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October 2, 2006

Brown graduate shares Nobel Prize for medicine / Photo

AP Photo
Craig C. Mello, a professor from the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, Mass. speaks during a news conference at the University of Massachusetts in Worcester, Mass.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- A graduate of Brown University is sharing the Nobel Prize for medicine.

Craig C. Mello, 45, is a professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester. He and Andrew Fire, 47, a Stanford University professor, discovered a way to turn off the effect of specific genes.

"RNA interference" is already being widely used in basic science and is being studied as a treatment for virus infections, heart diseases, cancer and several other conditions.

The two published their seminal work in 1998. Mello got his B.S. from Brown in biochemistry.

Mello says he was taken by surprise when learning about the award which he calls a "tremendous honor."

Mello and Fire will share a $1.4 million-dollar prize.

Full story ...

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Steve Peoples  at 12:51 PM | Permalink

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