Craig Mello

Craig Cameron Mello (born October 18, 1960) is an American biologist and professor in the RNA Therapeutics Institute and Program for Molecular Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School in Worcester, Massachusetts. He was awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, along with Andrew Z. Fire, for the discovery of RNA interference. This research was conducted at the Carnegie Institution of Washington and published in 1998. Mello has been a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator since 2000.

Early life Mello was born in New Haven, Connecticut on October 18, 1960. He was the third child of James and Sally Mello. His father, James Mello, was a paleontologist and his mother, Sally Mello, was an artist. Mello would never let Miller finish a lecture without asking him for more references, questions, or evidence for concepts discussed in the lecture. in the journal Nature detailing how tiny snippets of RNA fool the cell into destroying the gene's messenger RNA (mRNA) before it can produce a protein - effectively shutting specific genes down.

In the annual Howard Hughes Medical Institute Scientific Meeting held on November 13, 2006 in Ashburn, Virginia, Mello recounted the phone call that he received announcing that he had won the prize. He recalls that it was shortly after 4:30 am and he had just finished checking on his daughter, and returned to his bedroom. The phone rang (or rather the green light was blinking) and his wife told him not to answer, as it was a prank call. Upon questioning his wife, she revealed that it had rung while he was out of the room and someone was playing a bad joke on them by saying that he had won the Nobel prize. When he told her that they were actually announcing the Nobel prize winners on this very day, he said "her jaw dropped." He answered the phone, and the voice on the other end told him to get dressed, and that in half an hour his life was about to change.

The Nobel citation, issued by Sweden's Karolinska Institute, said: "This year's Nobel Laureates have discovered a fundamental mechanism for controlling the flow of genetic information."

Mello and Fire's research, conducted at the Carnegie Institution for Science (Fire) and the University of Massachusetts Medical School (Mello), had shown that in fact RNA plays a key role in gene regulation. According to Professor Nick Hastie, director of the Medical Research Council's Human Genetics Unit, said: "It is very unusual for a piece of work to completely revolutionize the whole way we think about biological processes and regulation, but this has opened up a whole new field in biology."

Philosophical outlook Mello admired and worked with Stephen J. Gould and has been inspired by his essays on natural history and the philosophy of science.

In his October 2015 acceptance speech for a China Friendship Award from Premier Li Keqiang Mello said,

Involvement in RNAi biotechnology industry

Mello is involved in several RNAi-based biotechnology companies. He is a co-founder of RXi Pharmaceuticals where he Chairs the Scientific Advisory Board. In June 2010, he joined the Technology Advisory Board of Beeologics, a company focused on development of RNAi products for honeybee health and various veterinary and agricultural applications, which, according to Mello, "could very well be the first company to obtain FDA approval for an RNAi therapy". In September 2011, Monsanto acquired Beeologics.

Awards and honors (By chronological year of award ) Co-recipient (with Andrew Fire) of National Academy of Sciences Award in Molecular Biology in 2003. Co-recipient (with Andrew Fire, Thomas Tuschl and David Baulcombe) of the Wiley Prize in the Biomedical Sciences from Rockefeller University in 2003. Elected member National Academy of Sciences in 2005. Co-recipient (with Victor Ambros, Andrew Fire and Gary Ruvkun) of Brandeis University's Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in Medical Research in 2005. Co-recipient (with Andrew Fire) of the Gairdner Foundation International Award in 2005 . Co-recipient (with Andrew Fire and David Baulcombe) of Massry Prize in 2005. Co-recipient (with Andrew Fire) of the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize in 2006. Inaugural recipient of The Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research by Johnson & Johnson in 2006. Co-recipient (with Andrew Fire) of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2006. Recipient of an honorary doctorate by Brown University in 2007. He gave the keynote Baccalaureate Address at Commencement ceremonies. Recipient of the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement in 2007. Recipient of an honorary doctorate by Simmons College in 2008. Recipient of the Hope Funds Award of Excellence in Basic Research in 2008. Elected member American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2008.