970 and a master's degree in medicine (MMS) from Rutgers University in Newark , New Jersey in 1972 . In 1978 he earned a Ph.D. from Columbia University in New York City. in microbiology . Since 1978 he has headed the Mammalian Cell Genetics Department at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in Cold Spring Harbor , New York. He has also been on the faculty at Columbia University since 1978, and since 1988 as adjunct professor of genetics. From 2008 to 2014 he was also a visiting professor at the Karolinska Institutet in Solna (near Stockholm ).

Act

Together with Richard Axel and Saul Silverstein , Wigler developed the method of co-transformation , which is still used today to modify mammalian cells for the genetic production of proteins. His research group succeeded for the first time in isolating a mammalian gene by means of gene transfection and was one of the first to identify a human oncogene using this method. In his laboratory it was possible to prove the involvement of three members of the Ras family in the development of cancer and to prove the hereditary nature of the pattern of DNA methylation .

Wigler was able to pioneering the use of baker's yeast as a model organism , and he was able to further elucidate the Ras signaling pathway. Together with W. Clark Still from Columbia University, he developed the encoded combinatorial synthesis method , with the help of which new drugs can be developed more quickly. Together with Nikolai Lisitsyn , he invented the RDA method (representational difference analysis) for comparative genome analysis, which ultimately led to the discovery of the tumor suppressor PTEN - together with Ramon Parsons - and - through other researchers - to the discovery of the Kaposi sarcoma virus ( Humanes Herpes virus 8 ). Wigler developed methods for genotyping and hybridization methods for genome analysis (ROMA).

More recent work deals with the genomics of cancer and hereditary diseases . Together with Jim Hicks and Nick Navin, he was able to show that genome sequencing is possible at the level of the individual cell. With this approach he hopes to be able to contribute to the individualization of cancer therapy (see personalized medicine ). His work led to the discovery of the wide field of genetic variability through variations in the number of gene copies (gene copy number variants) and to the hypothesis that spontaneous mutations in this area can be a main cause of autism .

Awards (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 2014 Predictions at Thomson Reuters (sciencewatch.com); Retrieved September 25, 2014
  2. ↑ Michael H. Wigler at the National Academy of Sciences (nasonline.org); Retrieved September 25, 2014.
  3. ↑ Book of Members 1780 – present, Chapter W. (PDF; 852 kB) In: American Academy of Arts and Sciences (amacad.org). Retrieved May 1, 2019 .
  4. ↑ $ 3.1 Million Raised at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory's 2007 Double Helix Medals Dinner at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (cshl.edu); accessed on May 1, 2019.
personal data
SURNAME Wigler, Michael H.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wigler, Michael Howard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American biochemist and geneticist
DATE OF BIRTH September 3, 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City