Newswise — The McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT announced today that Jeremy Nathans, of Johns Hopkins University, will be the 2009 recipient of the Edward M. Scolnick Prize in Neuroscience. The Scolnick Prize is awarded annually by the McGovern Institute to recognize an individual who has made outstanding advances in the field of neuroscience. Dr. Nathans, who is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Neuroscience, and Ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, will receive the 2009 prize for his contributions to the understanding of color vision, brain development and retinal disease.
"Jeremy Nathans' career exemplifies the spirit of discovery that we honor through this award," said Robert Desimone, director of the McGovern Institute and chair of the selection committee. "His pioneering work on the mechanism of color vision has led to an extraordinary range of insights into the function and development of the brain, as well as the basis for many forms of human blindness."
In work that he began when he was a graduate student in the early 1980s, Nathans solved a mystery first posed by John Dalton almost 200 years earlier " the origin of human color blindness. Using newly developed methods for gene cloning, Nathans identified (using his own DNA) the genes that encode the three color-sensitive pigment proteins in the human retina. He showed that mutations in these genes can lead to different forms of color blindness, and that the genes for the red and green pigments are on the X-chromosome, which is why red-green color blindness is more common in men than women.
In addition to explaining the molecular basis of color vision, the discovery of these pigment proteins and the related protein rhodopsin (also first cloned by Nathans) was important because they are prototypes of a large family of proteins known as G-protein-coupled receptors. These proteins are now recognized as key signaling molecules in all known organisms, and they represent the targets for about 1/3 of all FDA-approved drugs.
After confirming that the retinal pigment genes are expressed in cones " the color-sensitive cells of the retina " Nathans investigated the mechanisms that control the expression of these genes in the developing retina " work that led to general insights into the molecular mechanisms of embryological development. In one remarkable experiment, he and his colleague Gerald Jacobs transferred the human red-sensing pigment gene into mice, which normally have a more limited range of color discrimination than humans and other primates. The genetically modified mice, unlike the normal control mice, were able to discriminate colors within the red-green part of the spectrum. The fact that these mice acquired a new dimension of sensory experience based on a novel input provides a powerful demonstration of the plasticity of the mammalian brain. It also represents a model for the evolution of color vision, by showing that the appearance of a new pigment gene with altered wavelength sensitivity could be sufficient to confer new and potentially advantageous perceptual abilities.
In addition to his basic research on color vision and brain development, Nathans has made many key contributions to the understanding of retinal disease, including the genetic basis of retinitis pigmentosa, early-onset macular degeneration and retinal vascular disease. He also led the team that in 2003 identified the first genetic linkage to strabismus (misalignment of the eyes), a leading cause of visual impairment in children.
The McGovern Institute will award the Scolnick Prize to Dr. Nathans on Monday, April 27th 2009. At 4 pm Dr. Nathans will deliver a lecture entitled "The Evolution of Trichromatic Color Vision," followed by a reception, at the McGovern Institute in the Brain and Cognitive Sciences Complex, 43 Vassar Street (building 46, room 3002) in Cambridge. The event is free and open to the public.
About the Edward M. Scolnick Prize in Neuroscience
The Scolnick Prize, awarded annually by the McGovern Institute, is named in honor of Dr. Edward M. Scolnick, who stepped down as President of Merck Research Laboratories in December 2002 after holding Merck's top research post for 17 years. Dr Scolnick is now an associate member at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, where he directs the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research. He also serves as a member of the McGovern Institute's governing board. The prize, which is endowed through a gift from Merck to the McGovern Institute, consists of a $50,000 award, plus an inscribed gift, and is given each year to one recipient. Previous winners are Michael Davis (Emory University), David Julius (University of California, San Francisco), Michael Greenberg (Harvard Medical School), Judith Rapoport (National Institute of Mental Health) and Mark Konishi (California Institute of Technology).
About the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT
The McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT is led by a team of world-renowned, neuroscientists committed to meeting two great challenges of modern science: understanding how the brain works and discovering new ways to prevent or treat brain disorders. The McGovern Institute was established in 2000 by Patrick J. McGovern and Lore Harp McGovern, who are committed to improving human welfare, communication and understanding through their support for neuroscience research. The director is Robert Desimone, formerly the head of intramural research at the National Institute of Mental Health. Further information is available at: http://web.mit.edu/mcgovern/
RSS