WASHINGTON, D.C. -April 10, 1998-- David Botstein and Ronald Davis, both of Stanford University, and Eric Lander, of Whitehead Institute/ Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Center for Genome Research, have been awarded the 1998 Chiron Corporation Biotechnology Research Award. This award, which honors outstanding contributions to the application of biotechnology through fundamental research, development research or reduction to practice, will be presented at the General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, May 17-21, 1998 in Atlanta, Georgia.

In 1980, Drs. Botstein and Davis and their colleagues explained in a scientific paper the general principles of the application of genetic linkage analysis using molecular markers. They recognized some genetic markers could be used both for the construction of genetic maps and the localization and cloning of disease genes. This gave rise to the first human genetic linkage maps consisting of these molecular markers and stimulated the effort to build even better genetic maps. This work laid the foundation for a critical component of the Human Genome Project.

Dr. Lander provided the tools for the use of molecular markers in mapping disease genes. He developed statistical methods to allow the analysis of large data sets of genetic information. Dr. Lander developed the most successful and largest laboratory for genome analysis in the United States. His leadership at the Whitehead Institute Genome Center contributed to establishment of the first validated whole genome physical maps of human DNA and the construction of high-resolution genetic maps of mice.

Dr. Botstein received his A.B. in biochemical sciences from Harvard University and his Ph.D. in human genetics from the University of Michigan. He began his career at MIT where he was the Earle A. Griswold Professor of Genetics. After 20 years at MIT, Dr. Botstein moved to Genetech where h
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Contact: Stacey Collins
scollins@asmusa.org
202-942-9263
American Society for Microbiology
16-Apr-1998