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George Davis Snell
NAS Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ...
(December 19, 1903 – June 6, 1996) was an American mouse geneticist and basic transplant immunologist.


Work

George Snell shared the 1980
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, accordi ...
with
Baruj Benacerraf Baruj Benacerraf (; October 29, 1920 – August 2, 2011) was a Venezuelan-American immunologist, who shared the 1980 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the "discovery of the major histocompatibility complex genes which encode cell s ...
and Jean Dausset for their discoveries concerning "genetically determined structures on the cell surface that regulate immunological reactions". Snell specifically "discovered the genetic factors that determine the possibilities of transplanting tissue from one individual to another. It was Snell who introduced the concept of H
antigen In immunology, an antigen (Ag) is a molecule or molecular structure or any foreign particulate matter or a pollen grain that can bind to a specific antibody or T-cell receptor. The presence of antigens in the body may trigger an immune respon ...
s

Snell's work in mice led to the discovery of Human leukocyte antigen, HLA, the major histocompatibility complex, in humans (and all vertebrates) that is analogous to the H-2 complex in mice. Recognition of these key genes was prerequisite to successful tissue and
organ transplant Organ transplantation is a medical procedure in which an organ is removed from one body and placed in the body of a recipient, to replace a damaged or missing organ. The donor and recipient may be at the same location, or organs may be transpor ...
ation.


Life

George Snell was born in
Bradford, Massachusetts Bradford is a village and former town, in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. Eastern Bradford is the current town of Groveland, while western Bradford was annexed by the city of Haverhill, and today consists of the part of Haverhill o ...
, the youngest of three children. His father (who was born in
Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...
) worked as a secretary for the local
YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...
; he invented a device for winding induction coils for motorboat engines. Snell was educated in the
Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, in the United States, and part of the Boston metropolitan area. Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Allston, Fenway–Kenmore, Mission Hill, Jamaica Plain, and ...
schools and then enrolled at
Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...
in
Hanover, New Hampshire Hanover is a town located along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 11,870. The town is home to the Ivy League university Dartmouth College, the U.S. Army Corps of En ...
where he continued his passion for mathematics and science, focusing on genetics. He received his
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to si ...
from Dartmouth in 1926. On the recommendation of John Gerould, his genetics professor at Dartmouth, Snell did graduate work at
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...
with William E. Castle, the first American biologist to look for
Mendelian inheritance Mendelian inheritance (also known as Mendelism) is a type of biological inheritance following the principles originally proposed by Gregor Mendel in 1865 and 1866, re-discovered in 1900 by Hugo de Vries and Carl Correns, and later popularize ...
in mammals. Snell earned his
PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...
from Harvard in 1930. His doctoral thesis was on
genetic linkage Genetic linkage is the tendency of DNA sequences that are close together on a chromosome to be inherited together during the meiosis phase of sexual reproduction. Two genetic markers that are physically near to each other are unlikely to be sep ...
in mice. Upon receiving the PhD from
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, George Snell was employed as a teacher at
Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...
, from 1930 to 1931. Snell then spent two years as a postdoctoral fellow at the
University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
with H.J. Muller, who pioneered radiation genetics (and was also to win a
Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
). Snell studied the genetic effects of x-rays on mice with Muller. This experience "served to convince me that research was my real love," Snell wrote in his autobiograph

If it were to be research, mouse genetics was the clear choice and the
Jackson Laboratory The Jackson Laboratory (often abbreviated as JAX) is an independent, non-profit biomedical research institution which was founded by a eugenicist. It employs more than 3,000 employees in Bar Harbor, Maine; Sacramento, California; Farmington, ...
, founded in 1929 by Dr. Clarence Cook Little, one of Castle's earlier students, almost the inevitable selection as a place to work." The Jackson Laboratory was (and still is) the world's mecca for mouse genetics. From 1933 to 1934, Snell was a teacher at Washington University in St. Louis. After brief stints as teachers, in 1935 Snell joined the staff of The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor on
Mount Desert Island Mount Desert Island (MDI; french: Île des Monts Déserts) in Hancock County, Maine, is the largest island off the coast of Maine. With an area of it is the 52nd-largest island in the United States, the sixth-largest island in the contiguous ...
on the coast of
Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and nor ...
and he remained there for the entire balance of his long career. In Bar Harbor, he met and married Rhoda Carson. Together they had three sons, Thomas, Roy, and Peter. In his leisure time, Snell enjoyed skiing, a passion he developed during his years at Dartmouth, as well as tennis. Snell received the Cancer Research Institute
William B. Coley Award The William B. Coley Award for Distinguished Research in Basic and Tumor Immunology is presented annually by the Cancer Research Institute, to scientists who have made outstanding achievements in the fields of basic and tumor immunology and whose w ...
in 1978 for distinguished research in immunology. In 1988, he authored a substantial book, ''Search for a Rational Ethic'', on the nature of ethics and the rules by which we live. It includes an
evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
-based ethic founded on biological realities that he believed to be applicable to all human beings. Snell died in Bar Harbor on June 6, 1996. His wife died in 1994.


Awards and honors

*1935-68 The Jackson Laboratory, staff scientist *1952 Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences *1955 Hekteon Medal of American Medical Association *1962 Griffen Animal Care Panel Award *1962 Bertner Foundation Award *1967 Gregor Mendel Medal, Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences *1968-96 The Jackson Laboratory, senior staff scientist emeritus *1970 Elected to National Academy of Sciences *1976 Gairdner Foundation International Award *1978 National Cancer Institute Award *1978 Elected to British Transplantation Society, honorary *1978
Wolf Prize in Medicine The Wolf Prize in Medicine is awarded annually by the Wolf Foundation in Israel. It is one of the six Wolf Prizes established by the Foundation and awarded since 1978; the others are in Agriculture, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics and Arts. The ...
*1979 Elected to French Academy of Sciences, foreign associate *1980 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine *1981 Founding member of the World Cultural Council *1982 Elected to American Philosophical Society *1982 Golden Plate Award of the
American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...
*1983 Elected to British Society of Immunology, honorary


See also

* C.C. Little * Peter Alfred Gorer * Leroy Stevens


References


External links

* including the Nobel Lecture ''Studies in Histocompatibility'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Snell, George Davis American geneticists American Nobel laureates Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine Wolf Prize in Medicine laureates Founding members of the World Cultural Council American immunologists Dartmouth College alumni Harvard University alumni People from Bradford, Massachusetts 1903 births 1996 deaths People from Bar Harbor, Maine Nobel laureates affiliated with Missouri Brown University faculty Washington University in St. Louis faculty Washington University School of Medicine faculty