Capecchi, Mario Renato (1937– )

Italian-born US molecular geneticist who, with British geneticist Sir Martin J Evans and British-born US biochemist Oliver Smithies, shared the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2007 for his contributions to the discovery of the principles of introducing specific genetic modifications in mice created using embryonic stem cells.

Capecchi developed a process, independently of fellow Nobel Laureate Oliver Smithies, known as homologous recombination that allowed genetic engineering of mouse embryonic stem cells prior to their use to create live mice. This allowed the creation of mice that could have specific genes from other species added, or had genes that were made to not function. These latter mice were known as ‘knockout’ mice and proved instrumental in determining gene function in diseases, potentially allowing new medical treatments to be developed. Over 10,000 ‘knockout’ mice have been created so far, covering about 50% of the mammalian genome.

Capecchi was born on 6 October 1937, in Verona, Italy. He was awarded his PhD in Biophysics by Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, in 1967. He became assistant Professor at the Department of Biochemistry at Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, in 1989, being promoted to Associate Professor in 1971. He joined the faculty at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, in 1973. Capecchi currently holds the positions of Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Distinguished Professor of Human Genetics and Biology at the University of Utah.