Francis Hugh Ruddle (1929–2013) was an American cell and developmental biologist who was the Sterling Professor at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

. Ruddle was an early visionary of the

Human Genome Project The Human Genome Project (HGP) was an international scientific research project with the goal of determining the base pairs that make up human DNA, and of identifying, mapping and sequencing all of the genes of the human genome from both a ...

and created the first genetically modified mouse. He was a pioneer in both human and mouse genetics.

Early life and education

Ruddle's parents, Thomas H. Ruddle and Mary Henley Rhodda Ruddle, immigrated from the United Kingdom to West New York, New Jersey, where Frank was born on August 19, 1929. He grew up in

Mariemont, Ohio Mariemont (pronounced ) is a village in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. It includes two overlapping historic districts, Village of Mariemont and Mariemont Historic District. Named for its founder, Mary Emery, Mariemont exhibits English ...

, where Ruddle spent a lot of his childhood near the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

. Leaving high school early, Frank became a member of the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

in 1946 and fought for the country up until the year 1949. With the help of the

GI Bill The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, bu ...

, Frank was able to continue his education at

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...

, where he earned both his bachelor's degree and master's degree just two years apart. During the year of 1960, he received his Ph.D. in zoology at the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

Career and projects

In 1961, the

's biology department welcomed Ruddle. It was here where he devoted his time to analyzing the genetics of somatic cells and recombination of DNA. His thorough efforts and understanding of human gene mapping is what his research mainly consisted of. Ruddle started his research and experimentation at Yale, and his work in the lab contributed to the development of the

. Wanting to explore his research further to learn more on human disease, Ruddle dedicated his time to transferring human genes into mice. It was during the year of 1981 that Ruddle and his team's research was first published, announcing that they had created the first ever transgenic mouse, by completely changing the arrangement of their genes. The scientists were able to successfully transfer genes from two viruses known as

Herpes simplex Herpes simplex is a viral infection caused by the herpes simplex virus. Infections are categorized based on the part of the body infected. Oral herpes involves the face or mouth. It may result in small blisters in groups often called cold ...

and SV-40, into new fertilized mouse eggs, which were then inserted into female mice. The outcome consisted of animals that were partially mouse and partially non-mouse. In 1974, Ruddle created the first ever Human Gene Mapping Workshop, and twelve years later, with

Victor McKusick Victor Almon McKusick (October 21, 1921 – July 22, 2008) was an American internist and medical geneticist, and Professor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore. He was a proponent of the mapping of the human genome due to its us ...

, began creating a new journal named

Genomics Genomics is an interdisciplinary field of biology focusing on the structure, function, evolution, mapping, and editing of genomes. A genome is an organism's complete set of DNA, including all of its genes as well as its hierarchical, three-dim ...

, which the name now represents a whole branch of study. The journal documented the development of many different fields connected to gene mapping.

Awards and acknowledgements

In 1971, Ruddle became the president of the

Society for Developmental Biology The Society for Developmental Biology (SDB), originally the Society for the Study of Development and Growth, is a professional society for scientists and professionals around the world whose research is focused on the study of the developmental b ...

, and in 1985 he was also the

American Society of Human Genetics The American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG), founded in 1948, is a professional membership organization for specialists in human genetics. As of 2009, the organization had approximately 8,000 members. The Society's members include researchers, a ...

' president. Two years later, he became the president of the

American Society of Cell Biology The American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) is a professional society that was founded in 1960. Frank was honored many times for his achievements. He was elected to the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

in 1976, the

Institute of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly called the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, E ...

in 1985, and the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

in 1977. In 1983, Ruddle received the William Alan Memorial Award by the

. Ruddle also received the Dickson Prize in Medicine. Throughout his entire career, he contributed more than 900 publications to the field.

References

1929 births 2013 deaths Yale Sterling Professors {{Scientist-stub