November 2020 Newsletter
Featured Articles
Learn more about our Laureates and their scientific journeys by reading our exclusive features released each month.
Emil Unanue: Explaining the key role of macrophages in fighting pathogens
Unanue fundamentally advanced the field of molecular immunology and revealed the biochemical basis of T cell recognition. Unanue received the 1995 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award, along with Peter Doherty, Jack Strominger, Don Wiley, and Rolf Zinkernagel, for work describing how T cells, central players in acquired protective immunity, recognize antigens.
75 years of Lasker Awards against infectious disease
Joseph L. Goldstein reflects on advances in infectious disease research that have been honored with Laskers. These Awards provide context for current initiatives to develop therapies against the novel Covid-19.
Barbara McClintock: A-“maizing” Insights About Jumping Genes
Read about how McClintock's "intellectually superb" science transformed our understanding of genes, and how her legacy influences researchers to this day.
Leroy Hood: Leading the systems biology revolution
A pioneer of systems biology, Hood is dedicated to developing new technologies and approaches to tackle complex biological questions.
Solomon Snyder: Defining how the brain responds to opioids
Snyder’s discovery of opiate receptors opened up a new area of study in neuroscience: neurotransmitter-synaptic interactions.
James P. Allison: Crusading for cancer immunotherapy
Allison shares how his early-career fascination with T-cell behavior eventually led to monoclonal antibody therapy for melanoma, a fundamentally new strategy for treating cancer.
Stanley N. Cohen: Transforming molecular biology
Cohen’s quest to understand how bacteria share genes laid a foundation for recombinant DNA technology and helped expand the biological promise of genetic engineering.
Phillip Sharp: Translating insights about RNA splicing into therapeutics
Sharp's discoveries revealed how genetic information is processed at the RNA level.
Alfred Sommer: Discovering a two-cent remedy that saves children’s lives
Using a data-driven approach, Alfred Sommer convinced the world of the importance of vitamin A for public health.
Evelyn Witkin: Pursuing the mysteries of DNA damage
Renowned geneticist Evelyn Witkin discusses how enthusiasm, luck, and a little defiance helped shape her career.
J. Michael Bishop and Harold Varmus: Partnering to uncover human cancer-causing genes
Bishop and Varmus share their personal and professional journeys that led to the discovery that oncogenes are present in normal cells.
Eric Kandel: Learning about the human brain from sea slugs
Kandel discusses how studying an unusual model organism helped reveal mechanisms underlying learning and memory.
