Mary-Claire King
Encyclopedia
Mary-Claire King is an American human geneticist. She is a professor at the University of Washington
, where she studies the genetics
and interaction of genetics and environmental influences on human conditions such as HIV
, lupus
, inherited deafness, and also breast
and ovarian cancer
. King is known for three major accomplishments: identifying breast cancer genes; demonstrating that humans and chimpanzees are 99% genetically identical; and applying genomic sequencing
to identify victims of human rights abuses.
at the age of 19. She completed her doctorate in 1973 at the University of California, Berkeley
in genetics and epidemiology
, after her advisor Allan Wilson
persuaded her to switch from mathematics to genetics. In her doctoral work at Berkeley (1973), she demonstrated through comparative protein analysis that chimpanzees and humans are 99% genetically identical, a finding that stunned the public at the time, revolutionized evolutionary biology, and is today common knowledge. King's work supported Allan Wilson's view that chimpanzees and humans diverged only five million years ago, and King and Wilson suggested that gene regulation was likely responsible for the significant differences between the species, a prescient suggestion since borne out by other researchers.
King completed postdoctoral training at the University of California, San Francisco
(UCSF) before accepting a faculty appointment at the University of California, Berkeley, as professor of genetics and epidemiology (1976–1995).
While on the faculty at Berkeley, King demonstrated in 1990 that a single gene on chromosome 17, later known as BRCA1
, was responsible for many breast and ovarian cancers—as many as 5-10% of all cases of breast cancer may be hereditary. The discovery of the "breast cancer gene" revolutionized the study of numerous other common diseases; prior to and during King's 16 years working on this project, most scientists had disregarded her ideas on the interplay of genetics with complex human disease. Genetics had been used in diseases with a single genetic tie, such as Huntington's disease
, cystic fibrosis
, and sickle-cell anemia, but researchers were skeptical about genetics' utility in the more common kinds of diseases that included multiple genetic factors and environmental factors as well.
The technique King developed to identify BRCA1 has since proven valuable in the study of many other illnesses, and King has built on to that research by identifying BRCA2
, and extending her technique to other diseases and conditions.
Since 1990 King has also begun working in collaboration with scientists around the world to identify genetic causes of hearing loss and deafness. They successfully cloned the first nonsyndromic deafness-related gene in 1997. King continues to work with scientists Karen Avraham
in Israel
and Moien Kanaan in the West Bank, modeling international scientific cooperation in conjunction with conducting scientific research. Hereditary deafness is common amongst Arabs in Israel, providing good study populations to understand the genetics.
King has also worked on the Human Genome Diversity Project
, which seeks to delineate the distinctions between individuals in order to further understanding of human evolution and historical migrations.
At the request of Dr. William Maples, King was also involved in DNA investigations of the first party of Romanov remains exhumed in 1991 in Ekaterinburg, Russia.
King remained at Berkeley until 1995, when she took an appointment as the American Cancer Society
Research Professor at the University of Washington.
to use dental genetics to identify missing persons, ultimately identifying and returning to their homes more than 50 children. The missing persons included at least 59 children, most born to women targeted and "disappeared" by the Argentine military dictatorship
during the eight-year "dirty war
" of the 1970s and 1980s. These children, after being removed from their imprisoned mothers, were often illegally "adopted" by military families without their mothers' consent. Las Abuelas ("the grandmothers") had gathered data trying to identify the children, and every Thursday, marched to the central plaza in Buenos Aires
("Plaza de Mayo
") to demand the return of their grandchildren. The Argentinian government would not return the children without "proof" of kinship, however, and King's technique, using mitochondrial DNA
and human leukocyte antigen
serotyping genetic markers from dental samples, proved invaluable. The Supreme Court of Argentina
in 1984 determined that King's test had positively identified the relationship of Paula Logares to her family, establishing the precedent for the ultimate reunification of dozens of families with their stolen children.
Since 1984, this technique has become a major method for genetic identification of the deceased as well as the living. King employed the technique to identify the remains of individuals massacred in the village of El Mozote
, El Salvador. More than 750 adults and children were massacred and buried in mass graves by the US-trained military.
King has worked with numerous human rights organizations, such as Physicians for Human Rights
and Amnesty International
, to identify missing people in countries including Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Rwanda, the Balkans (Croatia and Serbia), and the Philippines. King's lab has also provided DNA identification for the U.S. Army, the United Nations, and the U.N.'s war crimes tribunals.
