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2010 Promega Biotechnology Research Award Laureate |
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 Maynard V.
Olson, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of
Medicine and Genome Sciences, University
of Washington,
Seattle, has
been selected to receive the 2010 Promega Biotechnology Research Award for his
work in genomics.
“No other
individual has played a more important role in the conceptual, experimental,
and policy decisions which led to perhaps the single greatest accomplishment in
modern biology- the
sequencing of the human genome,” stated Olson’s nominator, Eugene W. Nester,
Ph.D., University
of Washington. Olson
began his career in chemistry but his interests changed to molecular genetics
after spending five years in the University
of Washington’s Genetics
Department. He realized the study of complex genomes would require the
separation of large DNA molecules. He developed the orthogonal-field-alternation
gel electrophoresis technique which allows the separation of such molecules.
Olson was also aware that cloning would be necessary to further characterize
and manipulate these molecules. To accomplish this, he developed the YAC (yeast
artificial chromosome) system. This system was immediately put to use in
mapping the human genome and was also vital to the completion of the C. elegans map. It also led to the
development of the BAC (bacterial artificial chromosome) cloning system which
in time became a key feature in the sequencing program of the human genome.
The size and
complexity of the human genome, necessitated identification of positions of
landmark sequences along the chromosome to guide the assembly of the entire
sequence. Developments in PCR allowed
him to devise the sequence tagged site (STS) strategy. It located positive
clones within a YAC library by screening for PCR gene target sequences. STS
mapping quickly became the basis of human genome maps. He also developed the
use of multiple-complete-restriction digestion as a mapping technique which
provides redundant coverage of the DNA to be mapped.
Olson has also been a
force in the development of genome policy. He formulated policies that pushed
the international effort for sequencing the human genome and also contributed
to the development of the plan of the National Research Council’s sequencing
effort.
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Last Updated on Thursday, 14 January 2010 13:13 |
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