Albert Lasker Award
for Special Achievement in Medical Science

Award Presentation by Joseph Goldstein

Winston Churchill once said that there are two kinds of success—initial success, which many achieve, and ultimate success, which only a handful achieve. At the risk of being audacious, I would like to modify Churchill's quote and say there are three kinds of success—initial, sustained, and ultimate. Paul Zamecnik, the recipient of the Albert Lasker Award for Special Achievement in Medical Science, is one of those rare birds who has achieved all three kinds of success—initial, sustained, and ultimate.

Dr. Zamecnik's initial success is exemplified by his early studies 50 years ago when he was the first to develop a cell-free system for manufacturing proteins. His sustained success is exemplified by a remarkable succession of monumental discoveries, each of which opened a new field of research. In the mid-1950s, he discovered how amino acids are activated by ATP for entry into the protein synthesis pathway. He then discovered that a small soluble RNA—later called transfer RNA—was the adaptor molecule required in Francis Crick's theory of how the DNA message is translated into the amino acid sequence. Zamecnik's identification of transfer RNA is a landmark in the history of science. In this one experiment, biochemistry and genetics became fused into the new science of molecular biology, and the door was opened for cracking the genetic code.

Most recently, in 1978 Dr. Zamecnik opened another door to a new field—the use of antisense DNA to selectively block gene expression. Antisense DNA is now a major research tool in modern biomedical research and has spawned many new biotechnology companies that specialize in antisense DNA as a therapy for human disease. Today, 13 clinical trials with antisense drugs are underway to treat patients with AIDS, cytomegalovirus, other infectious diseases, and cancer.

In Churchillian terms, Dr. Zamecnik's ultimate success is exemplified by a rare type of scientific distinction achieved by only a handful of scientists who are held in universally high esteem by their colleagues because of certain human qualities—honesty, kindness, unselfishness, originality, and wisdom.

It's a real honor to celebrate the three successes of Paul Zamecnik.