Martin Evans

Martin Evans is a British developmental biologist who shared the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering how to derive embryonic stem cells from mice and use them to produce genetically modified animals.

Gene targeting: A method for altering a specific DNA sequence by introducing a designed genetic change into a cell. Evans helped establish gene targeting in mice through embryonic stem cells.
Embryonic stem cell: A pluripotent cell derived from an early embryo that can self-renew and form many cell types. Evans isolated and cultured these cells from mouse embryos.
University of Cambridge: A public research university in Cambridge, England, founded in 1209. Evans studied and pursued early research at Cambridge.
Conditional gene knockout: A genetic method that inactivates a chosen gene in particular tissues or at selected times. It extends targeted mouse genetics to situations where whole-body gene loss is lethal or misleading.
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: An annual award recognizing major discoveries in physiology or medicine. The 2007 award placed Evans's work within the history of biomedical research.
Knockout mouse: A genetically engineered mouse in which a chosen gene has been inactivated. Gene targeting made it possible to create mice lacking particular genes.
Blastocyst: An early mammalian embryo consisting of an outer cell layer and an inner cell mass. The inner cell mass provided the cells Evans cultured as embryonic stem cells.
University College London: A public research university in London, founded in 1826. Evans conducted research there during the development of mouse embryonic stem-cell methods.
Cre-Lox recombination: A site-specific DNA rearrangement system using Cre recombinase and loxP sequences. This system made conditional gene changes possible in targeted mouse strains.
Shinya Yamanaka: A Japanese stem-cell researcher who developed a method for reprogramming adult cells into induced pluripotent stem cells. Yamanaka's route to pluripotency differs from Evans's work with embryo-derived stem cells.

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