Tom Maniatis (born May 8, 1943), is an American professor of molecular and cellular

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

. He is a professor at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, and serves as the Scientific Director and CEO of the

New York Genome Center The New York Genome Center (NYGC) is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit academic research institution in New York, New York. It serves as a multi-institutional collaborative hub focused on the advancement of genomic science and its application ...

Education

Maniatis received B.A. and M.S. degrees from 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 ...

in Boulder, and a PhD in Molecular Biology from

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

. He carried out postdoctoral studies 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 higher le ...

and at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England.

Research and career

Maniatis developed and disseminated

gene cloning Molecular cloning is a set of experimental methods in molecular biology that are used to assemble recombinant DNA molecules and to direct their replication within host organisms. The use of the word ''cloning'' refers to the fact that the metho ...

technologies and their applications in the study of gene regulatory mechanisms.

cDNA Cloning

While an assistant professor of Biochemistry and

Molecular Biology Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...

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 ...

, and a member of the

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) is a private, non-profit institution with research programs focusing on cancer, neuroscience, plant biology, genomics, and quantitative biology. It is one of 68 institutions supported by the Cancer Centers ...

(CSHL) faculty, Maniatis collaborated with Drs. Fotis Kafatos and Argiris Efstratiadis to develop a method for synthesizing and cloning full length double stranded DNA copies of messenger RNA (termed “copy” or

cDNA In genetics, complementary DNA (cDNA) is DNA synthesized from a single-stranded RNA (e.g., messenger RNA (mRNA) or microRNA (miRNA)) template in a reaction catalyzed by the enzyme reverse transcriptase. cDNA is often used to express a speci ...

). This method provided a key step in the isolation of human genes, and in the production of “recombinant” proteins in mammalian cells in culture, a central process in the biotechnology industry.

Genomic DNA libraries

Maniatis joined the Department of Biology at the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

in Pasadena California, where his laboratory developed methods to isolate and study individual human genes. This lab generated the first human genomic DNA library containing all of the genes in the

human genome The human genome is a complete set of nucleic acid sequences for humans, encoded as DNA within the 23 chromosome pairs in cell nuclei and in a small DNA molecule found within individual mitochondria. These are usually treated separately as the n ...

. Using

genomic DNA library In molecular biology, a library is a collection of DNA fragments that is stored and propagated in a population of micro-organisms through the process of molecular cloning. There are different types of DNA libraries, including cDNA libraries ( ...

, the Maniatis lab isolated and characterized the entire “cluster” of human b-globin genes, which were the first human genes to be cloned and their DNA sequences determined. His laboratory contributed fundamental insights into the mechanisms of

RNA transcription Transcription is the process of copying a segment of DNA into RNA. The segments of DNA transcribed into RNA molecules that can encode proteins are said to produce messenger RNA (mRNA). Other segments of DNA are copied into RNA molecules called ...

, RNA splicing and the regulation of

gene expression Gene expression is the process by which information from a gene is used in the synthesis of a functional gene product that enables it to produce end products, protein or non-coding RNA, and ultimately affect a phenotype, as the final effect. The ...

. Maniatis returned to Harvard in 1980 where he taught and continued his research. In 2010 he moved to

. While there he cofounded the

in 2010. He became the Scientific Director and CEO of the center in 2016.

Molecular cloning manual

Maniatis was involved in the writing of the “Molecular Cloning Manual”. In 1979, the Maniatis lab had developed and deployed gene cloning methods. Maniatis and Ed Fritsch taught a summer course in

at the

. Based on the material presented in the course they collaborated with Joseph Sambrook, then the Scientific Director of the CSHL, to write the textbook.

Biotechnology companies

Maniatis and

Mark Ptashne Mark Ptashne (born June 5, 1940, in Chicago) is a molecular biologist. He is the Ludwig Chair of Molecular Biology at Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Ptashne grew up in Chicago. He earned his undergraduate degree at Re ...

founded Genetics Institute, Inc. in 1980. The company produced several

FDA The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...

approved drugs “protein biologics” including

blood clotting Coagulation, also known as clotting, is the process by which blood changes from a liquid to a gel, forming a blood clot. It potentially results in hemostasis, the cessation of blood loss from a damaged vessel, followed by repair. The mechanism o ...

factors for the treatment of

hemophilia Haemophilia, or hemophilia (), is a mostly inherited genetic disorder that impairs the body's ability to make blood clots, a process needed to stop bleeding. This results in people bleeding for a longer time after an injury, easy bruising, ...

, and

erythropoietin Erythropoietin (; EPO), also known as erythropoetin, haematopoietin, or haemopoietin, is a glycoprotein cytokine secreted mainly by the kidneys in response to cellular hypoxia; it stimulates red blood cell production (erythropoiesis) in the bo ...

for the treatment of

anemia Anemia or anaemia (British English) is a blood disorder in which the blood has a reduced ability to carry oxygen due to a lower than normal number of red blood cells, or a reduction in the amount of hemoglobin. When anemia comes on slowly, th ...

