Thomas Maniatis, Ph.D.
USA
Harvard University
Dr. Maniatis is currently The Jeremy R. Knowles Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University. He not only determined the nucleotide sequence of one of lambda’s regulatory elements while working in Fred Sanger’s lab without the aid of standard procedures for DNA sequencing, he also perfected protocols for identifying and isolating genes. Dr. Maniatis is recognized as a pioneer in the development of gene cloning technology. He has received numerous awards including the 1981 Eli Lilly Research Award in Microbiology and Immunology from the American Society of Microbiology, the 1985 Richard Lounsbery Award for Biology, the 1998 Novartis Drew Award in Biomedical Research, the 2000 AMA Scientific Achievement Award,and the 2001 Pasarow Award in Cancer Research from the Pasarow Foundation. He was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 1985. He is also a pioneer in the biotechnology industry, having cofounded Genetics Institute in 1980, ProScript Pharma in 1994, and Acceleron Pharma in 2004. His contributions to biotechnology were recognized by the Jacob Heskel Gabbay Award in Biotechnology and Medicine, Brandeis University, in 1999.
In 1982, Dr. Maniatis along with Joe Sambrook and Edward Fritsch wrote Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, which has had an enormous impact on life sciences.