Biography
Theodore Thomas Puck (September 24, 1916 – November 6, 2005) was an American geneticist born in Chicago, Illinois . He attended Chicago public schools and obtained his bachelors, masters, and doctoral degree from the University of Chicago . His PhD work was on the laws governing the impact of an electron upon an atom and his doctoral adviser was James Franck . During WW II Puck stayed at the University of Chicago. There he worked in the laboratory of Oswald H. Robertson on the study of how bacteria and viruses can spread through the air and on dust particles. After a postdoc position in the laboratory of Renato Dulbecco , Puck was recruited in 1948 to establish and chair the University of Colorado School of Medicine 's department of biophysics. He retired from the University of Colorado School of Medicine in 1995 as professor emeritus, but continued to do laboratory work there until a few weeks before his death. [ 1 ] Puck was an early pioneer of "somatic cell genetics" and single-cell plating ( i.e. "cloning" .) This work allowed the genetics of human and other mammalian cells to be studied in detail. Puck's key work ultimately made modern genetics, such as the human genome and other mammalian genome projects, possible. Dr. Puck with the assistance of Philip I. Marcus , successfully cloned a HeLa cell in 1955. Puck made many basic discoveries in several areas. Confirming research done in 1956 by Joe Hin Tjio , Puck's team found that humans had 46 chromosomes rather than 48 which had earlier been believed. [ 2 ] He developed the CHO cell line from Chinese hamster ovarian cells for this work and contributed to deeper insights into chromosomes and genetics of mammalian cells. Derived CHO cell lines became the most productive manufacturing approach for therapeutic proteins, resulting in hundreds of highly efficient drugs. [ 3 ] Puck studied X-rays and cellular mutations. [ 4 ] He also isolated and studied cellular mutations. Fields: Genetics
About the Lasker Award
The Lasker Awards have been awarded annually since 1946 to living persons who have made major contributions to medical science or who have performed public service on behalf of medicine. They are administered by the Lasker Foundation, founded by advertising pioneer Albert Lasker and his wife Mary Woodard Lasker (a medical research activist). The awards are sometimes referred to as "America's Nobels."
Quick Facts
- Award: Lasker Award - Basic Medical Research
- Added: 2026-02-07
- Source: Wikipedia
- Established: 1946
- Presented by: Lasker Foundation