While she has become renowned in humanitarian circles for her genetics identification work, King has been politically engaged her entire life. She protested the Vietnam War
during her college years, and described as
King later worked with Ralph Nader
studying the effects of pesticides on farm workers, before completing her doctoral work with Allan Wilson. In the early 1970s she was teaching science in Santiago, Chile
, when Chilean President Salvador Allende
was assassinated on Sept. 11, 1973, in a CIA-backed coup. In science, she has been supportive of women and ethnic and sexual minorities in science, and critical of genetic patenting.
in 1946. Her childhood best friend died of cancer when King was 15 years old, feeding King's interest in her future profession. She graduated from Carleton College
at the age of 19 with a B.A. in mathematics, and received her Ph.D. from the University of California
in 1972/1973.
King's younger brother Paul King was CEO of Vanalco, in Vancouver, Washington.
King married and divorced a fellow scientist with whom she had one child, Emily, in 1975. Emily studied the evolution of languages at Brown University
.
Notable professional service:
King has five patents and over 200 peer-reviewed journal articles.
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
, where she studies the genetics
Genetics
Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....
and interaction of genetics and environmental influences on human conditions such as HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
, lupus
Systemic lupus erythematosus
Systemic lupus erythematosus , often abbreviated to SLE or lupus, is a systemic autoimmune disease that can affect any part of the body. As occurs in other autoimmune diseases, the immune system attacks the body's cells and tissue, resulting in inflammation and tissue damage...
, inherited deafness, and also breast
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
and ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer is a cancerous growth arising from the ovary. Symptoms are frequently very subtle early on and may include: bloating, pelvic pain, difficulty eating and frequent urination, and are easily confused with other illnesses....
. King is known for three major accomplishments: identifying breast cancer genes; demonstrating that humans and chimpanzees are 99% genetically identical; and applying genomic sequencing
Gene sequencing
Gene Sequencing may refer to:* DNA sequencing* or a comprehensive variant of it: Full genome sequencing...
to identify victims of human rights abuses.
Scientific career
King began her career with a degree in mathematics (cum laude) from Carleton CollegeCarleton College
Carleton College is an independent non-sectarian, coeducational, liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, USA. The college enrolls 1,958 undergraduate students, and employs 198 full-time faculty members. In 2012 U.S...
at the age of 19. She completed her doctorate in 1973 at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
in genetics and epidemiology
Epidemiology
Epidemiology is the study of health-event, health-characteristic, or health-determinant patterns in a population. It is the cornerstone method of public health research, and helps inform policy decisions and evidence-based medicine by identifying risk factors for disease and targets for preventive...
, after her advisor Allan Wilson
Allan Wilson
Allan Charles Wilson was a pioneer in the use of molecular approaches to understand evolutionary change and reconstruct phylogenies, and a contributor to the study of human evolution. He was one of the most controversial figures in post-war biology; his work attracted a great deal of attention...
persuaded her to switch from mathematics to genetics. In her doctoral work at Berkeley (1973), she demonstrated through comparative protein analysis that chimpanzees and humans are 99% genetically identical, a finding that stunned the public at the time, revolutionized evolutionary biology, and is today common knowledge. King's work supported Allan Wilson's view that chimpanzees and humans diverged only five million years ago, and King and Wilson suggested that gene regulation was likely responsible for the significant differences between the species, a prescient suggestion since borne out by other researchers.
King completed postdoctoral training at the University of California, San Francisco
University of California, San Francisco
The University of California, San Francisco is one of the world's leading centers of health sciences research, patient care, and education. UCSF's medical, pharmacy, dentistry, nursing, and graduate schools are among the top health science professional schools in the world...
(UCSF) before accepting a faculty appointment at the University of California, Berkeley, as professor of genetics and epidemiology (1976–1995).
While on the faculty at Berkeley, King demonstrated in 1990 that a single gene on chromosome 17, later known as BRCA1
BRCA1
BRCA1 is a human caretaker gene that produces a protein called breast cancer type 1 susceptibility protein, responsible for repairing DNA. The first evidence for the existence of the gene was provided by the King laboratory at UC Berkeley in 1990...
, was responsible for many breast and ovarian cancers—as many as 5-10% of all cases of breast cancer may be hereditary. The discovery of the "breast cancer gene" revolutionized the study of numerous other common diseases; prior to and during King's 16 years working on this project, most scientists had disregarded her ideas on the interplay of genetics with complex human disease. Genetics had been used in diseases with a single genetic tie, such as Huntington's disease
Huntington's disease
Huntington's disease, chorea, or disorder , is a neurodegenerative genetic disorder that affects muscle coordination and leads to cognitive decline and dementia. It typically becomes noticeable in middle age. HD is the most common genetic cause of abnormal involuntary writhing movements called chorea...
, cystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis is a recessive genetic disease affecting most critically the lungs, and also the pancreas, liver, and intestine...
, and sickle-cell anemia, but researchers were skeptical about genetics' utility in the more common kinds of diseases that included multiple genetic factors and environmental factors as well.
The technique King developed to identify BRCA1 has since proven valuable in the study of many other illnesses, and King has built on to that research by identifying BRCA2
BRCA2
BRCA2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the BRCA2 gene.BRCA2 orthologs have been identified in most mammals for which complete genome data are available....
