[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 139 (Tuesday, October 16, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S10767]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 LEE HARTWELL, PHD, 2001, NOBEL PRIZE WINNER IN PHYSIOLOGY AND MEDICINE

  Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I rise today in honor of Dr. Lee 
Hartwell who received this year's Nobel Prize in Physiology and 
Medicine.
  Dr. Hartwell began his work over 30 years ago with little more 
equipment or sophisticated research methods than a few dishes of yeast 
cells and a microscope and now works at one of the most prestigious 
cancer research centers in the country. Dr. Hartwell is President of 
the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, and also a 
Professor of Genetics and Medicine at the University of Washington.
  I believe that no one deserves this honor more than Dr. Hartwell, who 
is gracious and humble in his knowledge even as it has fundamentally 
changed the way we understand biology.
  Dr. Hartwell was selected to receive the Nobel Prize because of his 
contributions to understanding how cells divide. Using yeast as a model 
organism, he was among the first scientists in the world to translate 
basic genetic research into the study of how cells function, and to 
determine which genes are involved in cell division.
  Cells are the basis for all animal and plant life, and our 
understanding of how they multiply and develop is key to our 
understanding of larger organisms, like people. Errors or mutations in 
genes involved in the process of cell division can lead to cancer. Dr. 
Hartwell's work on these genes is fundamental in developing approaches 
that predict, prevent, or treat many kinds of cancers.
  In his research, Dr. Hartwell has discovered more than 100 genes 
involved in cell-cycle control, including the gene that controls the 
first step in the cell division process. He also documented the 
existence of cell-cycle ``checkpoints,'' which ensure steps in the 
process of cell growth and division have been completed properly before 
the process continues.
  Dr. Hartwell's work was the first to show that cell division is 
genetically controlled, and he generated a collection of cell-division 
cycle mutants from which many of the key genes in this process have 
been isolated. Dr. Hartwell's latest work focuses on the possible role 
for checkpoint defects and genetic instability in cancer progression 
and he is looking into how to exploit these defects to develop new 
cancer treatments.
  Dr. Hartwell graduated from Glendale High School in California before 
deciding to attend a junior college. He later transferred from junior 
college to the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, CA. In 
1961, he earned a Bachelor of Science at Caltech, and in 1964 earned a 
Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He did 
postdoctoral work at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. He 
joined the University of Washington faculty in 1968 and has been a 
professor of genetics there since 1973. In 1996 he joined the faculty 
of Seattle's Fred Hutchinson, Cancer Research Center and in 1997 became 
its president and director.
  Dr. Hartwell is the recipient of many national and international 
scientific awards for his work in cell-cycle biology, including the 
Leopold Griffuel Prize, the Massry Prize, the American Cancer Society's 
Medal of Honor Basic Research Award, the Albert Lasker Basic Medical 
Research Prize, the General Motors Sloan Award and the Gairdner 
Foundation International Award for Achievements in Science. Dr. 
Hartwell is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
  Dr. Hartwell typifies the ingenuity and creativity found throughout 
Washington State. I speak for us all when I commend him on winning the 
Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine. Dr. Hartwell's work is truly 
revolutionary, and although it is done without pomp and circumstance, 
his work will have a lasting impact on us all.

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