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AndrewJowers
Manager,NewsBureau
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#092887-6
L A J0 L L A ,0 ct. 2 -- A scientist whopioneer edthe application of DN A
r e s e a r chto th e stud y of h u m andisease, par ticular ly sickle cell anem ia ,
w i l l r e c e i ve th e l l th a n n u a lW ater for dBiom edicalScienceAwar d.The
a w a r di s a d mi n i steredb y th e Resear chInstitute of Scr ipps Clinic.
D r . Y ue t }'|. K an , p rofe ssorof m edicineat the Univer sity of
C a l i f o r n i a , S a nF r a n c s i c o ,w a s s e l e c t e di n r e c o g n i t i o no f h i s
c o n t r i b uti on s to the fi el d o f hum angene.ticsover the past l5 year s.
T h e a w ardw i l l be p rese ntedat a dinner Oct. 6 at the La Valencia
Hotel, La Jol1a.
" W h i l eD r . K a nh a s d e a l t p r i m a r i l y w i t h a b n o r m a l i t i e so f h e m o g l o b i n
have pr ofoundlyaffected
g e n e s ,h i s w o rk a n d h i s p i on eer ingm ethodology
t h e w a y i n w h i ch hu mange n e ticists appr oachall genetic disease," said
D r . R i c h a rdLe rne r, R e se a rc hInstitute dir ector .
W a t e r f o r dG l a s s , L t d . , o f D u b l i n , I r e l a n d , e s t a b l i s h e dt h e a w a r di n
1976 to encouragefundamentalresearchthat leads to practical medical
a d v a n c es.T h e a w ardi s a crystal tr ophy and $15,000.Any scientist who
is eligible.
h a s m a d es i g n i f i c a n t c o n t r i b u t i o n st o b i o m e d i c i n e
(More)
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i m p a c to n g e n e t i c sc a m ei n t h e e a r l y 1 9 7 0 s ,a f t e r i t
b e c a m epo ssi bl e to d e te ct a var iability in the fine str uctur e of DNAb e f o r e th e n , i t w as p o ssi bl e only to m easur echangesin the pr oductsof
or in the stretches of DNAthat
genes, not in the genesthemse'lves
Kan'sinitial
surroundthem.
a type of her editary
I n 19 7 4 , K a nd i scove redthat alpha- thalassem ia,
amongblacks, was causedby actual deletion of the gene for
anemiacommon
t h e a l p ha-gl ob i nh e mog l ob i cnhain. Additionally, he discover edthat am ong
only a single alpha- gene,
es
b l a c k s , 3 0 p e rcen t o f th e chr om osomcontained
rather than the normaltwo.
Ka n's fu rthe r rese a rchi nto the genetic m utationthat causessickle
d i s e a s em a d ep o s s i b l et h e d i a g n o s i so f s i c k e l c e l l a n e m i aw i t h o u t
a c t u a l l y sa mpl i n gb l oo d from the unbor nchild. M or er ecently, he
d e v e l o pedthe te ch n o l og yto detect pr enatally the sickle m utation itself.
A 1 9 5 8me d i calg rad u a teof the Univer sity of HongKong,Kan r eceived
f u r t h e r trai ni ng a t the P resbyter ianUniver sity Hospital, Pittsbur gh, th e
R o y a l Vi ctori a H o sp i tal , McGill Univer si.ty,M ontr eal, and ser vedon the
p e d i a t ri cs fa cu l ty a t H arvar dM edicalSchool, Boston,befor e ioining UC SF
in 1972.
H i s co n tri b u ti on s to h u m angenetics havebeenr ecognizedpr eviously
HazenAwardfor
by the Gairdner FoundationAward,the Lita Annenberg
e x c e l l en cei n cl i n i cal rese ar ch, the Allan Awar dof the Am er icanSociety
n en e ti cs,an d a H owar dHughesInvestigator ship.Associateedito r
o f H u m aG
of the Sickle Cell DiseaseAdvisory
o f C l i n ical Ge n e ti csan d p a st m em ber
C o m m i tte eN
, a ti on a l Insti tutes of Health, Kanhas beenelected to the
of Sciences.
Royal Society, London,and the National Academy
A M odelfor M olecu l ar
K a nw i l l p r e s e n ta n o p e nlectur e, "Thalassem ia:
of the Gr eenHospital .
M e d i c i n e , "a t 4 p . m . , 0 ct. 6 , in the Am phitheater
AJ:bb
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