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Theodore Puck

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Theodore Puck
Born(1916-09-24)September 24, 1916
Chicago, Illinois
DiedNovember 6, 2005(2005-11-06)(aged 89)
Denver, Colorado
Alma materUniversity of Chicago
Known forGenetics, cell cloning, human karyotype
AwardsNational Academy of Sciences,Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research(1958)
Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize(1973)
E.B. Wilson Medal(1984)
Scientific career
FieldsGenetics
InstitutionsUniversity of Chicago,University of Colorado Medical School
Doctoral advisorJames Franck

Theodore Thomas Puck(September 24, 1916 – November 6, 2005) was an American geneticist born inChicago, Illinois.He attended Chicago public schools and obtained his bachelors, masters, and doctoral degree from theUniversity of Chicago.His PhD work was on the laws governing the impact of an electron upon an atom and his doctoral adviser wasJames Franck.During WW II Puck stayed at the University of Chicago. There he worked in the laboratory ofOswald H. Robertsonon the study of how bacteria and viruses can spread through the air and on dust particles. After a postdoc position in the laboratory ofRenato Dulbecco,Puck was recruited in 1948 to establish and chair theUniversity of Colorado Medical School's department of biophysics. He retired from the University of Colorado Medical School in 1995 as professor emeritus, but continued to do laboratory work there until a few weeks before his death.[1]

Puck was an early pioneer of "somatic cell genetics" and single-cell plating ( i.e. "cloning".) This work allowed the genetics of human and other mammalian cells to be studied in detail. Puck's key work ultimately made modern genetics, such as thehuman genomeand other mammaliangenomeprojects, possible. Dr. Puck with the assistance ofPhilip I. Marcus,successfully cloned aHeLacell in 1955.

Puck made many basic discoveries in several areas. Confirming research done in 1956 byJoe Hin Tjio,Puck's team found that humans had 46chromosomesrather than 48 which had earlier been believed.[2]He developed theCHO cell line from Chinese hamster ovarian cellsfor this work and contributed to deeper insights into chromosomes and genetics of mammalian cells. Derived CHO cell lines became the most productive manufacturing approach for therapeutic proteins, resulting in hundreds of highly efficient drugs.[3]Puck studied X-rays and cellular mutations.[4]He also isolated and studied cellular mutations.

Puck has won a number of honors for his work most notably theAlbert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Researchin 1958. In 1973 he was awarded theLouisa Gross Horwitz PrizefromColumbia Universitytogether withRenato DulbeccoandHarry Eagle.Dulbecco won the Nobel Prize in medicine in 1975. Puck also founded theEleanor RooseveltInstitute at theUniversity of Denver,where he was an emeritus professor. A member of theNational Academy of Sciencessince 1960, Puck published more than 200 papers on topics includingAlzheimer's diseaseandDown syndrome,and optimisingradiotherapydosages for the treatment of cancer.

He died following complications from a broken hip. Upon his death he was survived by his widow, three daughters, and seven grandchildren.[1]

References

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  1. ^abPincock, Stephen (10 December 2005)."Obituary. Theodore Puck".The Lancet.366:2000.doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(05)67806-3.S2CID54375562.
  2. ^Tjio, J. H.; Puck, Theodore T. (1 August 1958)."Genetics of somatic mammalian cells. II. Chromosomal constitution of cells in tissue culture".Journal of Experimental Medicine.108(2): 259–268.doi:10.1084/jem.108.2.259.PMC2136870.PMID13563760.
  3. ^Wurm, F.M. (2004) Production of recombinant protein therapeutics in cultivated mammalian cells Nature Biotechnology 22, 11, 1393-1398
  4. ^Puck, Theodore T.; Marcus, Philip I. (1 May 1956)."Action of X-rays on mammalian cells".Journal of Experimental Medicine.103(5): 653–666.doi:10.1084/jem.103.5.653.PMC2136626.PMID13319584.
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