RNA Biologist Lynne Maquat Awarded 2023 Gruber Genetics Prize
Thursday, February 23, 2023
Lynne E. Maquat, PhD, the founding director of the Center for RNA Biology at the University of Rochester, has been awarded the 2023 Gruber Genetics Prize for her discovery of nonsense-mediated mRNA decay or NMD in humans. The Gruber International Prize Program, administered by Yale University, honors scientists from around the world whose groundbreaking work leads to fundamental shifts in knowledge and benefits mankind.
Maquat has spent her career deciphering the many roles that RNA plays in sickness and in health, and is best known for elucidating the complexities of NMD in mammalian cells and human disease. One of the major surveillance systems in the body, NMD protects against mistakes in gene expression by targeting and eliminating deleterious mRNAs that could lead to the production of incomplete and potentially toxic proteins. Maquat’s lab also revealed that NMD helps our cells adjust to changes in development and in their environment, and more rapidly respond to certain stimuli.
“Lynne’s scientific prowess and steadfast commitment to her research is exemplary and has helped catapult the field of RNA biology to the forefront of medicine over the past decade,” said Mark B. Taubman, MD, CEO of the University of Rochester Medical Center and dean of the School of Medicine and Dentistry. “This is an exciting time, as Lynne and other scientists are putting her mechanistic findings related to NMD to use to design treatments. She is incredibly deserving of this honor.”
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