, and extending her technique to other diseases and conditions.
Since 1990 King has also begun working in collaboration with scientists around the world to identify genetic causes of hearing loss and deafness. They successfully cloned the first nonsyndromic deafness-related gene in 1997. King continues to work with scientists Karen Avraham
Karen Avraham
Karen B. Avraham is an American-Israeli human geneticist. She is a full professor at Tel Aviv University, and the current Chair of the Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry in the university's Sackler School of Medicine....
in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and Moien Kanaan in the West Bank, modeling international scientific cooperation in conjunction with conducting scientific research. Hereditary deafness is common amongst Arabs in Israel, providing good study populations to understand the genetics.
King has also worked on the Human Genome Diversity Project
Human Genome Diversity Project
The Human Genome Diversity Project was started by Stanford University's Morrison Institute and a collaboration of scientists around the world. It is the result of many years of work by Luigi Cavalli-Sforza, one of the most cited scientists in the world, which has published extensively in the use...
, which seeks to delineate the distinctions between individuals in order to further understanding of human evolution and historical migrations.
At the request of Dr. William Maples, King was also involved in DNA investigations of the first party of Romanov remains exhumed in 1991 in Ekaterinburg, Russia.
King remained at Berkeley until 1995, when she took an appointment as the American Cancer Society
American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society is the "nationwide community-based voluntary health organization" dedicated, in their own words, "to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and...
Research Professor at the University of Washington.
Human rights work
King first applied her genetics skills to human rights work in 1984, when she and her lab began working with Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo (Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo) in ArgentinaArgentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
to use dental genetics to identify missing persons, ultimately identifying and returning to their homes more than 50 children. The missing persons included at least 59 children, most born to women targeted and "disappeared" by the Argentine military dictatorship
Jorge Rafael Videla
Jorge Rafael Videla Redondo is a former senior commander in the Argentine Army who was the de facto President of Argentina from 1976 to 1981. He came to power in a coup d'état that deposed Isabel Martínez de Perón...
during the eight-year "dirty war
Dirty War
The Dirty War was a period of state-sponsored violence in Argentina from 1976 until 1983. Victims of the violence included several thousand left-wing activists, including trade unionists, students, journalists, Marxists, Peronist guerrillas and alleged sympathizers, either proved or suspected...
" of the 1970s and 1980s. These children, after being removed from their imprisoned mothers, were often illegally "adopted" by military families without their mothers' consent. Las Abuelas ("the grandmothers") had gathered data trying to identify the children, and every Thursday, marched to the central plaza in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
("Plaza de Mayo
Plaza de Mayo
The Plaza de Mayo is the main square in downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is flanked by Hipólito Yrigoyen, Balcarce, Rivadavia and Bolívar streets....
") to demand the return of their grandchildren. The Argentinian government would not return the children without "proof" of kinship, however, and King's technique, using mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA is the DNA located in organelles called mitochondria, structures within eukaryotic cells that convert the chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, adenosine triphosphate...
and human leukocyte antigen
Human leukocyte antigen
The human leukocyte antigen system is the name of the major histocompatibility complex in humans. The super locus contains a large number of genes related to immune system function in humans. This group of genes resides on chromosome 6, and encodes cell-surface antigen-presenting proteins and...
serotyping genetic markers from dental samples, proved invaluable. The Supreme Court of Argentina
Supreme Court of Argentina
The Supreme Court of Argentina is the highest court of law of the Argentine Republic. It was inaugurated on 15 January 1863. However, during much of the 20th century, the Court and, in general, the Argentine judicial system, has lacked autonomy from the executive power...
in 1984 determined that King's test had positively identified the relationship of Paula Logares to her family, establishing the precedent for the ultimate reunification of dozens of families with their stolen children.
Since 1984, this technique has become a major method for genetic identification of the deceased as well as the living. King employed the technique to identify the remains of individuals massacred in the village of El Mozote
El Mozote
El Mozote is a village in the Morazán department in El Salvador. It was the site of the El Mozote massacre during the civil war in December 1981 when nearly 1,000 civilians were killed by the US-trained Atlacatl Battalion, backed by the Salvadoran government....
, El Salvador. More than 750 adults and children were massacred and buried in mass graves by the US-trained military.
King has worked with numerous human rights organizations, such as Physicians for Human Rights
Physicians for Human Rights
Physicians for Human Rights was founded in 1986 by a small group of doctors who believed the unique scientific expertise and authority of health professionals could bring human rights violations to light and provide justice for victims...
and Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
, to identify missing people in countries including Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Rwanda, the Balkans (Croatia and Serbia), and the Philippines. King's lab has also provided DNA identification for the U.S. Army, the United Nations, and the U.N.'s war crimes tribunals.
