Matthew P. Scott is an American biologist who was the tenth president of the Carnegie Institution for Science. While at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, Scott studied how embryonic and later development is governed by proteins that control

gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...

activity and

cell signaling In biology, cell signaling (cell signalling in British English) or cell communication is the ability of a cell to receive, process, and transmit signals with its environment and with itself. Cell signaling is a fundamental property of all cellula ...

processes. He co- discovered

homeobox A homeobox is a DNA sequence, around 180 base pairs long, that regulates large-scale anatomical features in the early stages of embryonic development. For instance, mutations in a homeobox may change large-scale anatomical features of the full- ...

genes in ''

Drosophila melanogaster ''Drosophila melanogaster'' is a species of fly (the taxonomic order Diptera) in the family Drosophilidae. The species is often referred to as the fruit fly or lesser fruit fly, or less commonly the "vinegar fly" or "pomace fly". Starting with Ch ...

'' working with Amy J. Weiner at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

. Among his laboratory's discoveries, he is recognized for the cloning of the

patched Patched (Ptc) is a conserved 12-pass transmembrane protein receptor that plays an obligate negative regulatory role in the Hedgehog signaling pathway in insects and vertebrates. Patched is an essential gene in embryogenesis for proper segm ...

gene family and demonstration that a human homolog

PTCH1 Protein patched homolog 1 is a protein that is the member of the patched family and in humans is encoded by the ''PTCH1'' gene. Function PTCH1 is a member of the patched gene family and is the receptor for sonic hedgehog, a secreted molecule i ...

is a key

tumor suppressor A tumor suppressor gene (TSG), or anti-oncogene, is a gene that regulates a cell during cell division and replication. If the cell grows uncontrollably, it will result in cancer. When a tumor suppressor gene is mutated, it results in a loss or red ...

gene for the

Hedgehog signaling pathway The Hedgehog signaling pathway is a signaling pathway that transmits information to embryonic cells required for proper cell differentiation. Different parts of the embryo have different concentrations of hedgehog signaling proteins. The pathwa ...

as well as the causative gene for the

nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome Nevoid basal-cell carcinoma syndrome (NBCCS) is an inherited medical condition involving defects within multiple body systems such as the skin, nervous system, eyes, endocrine system, and bones. People with this syndrome are particularly prone to ...

, or

Gorlin syndrome Gorlin may refer to: People *Dan Gorlin, computer game programmer, designer and founder of Dan Gorlin Productions *Eitan Gorlin, filmmaker, author and actor *Mikhail Gorlin, Russian emigre poet *Richard Gorlin, American cardiologist, co-developed ...

Education

Scott was educated at

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

Career and research

Scott served on the faculty of the Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

starting in 1983. He moved to

in 1990 to join the faculty of the Department of Developmental Biology and the Department of Genetics. From 2002-2007 he served as Chair of Bio-X, Stanford's interdisciplinary biosciences program.

Awards and honors

* 1983 - Helen Hay Whitney

postdoctoral fellowship A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to p ...

* 1985 -

Searle Scholar The Searle Scholars Program is a career development award made annually to the 15 young US professionals in biomedical research and chemistry considered most promising. The award was established in 1980 by a donation from the Searle family, and is ...

* 2004 - Conklin Medal, Society for Developmental Biology * 1999 - Member,

United States 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 ...

* 2007 - Member,

National 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, Eng ...

Personal life

He is married to Stanford developmental geneticist

Margaret T. Fuller Margaret "Minx" T. Fuller is an American developmental biologist known for her research on the male germ line and defining the role of the stem cell environment (the hub cells that establish the niche of particular cells) in specifying cell fat ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Matthew P. 21st-century American biologists Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni Stanford University School of Medicine faculty Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Howard Hughes Medical Investigators Members of the National Academy of Medicine