Phillip Allen Sharp(born June 6, 1944) is an Americangeneticistandmolecular biologistwho co-discoveredRNA splicing.He shared the 1993Nobel Prize in Physiology or MedicinewithRichard J. Robertsfor "the discovery thatgenesineukaryotesare not contiguous strings but containintrons,and that the splicing ofmessenger RNAto delete those introns can occur in different ways, yielding differentproteinsfrom the same DNA sequence ".[2][3][4][5][6][7]He has been selected to receive the 2015Othmer Gold Medal.[8]
Phillip Allen Sharp | |
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 Sharp with theWinthrop-Sears Medalin 2007 | |
| Born | June 6, 1944 Falmouth, Kentucky,U.S. |
| Alma mater | |
| Spouse |
Ann Holcombe (m.1964) |
| Children | 3 |
| Awards |
|
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Biologist |
| Institutions | |
| Doctoral students | |
| Website | web |
| External videos | |
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 Meet Phillip Sharp:"What we were able to discover was that in human cells and in many other cells of higher-order organisms, the genes come in discontinuous segments",MIT |
Sharp's current research focuses on small RNAs and other types ofnon-coding RNAs.His laboratory works to identify the targetmRNAsofmicroRNAs(miRNAs), and has discovered a class of miRNAs that are produced from sequences adjacent totranscriptionstart sites. His laboratory also studies how miRNAgene regulationfunctions inangiogenesisand cellular stress.[9][10][11][12]
Biography
editSharp was born inFalmouth, Kentucky,the son of Kathrin (Colvin) and Joseph Walter Sharp.[13]He married Ann Holcombe in 1964, and they have three daughters.[14]
Sharp studied atUnion Collegeand majored in chemistry and mathematics, afterwards completing his Ph.D. in chemistry at theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaignin 1969.[15]Following his Ph.D., he did his postdoctoral training at theCalifornia Institute of Technologyuntil 1971, where he studiedplasmids.[16]Later, he studiedgene expressionin human cells at theCold Spring Harbor Laboratoryas a senior scientist underJames D. Watson.[16]
In 1974, he was offered a position atMITby biologistSalvador Luria.[16]He was director of MIT's Center for Cancer Research (now theKoch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research) from 1985 to 1991; head of the Biology department from 1991 to 1999; and founder and director of theMcGovern Institute for Brain Researchfrom 2000 to 2004.[15]In 1995, the FBI confirmed that Sharp received a letter fromTed Kaczynski,insinuating that Sharp would become a target of theUnabomberbecause of his work in genetics, stating that "it would be beneficial to your health to stop your research in genetics."[17]
He is currently MIT Institute Professor and Professor of Biology Emeritus and member of theKoch Institute,and was anInstitute Professor,MIT's highest faculty rank, since 1999.[15]He is also the chair of the advisory board of theMIT Jameel Clinic.[18][19]Sharp co-foundedBiogen,Alnylam Pharmaceuticals,and Magen Biosciences, and has served on the boards of all three companies.[20]
Awards and honors
edit
In addition to the Nobel Prize, Sharp has won several notable awards, including the 2004National Medal of Science,[21]the 1999Benjamin Franklin Medal for Distinguished Achievement in the Sciencesof theAmerican Philosophical Society,[22]the Golden Plate Award of theAmerican Academy of Achievementin 1981,[23]and the 1988Louisa Gross Horwitz PrizefromColumbia Universitytogether withThomas R. Cech.[24]
Sharp is an elected member of several academic societies, including theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences,[25]theAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science,[26]theNational Academy of Sciences,[27]and theInstitute of Medicineof the National Academies.[28]He was elected aForeign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 2011.[29][30]In 2012, he was elected the president of theAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science.[31]He is also a Member and Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of Fidelity Biosciences Group; a member of the Board of Advisors ofPolaris Venture Partners;chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board and member of the Board of Directors ofAlnylam Pharmaceuticals;advisor and investor at Longwood and Polaris Venture Funds; a member of the Boards of Directors at Syros Pharmaceuticals and VIR Biotechnology; and member and Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board at Dewpoint Biotechnology.
He is the subject of the 2025 documentary film "Cracking the Code:Phil Sharp and the Biotech Revolution" directed by Bill Haney.[32]
Pendleton County, Kentucky,Sharp's birthplace, named its current middle school after him.