While she has become renowned in humanitarian circles for her genetics identification work, King has been politically engaged her entire life. She protested the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
during her college years, and described as
- [t]he single most effective thing we did was on the day after the US invaded Cambodia, we got out our suit jackets and shirtwaist dresses -- not clothes that any of us had worn since coming to Berkeley -- and went to synagogues and churches and by the end of Sunday we had 30,000 letters opposing the action."
King later worked with Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader is an American political activist, as well as an author, lecturer, and attorney. Areas of particular concern to Nader include consumer protection, humanitarianism, environmentalism, and democratic government....
studying the effects of pesticides on farm workers, before completing her doctoral work with Allan Wilson. In the early 1970s she was teaching science in Santiago, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, when Chilean President Salvador Allende
Salvador Allende
Salvador Allende Gossens was a Chilean physician and politician who is generally considered the first democratically elected Marxist to become president of a country in Latin America....
was assassinated on Sept. 11, 1973, in a CIA-backed coup. In science, she has been supportive of women and ethnic and sexual minorities in science, and critical of genetic patenting.
Personal biography
King was born in WilmetteWilmette, Illinois
Wilmette is a village in New Trier Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is located north of Chicago's downtown district and has a population of 27,651. Wilmette is considered a bedroom community in the North Shore district...
in 1946. Her childhood best friend died of cancer when King was 15 years old, feeding King's interest in her future profession. She graduated from Carleton College
Carleton College
Carleton College is an independent non-sectarian, coeducational, liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, USA. The college enrolls 1,958 undergraduate students, and employs 198 full-time faculty members. In 2012 U.S...
at the age of 19 with a B.A. in mathematics, and received her Ph.D. from the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
in 1972/1973.
King's younger brother Paul King was CEO of Vanalco, in Vancouver, Washington.
King married and divorced a fellow scientist with whom she had one child, Emily, in 1975. Emily studied the evolution of languages at Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
.
Awards, prizes, and honors
Dr. King has won numerous awards, prizes, and honors for her scientific and humanitarian work, including:- Dr A.H. Heineken PrizeDr A.H. Heineken PrizeThe Dr. A.H. Heineken and Dr. H.P. Heineken Prizes, named in honor of Alfred Heineken, former Chairman of Heineken Holdings, and Henry Pierre Heineken, son of founder Gerard Adriaan Heineken, are a series of awards bestowed by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences .-History:Alfred...
for Medicine (2006). - Weizmann Women & Science AwardWeizmann Women & Science AwardThe Weizmann Women & Science Award is a biennial award established in 1994 to honor an outstanding woman scientist in the United States who has made significant contributions to the scientific community...
(2006). - Peter Gruber Foundation Genetics Award (2006)
- National Academy of SciencesUnited States National Academy of SciencesThe National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
(2005) - Honorary Doctor of Science, Harvard UniversityHarvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
(2003); honorary doctorates from Carleton, Smith, Bard, and Dartmouth Colleges and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (2006) - Clowes Award for Basic Research American Association for Cancer Research (1994)
- Jill Rose Award, The Breast Cancer Research Foundation
- Brinker Award, Susan G. Komen for the CureSusan G. Komen for the CureSusan G. Komen for the Cure, formerly known as The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, often referred to as simply Komen, is the most widely known, largest and best-funded breast cancer organization in the US....
- Woman of the Year, Glamour Magazine
- Phi Beta Kappa
- Sigma Xi
- Fellow of the AAASAAASAAAS may refer to:* American Academy of Arts and Sciences, an organization dedicated to scholarship and the advancement of learning* American Association for the Advancement of Science, an organization that promotes cooperation between scientists...
- Institute of MedicineInstitute of MedicineThe Institute of Medicine is a not-for-profit, non-governmental American organization founded in 1970, under the congressional charter of the National Academy of Sciences...
- Council, Institute of Medicine
Notable professional service:
- Robert Wood Johnson FoundationRobert Wood Johnson FoundationThe Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is the United States' largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care; it is based in Princeton, New Jersey. The foundation's mission is to improve the health and health care of all Americans...
’s Minority Medical Faculty Development Program, Scientific Advisory Board - United Nations War Crimes Tribunal
- UN Forensic Anthropology Team
- National Cancer Institute’s Breast Cancer Task Force
- National Institutes of Health Genome Study Section
- Office of Research on Women’s Health Advisory Board
King has five patents and over 200 peer-reviewed journal articles.
External links
- Laurie McHale, "Putting the Puzzle Together", Sept. 1996 (available at http://www.washington.edu/alumni/columns/sept96/king1.html ).
- "Genomic Views of Human History", one-hour video program March 14, 2000, including interviews with Mary-Claire King (available at http://www.uwtv.org/programs/displayevent.aspx?rID=2493 ).