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March of Dimes Awards $100,000 Prize to Pioneer in Programmed Cell Death Research
Discovery of Genetic Control Over Orderly "Suicide" of Cells May Lead to New Treatments
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., MAY 5, 2000 -- A leader in solving the mystery of how and why certain cells in the body naturally commit suicide, H. Robert Horvitz, Ph.D., has been named this year’s recipient of the March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology, to be awarded May 15 in Boston.
Dr. Horvitz, Professor of Biology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, is being honored for his pioneering work in revealing genetic control over the active process of programmed cell death or apoptosis.
The Prize is a cash award of $100,000 and a silver medal in the design of the Roosevelt dime, in honor of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who founded the March of Dimes.
Programmed cell death is considered one of the more exciting new fields of medical research, as physicians and scientists seek to control apoptosis with the hope of treating cancer, genetic birth defects, heart disease, degenerative diseases, spinal cord injury and other disorders. Clinical trials and pre-trials of new agents that either stimulate or prevent apoptosis are now underway at the National Cancer Institute and a number of other institutions across the country.
"The death of cells was once thought to be chaotic and random," said Dr. Jennifer L. Howse, president of the March of Dimes. "But, thanks to Dr. Horvitz, we now understand that programmed cell death is a genetically-controlled, orderly 'suicide' of cells harmful to or no longer needed by the body. Apoptosis is vitally important to normal embryonic development -- but it’s also necessary in childhood and adult life."
For example, the formation of fingers and toes in the fetus requires the removal by apoptosis of the vestigial webbing between them, and the construction of proper connections (synapses) between neurons in the brain requires that surplus cells be eliminated by apoptosis. Apoptosis can eliminate cancer cells, cells with DNA damage, or cells infected with viruses.
"One interesting thing is that programmed cell death is not simply a passive consequence of cellular damage," said Dr. Horvitz, who discovered and analyzed key genes involved in the process of apoptosis by working with the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans. "Rather, it's an active step taken by the cell. In a sense, the cell knows it’s supposed to die, and actively commits suicide.
"All this takes place in a healthy organism, as a normal part of biology," he continued. "We believe cells die either because they’re harmful or because it takes less energy to kill them than to maintain them. But why are such cells generated? In some cases, cells are created in excess and only those that become properly functional survive -- as happens in parts of the vertebrate nervous system. In other cases, cells that are not needed at all are probably formed as an evolutionary vestige, a reflection of the evolutionary history of the animal."
Mistakes in the process of programmed cells death can lead to disease and premature death. Scientists hope to understand more about how to control cell susceptibility to apoptosis, which could lead to new treatments for disease.
The March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology is awarded annually to investigators whose research has profoundly advanced the science that underlies our understanding of birth defects. It will be awarded to Dr. Horvitz at a black tie dinner and ceremony on Monday, May 15, at 6:30 p.m., at the Four Seasons Hotel in Boston.
Dr. Horvitz will also deliver a lecture on Sunday, May 14, from 1:00 to 2:15 p.m., at the Hynes Convention Center during the Annual Meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies in Boston.
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