Other activities
editIn October 2010, Sharp participated in theUSA Science and Engineering Festival's Lunch with a Laureate program where middle and high school students got to engage in an informal conversation with a Nobel Prize-winning scientist over a brown-bag lunch.[33]Sharp is also a member of theUSA Science and Engineering Festival's Advisory Board.[34]In 2011, he was listed at #5 on theMIT150list of the top 150 innovators and ideas fromMIT.[35]
He is an editorial advisor toXconomy,[36]and is a member of the Board of Scientific Governors atThe Scripps Research Institute.[37]He has also served on the Faculty Advisory Board of the MIT-Harvard Research Journal and MIT Student Research Association.[15]
In 2016, Sharp helped organize[38][39]theLaureates Letter Supporting Precision Agriculture,written to oppose efforts byGreenpeaceto ban GMOs andGolden Ricein particular.
Selected publications
edit- Petersen C.P.; Bordeleau M.E.; Pelletier J.; Sharp P.A. (February 17, 2006)."Short RNAs Repress Translation after Initiation in Mammalian Cells".Mol Cell.21(4):533–42.doi:10.1016/j.molcel.2006.01.031.PMID16483934.
- Cheng C.; Sharp P.A. (January 2006)."Regulation of CD44 Alternative Splicing by SRm160 and its Potential Role in Tumor Cell Invasion".Mol Cell Biol.26(1):362–70.doi:10.1128/MCB.26.1.362-370.2006.PMC1317625.PMID16354706.
- Tantin D.; Schild-Poulter C.; Wang V.; Hache R.J.; Sharp P.A. (December 1, 2005)."The Octamer Binding Transcription Factor Oct-1 is a Stress Sensor".Cancer Res.65(23):10750–8.doi:10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-05-2399.PMID16322220.
- Grishok A.; Sharp P.A. (November 29, 2005)."Negative Regulation of Nuclear Divisions in Caenorhabditis Elegans by Retinoblastoma and RNA Interference-related Genes".Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A.102(48):17360–5.Bibcode:2005PNAS..10217360G.doi:10.1073/pnas.0508989102.PMC1297700.PMID16287966.
- Sharp P.A. (October 7, 2005)."1918 Flu and Responsible Science".Science.310(5745): 17.doi:10.1126/science.310.5745.17.PMID16210500.
- Miskevich F.; Doench J.G.; Townsend M.T.; Sharp P.A.; Constantine-Paton M. (April 15, 2006). "RNA Interference of Xenopus NMDAR NR1in vitroandin vivo".J Neurosci Methods.152(1–2):65–73.doi:10.1016/j.jneumeth.2005.08.010.PMID16182372.S2CID25844342.
- Hong J.H.; Hwang E.S.; McManus M.T.; Amsterdam A.; Tian Y.; Kalmukova R.; Mueller E.; Benjamin T.; Spiegelman B.M.; Sharp P.A.; Hopkins N.; Yaffe M.B. (August 12, 2005). "TAZ, a Transcriptional Modulator of Mesenchymal Stem Cell Differentiation".Science.309(5737):1074–8.Bibcode:2005Sci...309.1074H.doi:10.1126/science.1110955.PMID16099986.S2CID1958224.
- Houbaviy H.B.; Dennis L.; Jaenisch R.; Sharp P.A. (August 2005)."Characterization of a Highly Variable Eutherian microRNA Gene".RNA.11(8):1245–57.doi:10.1261/rna.2890305.PMC1370808.PMID15987809.
- Sharp P.A. (June 2005)."The Discovery of Split Genes and RNA Splicing".Trends Biochem. Sci.30(6):279–81.doi:10.1016/j.tibs.2005.04.002.PMID15950867.
- Johnson D.M.; Yamaji S.; Tennant J.; Srai S.K.; Sharp P.A. (March 28, 2005)."Regulation of Divalent Metal Transporter Expression in Human Intestinal Epithelial Cells Following Exposure to Non-haem Iron".FEBS Lett.579(9):1923–9.Bibcode:2005FEBSL.579.1923J.doi:10.1016/j.febslet.2005.02.035.PMID15792797.S2CID26592792.
- Neilson J.R.; Sharp P.A. (April 2005). "Herpesviruses Throw a Curve Ball: New Insights into microRNA Biogenesis and Evolution".Nat Methods.2(4):252–4.doi:10.1038/nmeth0405-252.PMID15782215.S2CID930447.