. The company was acquired by

Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Wyeth, LLC was an American pharmaceutical company. The company was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1860 as ''John Wyeth and Brother''. It was later known, in the early 1930s, as American Home Products, before being renamed to Wyeth in ...

. In 1994, Maniatis, Fred Goldeberg, and others from the

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

founded ProScript. The company invented the proteasome inhibitor Velcade (Bortezomid) approved by the FDA for the treatment of

Multiple Myeloma Multiple myeloma (MM), also known as plasma cell myeloma and simply myeloma, is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell that normally produces antibodies. Often, no symptoms are noticed initially. As it progresses, bone pain, an ...

. ProScript was acquired by Millennium/Takeda Pharma. In 2004 Maniatis cofounded

Acceleron Pharma Acceleron Pharma, Inc. is an American clinical stage biopharmaceutical company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts with a broad focus on developing medicines that regulate the transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) superfamily of proteins, which p ...

, a TGF-b company that produced “ligand trap” drugs, including REBLOZYL^® for the treatment of Myodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) and b-thalassaemia. Kallyope was founded by Maniatis, Charles Zuker, and Richard Axel in 2006. It focused on the development of drugs to treat metabolic and inflammatory disorders of the gut. Maniatis,

David Goeddel David V. Goeddel (born 1951) is an American molecular biologist who, employed at the time by Genentech, successfully used genetic engineering to coax bacteria into creating synthetic human insulin, human growth hormone, and human tissue plasmino ...

, and William Rudder won the

Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , pro ...

Jacob and Louise Gabbay Award in

Biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...

and Medicine in 1999.

Service

Maniatis has served on the board of trustees of the

, the Jackson Laboratory, and the

Rockefeller University The Rockefeller University is a private biomedical research and graduate-only university in New York City, New York. It focuses primarily on the biological and medical sciences and provides doctoral and postdoctoral education. It is classif ...

. Maniatis led the ALS Association's initiative TREAT ALS (Translational Research Advancing Therapy for ALS) that combines drug discovery with priorities set for existing drug candidates, to accelerate clinical testing of compounds with promise for treating the disease. He also served on the scientific advisory board of “Prize for Life” founded by Avichai Kremer. Maniatis’ won the Jacob F. Javits Lifetime Achievement Award in ALS research from the ALS Association. Maniatis was a cofounder of the New York Genome Center, headed its scientific steering committee, and has served as a member of its board of directors from its founding in 2011. Maniatis is founding director of the university-wide

Precision Medicine Initiative The All of Us Research Program (previously known as the Precision Medicine Initiative Cohort Program) is a research program created in 2015 during the tenure of Barack Obama with $130 million in funding that aims to make advances in tailoring med ...

(CPMI), which is dedicated to the application of genomic technology to the advancement of basic and medical science, directed towards the practice of precision medicine (the use of genetic and genomic information to diagnose and treat human diseases).

Awards

* Rita Allen Foundation Career Development Award, 1978. * The Eli Lilly Research Award in Microbiology and Immunology from the American Society of Microbiology, 1981. * The

Richard Lounsbery Award The Richard Lounsbery Award is given to American and French scientists, 45 years or younger, in recognition of "extraordinary scientific achievement in biology and medicine." The Award alternates between French and American scientists, and is aw ...

for Biology presented jointly by the French and U.S. National Academies of Sciences, 1985. * The

American Medical Association Scientific Achievement Award American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

, 2000. * The

Pasarow Award The Robert J. And Claire Pasarow Foundation Medical Research Awards were awarded annually for distinguished accomplishment in areas of investigation that included neuropsychiatry, cardiovascular disease, and cancer research. The program ran from 1 ...

Cancer Research Cancer research is research into cancer to identify causes and develop strategies for prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and cure. Cancer research ranges from epidemiology, molecular bioscience to the performance of clinical trials to evaluate and ...

, 2001. * The Lasker-Koshland Special Achievement Award in Medical Science, 2012. Maniatis has received Honorary PhD degrees from the

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; el, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, ''Ethnikó ke Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the Univers ...

, the Cold Spring Harbor Graduate School of Biological Sciences, and the

. Maniatis was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, 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 1985, and the U.S. National Academy of Medicine in 2012.

References

External links

Tom Maniatis: Gene Expression, Cloning and Beyond

Harvard Molecular and Cell Biology

Lab Website (Columbia)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maniatis, Tom 1943 births Living people 21st-century American biologists American people of Greek descent American molecular biologists University of Colorado alumni Vanderbilt University alumni Harvard University faculty Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Columbia University faculty Richard-Lounsbery Award laureates Members of the National Academy of Medicine