Genetics giant — U. professor Mario R. Capecchi wins Nobel Prize in medicine

University of Utah scientist Mario R. Capecchi has won the 2007 Nobel Prize in medicine, an honor he shares with two other scientists for their work manipulating mouse genes to study disease.

Capecchi, 70, pioneered a technique to "knock out" specific mouse genes in the early 1980s.

The distinguished professor of human genetics and biology at the U.'s Eccles Institute of Human Genetics shares the award with Oliver Smithies of the University of North Carolina and Sir Martin Evans of the University of Cardiff in Wales.

A visibly moved Capecchi waved the audience to sit down during one of several standing ovations at a news conference the U. called in his honor Monday morning at the institute. "You'll embarrass me," he said, smiling.

While other speakers lauded him, Capecchi's words of praise were for the many young scientists with whom he's worked over the years in his lab and his mentor and fellow researchers, including Smithies and Evans, with whom he claims a warm collaboration. He also praised the U. for its willingness to be patient as he pursues projects that take, in some cases, many years.

When asked about Capecchi, associates and friends used words you would associate with cutting-edge research, like "brilliant" and "outstanding." But they also mentioned how shy, soft-spoken and unassuming the man is. And several spoke of his quirky sense of humor, which was on display several times during the news conference.

He said his wife, Laurie Fraser, nearly didn't answer the phone when it rang at 3 a.m. because the ring sounded off and she figured it must be a "bogus" call. It was, in reality, the secretary of the Nobel Committee, calling from Stockholm, Sweden. "He had a very serious voice, so I took it seriously," he joked.

While he called it a "marvelous surprise," Capecchi and Fraser are very grounded. While a standing-room-only crowd packed into the auditorium at the institute to honor her husband, Fraser went to work with horses and cattle, where she was likely mucking manure as he was being lauded, he said.

He once described himself to the Deseret Morning News as a man who loves nothing more than Arnold Schwarzenegger movies and who has "very, very loud" Patsy Cline playing in the background when he works in his lab.

Because of an embargo on the news, he had to wait a half-hour before he could call and tell his daughter Misha he'd won, he said.

"This is one of the proudest days in the history of the University of Utah," said Dr. A. Lorris Betz, vice president over health sciences. "It is the ultimate honor in medicine." It is also the "first-ever" Nobel awarded to someone working at the U. for work produced at the U.