UW prof wins Lasker Award

The Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation announced on Monday that Mary-Claire King, a UW professor of medical genetics, will receive the Lasker-Koshland Special Achievement Award in Medical Science (a.k.a. “An ‘American Nobel’”). Dr. King’s accomplishments are so wide-ranging and impressive that it’s worth taking a few extra minutes to read up on her).Perhaps her most groundbreaking achievement was the discovery of the infamous BRCA1 gene, which “in a mutated form increases vulnerability to breast cancer.” On Monday, using news of her Lasker award as a springboard, King argued that all American women (30 years and older) should be screened for cancer-causing genetic mutations. In response to concerns that women may not be ready for negative test results, Dr. King replied:  “Why should women be protected from information that will empower them and allow them to control their lives?” Boom.Oh, and Dr. King also used her DNA research techniques to help return more than 100 Argentinian children to their families. The kids were kidnapped during Argentina’s dirty war. Seriously, read up on her.