- Grishok A.; Sinskey J.L.; Sharp P.A. (March 15, 2005)."Transcriptional Silencing of a Transgene by RNAi in the Soma of C. elegans".Genes Dev.19(6):683–96.doi:10.1101/gad.1247705.PMC1065722.PMID15741313.
- Sharp P.A.; Sharp, P (January 1, 2005). "Phillip Sharp Discusses RNAi, Nobel Prizes and Entrepreneurial Science".Drug Discov Today.10(1):7–10.doi:10.1016/S1359-6446(04)03329-X.PMID15676292.
- Lee K.B.; Sharp P.A. (December 7, 2004). "Transcription-dependent Polyubiquitination of RNA Polymerase II Requires Lysine 63 of Ubiquitin".Biochemistry.43(48):15223–9.doi:10.1021/bi048719x.PMID15568815.
- Mansfield J.H.; Harfe B.D.; Nissen R.; Obenauer J.; Srineel J.; Chaudhuri A.; Farzan-Kashani R.; Zuker M.; Pasquinelli A.E.; Ruvkun G.; Sharp P.A.; Tabin C.J.; McManus M.T. (October 2004)."MicroRNA-responsive 'Sensor' Transgenes Uncover Hox-like and Other Developmentally Regulated Patterns of Vertebrate MicroRNA Expression".Nat. Genet.36(10):1079–83.doi:10.1038/ng1421.PMID15361871.
- Fairbrother W.G.; Holste D.; Burge C.B.; Sharp P.A. (September 2004)."Single Nucleotide Polymorphism-based Validation of Exonic Splicing Enhancers".PLOS Biol.2(9): E268.doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0020268.PMC514884.PMID15340491.
- Novina C.D.; Sharp P.A. (July 8, 2004). "The RNAi Revolution".Nature.430(6996):161–4.Bibcode:2004Natur.430..161N.doi:10.1038/430161a.PMID15241403.S2CID4341565.
- Ventura A.; Meissner A.; Dillon C.P.; McManus M.; Sharp P.A.; Van Parijs L.; Jaenisch R.; Jacks T. (July 13, 2004)."Cre-lox-regulated Conditional RNA Interference from Transgenes".Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A.101(28):10380–5.Bibcode:2004PNAS..10110380V.doi:10.1073/pnas.0403954101.PMC478580.PMID15240889.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^The Official Site of Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize
- ^"The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1993".Nobelprize.org.Nobel Media.RetrievedNovember 12,2014.
- ^Sharp, P (2011)."Q&A: Phillip Sharp on biomedical convergence".Cancer Discovery.1(5): 370.doi:10.1158/2159-8290.CD-ND11-08.PMID22586619.
- ^Musgrave, E (2010)."Advancing science across the disciplines: An interview with Nobel Laureate Phillip A. Sharp, PhD".Clinical and Translational Science.3(3):69–70.doi:10.1111/j.1752-8062.2010.00197.x.PMC5350715.PMID20590673.
- ^Sharp, P. A.; Sharp, P (2005). "Phillip Sharp discusses RNAi, Nobel Prizes and entrepreneurial science".Drug Discovery Today.10(1):7–10.doi:10.1016/S1359-6446(04)03329-X.PMID15676292.
- ^Shampo, M. A.; Kyle, R. A. (2004)."Phillip Sharp--Nobel Prize for discovery of" split genes "".Mayo Clinic Proceedings.79(6): 727.doi:10.1016/s0025-6196(11)62621-9.PMID15182083.
- ^Raju, T. N. (2000). "The Nobel chronicles. 1993: Richard John Roberts (b 1943) Phillip a Sharp (b 1944)".Lancet.355(9220): 2085.doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(05)73547-9.PMID10885388.S2CID53265935.
- ^"Othmer Gold Medal".Science History Institute.RetrievedFebruary 4,2015.
- ^Autobiographyat the Nobel site
- ^Sharp's Research at MITArchivedDecember 6, 2006, at theWayback Machine
- ^Thackray, Arnold; Brock, David C.; Ashiya, Mona (November 20, 2003).Phillip A. Sharp, Transcript of Interviews Conducted by Arnold Thackray, David C. Brock, and Mona Ashiya at Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, Massachusetts on 28 January, 29 May, and 20 November 2003(PDF).Philadelphia, PA:Chemical Heritage Foundation.
