Harold Varmus

Harold Varmus

Harold Varmus in 2010

Born	Birth date -1st March 1966
Birth place	Oceanside, New York, USA
Nationality	American
Known for	Discovery of the oncogene
Awards	Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1989)

Harold Eliot Varmus (born December 18, 1939) is an American virologist and oncologist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1989 for his discovery of the cellular origin of retroviral oncogenes. His work has significantly advanced the understanding of cancer biology and the role of viruses in cancer.

Early Life and Education

Harold Varmus was born in Oceanside, New York. He attended Amherst College, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature. Initially interested in a career in literature, Varmus shifted his focus to medicine and science, enrolling at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, where he earned his M.D. in 1966. He later pursued a Ph.D. in molecular biology at Harvard University.

Research and Discoveries

Varmus's most notable scientific contribution is his work on the discovery of the oncogene. In collaboration with J. Michael Bishop at the University of California, San Francisco, Varmus demonstrated that normal cellular genes could become oncogenes, which are genes that have the potential to cause cancer. This groundbreaking research showed that cancer can result from the activation of these genes by viruses, leading to the understanding that cancer is a genetic disease.

Oncogene Research

The discovery of oncogenes was a pivotal moment in cancer research. Varmus and Bishop's work revealed that oncogenes are not foreign to the cell but are normal genes that can be hijacked by viruses to promote uncontrolled cell growth. This finding has led to the development of targeted cancer therapies that aim to inhibit the activity of oncogenes.

Career and Leadership

Varmus has held several prominent positions in the scientific community. He served as the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from 1993 to 1999, where he advocated for increased funding for biomedical research and the importance of basic science. He was also the President of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and later became the Director of the National Cancer Institute.

Awards and Honors

In addition to the Nobel Prize, Varmus has received numerous awards and honors for his contributions to science, including the National Medal of Science and the Lasker Award. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Personal Life

Varmus is married to Constance Casey, a journalist and gardener, and they have two sons. He is an advocate for open access to scientific literature and has been involved in initiatives to make scientific research more accessible to the public.

Also see

• Oncogene
• J. Michael Bishop
• National Institutes of Health
• Cancer research
• Retrovirus