H. Robert Horvitz facts for kids

Howard Robert Horvitz, born on May 8, 1947, is an American biologist. He is famous for his important research on a tiny worm called Caenorhabditis elegans, often shortened to C. elegans. In 2002, he won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine along with Sydney Brenner and John E. Sulston. They received the award for their amazing discoveries about how genes control how living things develop and how cells die in a planned way. This research has been very helpful for understanding many diseases.

Early Life and Education

Horvitz was born in Chicago, Illinois. His parents were Mary R. Savit, a school teacher, and Oscar Freedom Horvitz, an accountant for the U.S. government.

He first studied mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). During his summers, he worked at IBM. He started by wiring parts for accounting machines. Later, he helped create a programming system for computers.

In his last year at MIT, Horvitz took his first biology classes. His professors encouraged him to continue studying biology in graduate school. Even though he had not taken many biology courses, he decided to follow their advice.

After finishing his studies at MIT in 1968, he went to Harvard University. There, he earned his PhD in biology in 1974. He studied how a type of virus called T4 affected bacteria.

Career Highlights

In 1974, after getting his PhD, Horvitz moved to Cambridge, England. He worked at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB). There, he collaborated with Sydney Brenner and John Sulston, who would later share the Nobel Prize with him. They all studied the genetics and cell development of the C. elegans worm.

In 1978, Horvitz returned to the U.S. and became a professor at MIT. He is still a Professor of Biology there today. He is also part of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research. This institute studies how the brain works. He is also an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. This institute supports top scientific research.

Horvitz also helps lead important science organizations. He is the chair of the board for Society for Science & the Public. This group helps young scientists and promotes science education. He is also on the advisory board for the USA Science and Engineering Festival.

Amazing Discoveries in Research

At the LMB, Horvitz worked with John Sulston. They carefully watched every cell division in the C. elegans worm as it grew. In 1977, they published a full description of how these cells developed. This was a huge step in understanding how living things grow.

Later, Horvitz, Sulston, and Martin Chalfie started looking for genes that controlled cell development. In 1981, they found a gene called lin-4. This gene was special because it changed the timing of how cells developed. It showed that genes could control when certain cell changes happened.

Understanding Cell Death

When Horvitz started his work at MIT, he continued studying cell development. He used C. elegans to investigate if there was a genetic plan for cell death. This planned cell death is called apoptosis. It is a normal and important process in living things. For example, it helps remove old or damaged cells.

In 1986, he found the first "death genes," which he named ced-3 and ced-4. He showed that these genes had to be working for cells to die in a planned way. He also found another gene, ced-9, which protects cells from dying. It does this by working with ced-4 and ced-3. He also found genes that help remove dead cells from the body. Horvitz even showed that humans have a gene similar to ced-3. This meant his discoveries in worms could help understand human biology.

Continuing Research

Horvitz's later research kept using C. elegans to study how genes control animal development and behavior. He also looked for links between his discoveries in worms and human diseases. These diseases include cancer and brain diseases like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

He made more progress in understanding the step-by-step process of planned cell death. He found several key parts of this process. These include a protein called EGL-1, which starts cell death. He also found genes that control the timing of cell death. Horvitz continued to work on genes that affect cell development timing. He also started new research areas like how cells communicate and how the brain develops.

Horvitz has also worked with other scientists like Victor Ambros and David Bartel. They worked together to identify all the tiny RNA molecules, called microRNAs, in the C. elegans worm. There are over 100 of these molecules, and they play a big role in controlling genes.

Awards and Honors

Horvitz has received many awards for his important scientific work. Some of his notable honors include:

• 1988 U.S. Steel Foundation Award in Molecular Biology
• 1991 Member, U.S. National Academy of Sciences
• 1994 Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• 1995 President of the Genetics Society of America
• 2000 March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology
• 2000 Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize for Biology or Biochemistry
• 2002 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• 2002 Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences
• 2002 Gruber Prize in Genetics
• 2004 Member, American Philosophical Society
• 2009 Elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS)

See also

In Spanish: H. Robert Horvitz para niños

• History of apoptosis research
• List of Jewish Nobel laureates