- ^"The Koch Institute: Phillip A. Sharp".ki.mit.edu.RetrievedFebruary 11,2020.
- ^"Joseph W. Sharp -- Woodhead Funeral Home, Falmouth, KY".Archived fromthe originalon October 28, 2014.RetrievedOctober 8,2013.
- ^"Phillip A. Sharp - Biographical".Nobelprize.org.Nobel Media AB.RetrievedNovember 12,2014.
- ^abcd"Curriculum Vitae - Phillip A. Sharp, Ph.D."Sharp Lab.RetrievedNovember 12,2014.
- ^abc"Short Bio - Phillip A. Sharp".Sharp Lab.RetrievedNovember 12,2014.
- ^"The Communiques of Freedom Club".The Anarchist Library.Retrieved2021-06-24.
- ^"Regina Barzilay, James Collins, and Phil Sharp join leadership of new effort on machine learning in health".MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology.3 October 2018.RetrievedNovember 13,2020.
- ^"People".J-Clinic.RetrievedNovember 13,2020.
- ^Biogen Idec, Inc. (2008). "Proxy statement for annual meeting of stockholders to be held on June 19, 2008 at 9:00 A.M., local time", 7.
- ^"The President's National Medal of Science Recipient Details - Phillip A. Sharp".National Science Foundation.RetrievedNovember 12,2014.
- ^"Benjamin Franklin Medal for Distinguished Achievement in the Sciences Recipients".American Philosophical Society.RetrievedNovember 27,2011.
- ^"Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement".www.achievement.org.American Academy of Achievement.
- ^"The Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize for Biology or Biochemistry".Columbia University Medical Center.RetrievedNovember 12,2014.
- ^"Alphabetical Index of Active Members"(PDF).American Academy of Arts and Sciences.November 5, 2013.RetrievedNovember 12,2014.
- ^"Fellows".American Association for the Advancement of Science.Archived fromthe originalon July 27, 2014.RetrievedNovember 12,2014.
- ^"Phillip A. Sharp".National Academy of Sciences.RetrievedNovember 12,2014.
- ^"Directory: IOM Member - Phillip A. Sharp, Ph.D."Institute of Medicine of the National Academies.Archived fromthe originalon November 12, 2014.RetrievedNovember 12,2014.
- ^"Professor Philip Sharp ForMemRS".London:Royal Society.Archived fromthe originalon October 6, 2015.
- ^"Royal Society".Royal Society.RetrievedMarch 20,2010.
- ^"Phillip A. Sharp, Molecular Biologist and Nobel Laureate, Chosen to Serve as AAAS President-Elect".American Association for the Advancement of Science.March 13, 2012.RetrievedNovember 12,2014.
- ^"Documentary Film | Phil Sharp".UNCOMMON PRODUCTIONS.RetrievedFebruary 2,2025.
- ^"Lunch with a Laureate".Archived fromthe originalon April 21, 2010.RetrievedDecember 9,2010..usasciencefestival.org (2010)
- ^Furthermore, Sharp participates in the Distinguished Lecture Series of the annualResearch Science Institute(RSI), a summer research program for high school students held at MIT.AdvisorsArchivedApril 21, 2010, at theWayback Machine.usasciencefestival.org
- ^"MIT 150: The Top 50".boston.com.RetrievedNovember 12,2014.
- ^"About".xconomy.com.RetrievedNovember 12,2014.
- ^"Board of Scientific Governors".The Scripps Research Institute.RetrievedNovember 12,2014.
- ^Answers, G. M. O."Dear Greenpeace: It's Time To Stand Up For Science".Forbes.Retrieved2024-05-03.
- ^MacDonald, Fiona (2016-06-30)."107 Nobel Laureates Just Signed a Letter Slamming Greenpeace Over GMOs".ScienceAlert.Retrieved2024-05-03.
External links
edit- Center for Oral History."Phillip A. Sharp".Science History Institute.
- Thackray, Arnold; Brock, David C.; Ashiya, Mona (November 20, 2003).Phillip A. Sharp, Transcript of Interviews Conducted by Arnold Thackray, David C. Brock, and Mona Ashiya at Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, Massachusetts on 28 January, 29 May, and 20 November 2003(PDF).Philadelphia, PA:Chemical Heritage Foundation.
- Phillip A. Sharpon Nobelprize.org
