Renato Dulbecco: The Nobel Laureate Who Transformed Cancer Research
Renato Dulbecco (22 February 1914 – 19 February 2012) was an Italian American virologist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1975, along with Howard Temin and David Baltimore, for their work on the interaction between tumor viruses and the genetic material of the cell.
Life and Career
He was born on 22 February 1914, in Catanzaro, Italy. He studied morbid anatomy and pathology at the University of Turin under Professor Giuseppe Levi. In 1936, he got his MD and remained there for several years as a member of its faculty.
During World War II, he served as a medical officer in the Italian army and was captured by the Germans. After the war, he went to the United States to continue his research. He studied viruses at Indiana University with Salvador Luria, then at California Institute of Technology (1949–63). He became a U.S. citizen in 1953.
After serving five years as director of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in London, he returned to the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in 1977 as a distinguished research professor. From 1977 to 1981, he was also on the faculty at the University of California, San Diego medical school. He served as president of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California, from 1988 to 1992. In the late 1990s, Dulbecco worked on the Italian Genome Project for the Italian National Research Council. He died on 19 February 1914, in La Jolla, California.
Major Work
Dulbecco’s most significant contribution to science was his work on the replication of viruses. In the 1950s, he developed a technique for growing animal cells in culture, which enabled him to study the interaction between viruses and the host cell. He demonstrated that the DNA of certain viruses could integrate into the host cell’s genome, causing mutations that could lead to cancer. Later in his career, Dulbecco also became interested in the genetics of cancer and the role of oncogenes in the development of tumors.
Award and Legacy
He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1975, along with Howard Temin and David Baltimore, for their work on the interaction between tumor viruses and the genetic material of the cell.
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