British DNA pioneer whose work opens door to cancer treatment wins Nobel Prize

A British-based researcher whose work has provided new ammunition in the war on cancer is among three winners who shared the 2015 Nobel prize for chemistry on Wednesday. Swedish-born Dr Tomas Lindahl, a former director of the Clare Hall Laboratory in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, was honoured alongside American-based Prof Paul Modrich and Dr Aziz Sancar. Their work mapped how cells repair DNA to prevent damaging errors from appearing in genetic information. In many forms of cancer, one of more of these repair systems is damaged. "Their work has provided fundamental knowledge of how a living cell functions and is, for instance, used for the development of new cancer treatments,“ the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.

Thanks to his vision and creative genius, he was one of the first scientists to spot the process of DNA repair - something we now know plays a fundamental role in the development of cancer.

Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive

Dr Lindahl, who lived and worked in Britain for 30 years before his retirement, said he was surprised by the news, although he knew he had been considered for a prize over the years, along with "hundreds of other people”. He said DNA repair played a vital role in human health and the work by Nobel trio over the years was important in pointing the way to better disease treatments, especially for cancer. Dr Sancar, a joint Turkish-U.S. citizen who claimed he was not even aware he was nominated, said his immediate plans were to shower, shave and go to his lab.  Prof Modrich, the third winner, is a researcher at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Duke University School of Medicine in the U.S.

We can’t avoid DNA damage. We live in a world where we get exposed to DNA damaging agents all the time.

Tomas Lindahl

Science nobel chemistry