Jackson Laboratory - Historic Research Highlights

Historic Research Highlights

Some 22 Nobel prizes have been associated with Jackson Laboratory research, mouse models, educational programs or the genetic principles set out by founder Clarence Cook Little.

• George Snell won the 1980 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work in elucidating the immune system, work that paved the way to organ transplantation
• The first evidence that viruses can cause cancer
• The discovery of the existence and nature of stem cells;
• The first successful mammalian bone marrow transplantation to cure a blood disorder
• Shaw Prize-winning research that led to the discovery of leptin, a key factor in metabolism, weight maintenance and obesity.

Recent research has provided insight into cancer stem cells and treatments for leukemia; progress with type 1 diabetes and lupus; and a breakthrough in extending mammalian life span.